To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to provide non-teaching time in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools to enable them to implement (i) the teaching, testing and assessment provisions of the national curriculum and (ii) the proposals of the Elton report on school discipline.
The organisation of the school day and the duties to be undertaken by individual teachers in their 1,265 hours of directed time are matters for head teachers. The Interim Advisory Committee on School Teachers' Pay and Conditions has recently drawn attention to the scope that exists for LEAs and governing bodies to develop policies to increase teachers' non-contact time. Through the education support grant, the Government are supporting in-service training for teachers in the management of pupil behaviour. We are providing extensive support through ESG and the LEA training grants scheme for training in the introduction and assessment of the national curriculum.