asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what work his Department has carried out into the moral and political understanding of children.

My Department recognised the importance of moral education, and the need for schools to prepare young people for adult life, in the recently published consultative document on "A Framework for the School Curriculum". It is currently supporting a research project in political education, and giving a grant to the Social Morality Council. Her Majesty's Inspectors have published a working paper on political competence in the secondary curriculum.