To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the training given to teachers to deal with dyslexia.

All courses of initial teacher training are now required to equip prospective teachers to teach the full range of pupils whom they are likely to encounter in an ordinary school and to introduce them to ways of identifying children with special education needs, including dyslexia. The Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education has also been asked to consider dyslexia specifically in its inquiry into the preparation of student teachers to teach reading. Its report will be published shortly. In-service training is also available for teachers of pupils with dyslexia. Training of teachers of pupils with special education needs in ordinary schools is one of the priorities supported by the Department through the grants for education support and training programme. The Department has also sponsored the production of an audio-visual pack aimed to assist teachers in ordinary schools to identify children with special education needs, one module of which is specifically concerned with dyslexia.