Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which exam bodies are contracted to examine students in (a) GCSEs, (b) A Levels and (c) other exams in (i) Punjabi, (ii) Bengali, (iii) Hindi, (iv) Gujarati, (v) Urdu, (vi) Sinhalese, (vii) Tamil, (viii) Pashto and (ix) Dari in England; how long these contracts are; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Awarding organisations offering GCSEs and A levels are independent, not-for-profit organisations. They are not contracted to provide assessments for pupils in particular subjects. AQA offer a GCSE and A level qualification in Punjabi and Bengali, as well as a GCSE in Urdu. Pearson Edexcel offer a GCSE and A level qualification in Gujarati and Urdu and International GCSEs (IGCSEs) in Bengali, Hindi, Sinhalese, and Tamil. Cambridge International offer an A level in Hindi, Urdu, and Tamil. There are no qualifications available in Pashto or Dari. Awarding organisations are free to introduce qualifications in any GCSE or A level subject where they consider there to be a case to do so.
It is up to schools to decide which languages are taught as part of their curriculum, both at primary and secondary school, and the government does not specify which languages should be taught or how to teach them.
There has been no funding provided directly for the teaching of Punjabi, Bengali, Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu, Sinhalese, Tamil, Pashto and Dari within the previous five years. However, the department has committed to establishing a network of language hubs, as per the Schools White Paper, and are considering ways in which we can support home, heritage and community languages as part of this.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much his Department spent on teaching (a) Punjabi, (b) Bengali, (c) Hindi, (d) Gujarati, (e) Urdu, (f) Sinhalese, (g) Tamil, (h) Pashto and (i) Dari in schools in England in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Awarding organisations offering GCSEs and A levels are independent, and mostly not-for-profit organisations, with the exception of Pearson Edexcel which is profit making. They are not contracted to provide assessments for pupils in particular subjects. AQA offer a GCSE and A level qualification in Punjabi and Bengali, as well as a GCSE in Urdu. Pearson Edexcel offer a GCSE and A level qualification in Gujarati and Urdu and International GCSEs (IGCSEs) in Bengali, Hindi, Sinhalese, and Tamil. Cambridge International offer an A level in Hindi, Urdu, and Tamil. There are no qualifications available in Pashto or Dari. Awarding organisations are free to introduce qualifications in any GCSE or A level subject where they consider there to be a case to do so.
It is up to schools to decide which languages are taught as part of their curriculum, both at primary and secondary school, and the government does not specify which languages should be taught or how to teach them.
There has been no funding provided directly for the teaching of Punjabi, Bengali, Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu, Sinhalese, Tamil, Pashto and Dari within the previous five years. However, the department has committed to establishing a network of language hubs, as per the Schools White Paper, and are considering ways in which we can support home, heritage and community languages as part of this.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much his Department spent on charitable and faith community-run weekend language schools in England in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
The Department does not provide any funding for charitable or faith community-run weekend language schools and has not done so in any of the last five years.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the details of any contract his Department has entered into with (a) Nuffield or (b) one of Nuffield associated companies that may allow the harvesting of personal data by those companies from families with children in schools in pursuing the completion of those contracts; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The Department for Education commercial records system has been checked and there are no records that show Nuffield Hospital as a supplier of goods or services to the department.
All Department for Education contracts with an award value of £20,000 or greater are listed on Contracts Finder. Contracts Finder can be accessed here: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has had any (a) financial contract and (b) meetings with (i) Clifford Chance LLP, (ii) FTI Consulting and (iii) Fenchurch Advisory Partners in the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Officials searched the Department for Education commercial record system and I can confirm that no contracts have been recorded with suppliers (i) Clifford Chance LLP, (ii) FTI Consulting and (iii) Fenchurch Advisory Partners.
Details of Government contracts above £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.
Officials are unable to check all electronic diaries across the department for meeting with (i) Clifford Chance LLP, (ii) FTI Consulting and (iii) Fenchurch Advisory Partner.
Details of ministerial meetings are published quarterly and can be found on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the time taken to deliver face masks to secondary schools in (a) Harrow West constituency and (b) England; what steps his Department is taking to ensure that deliveries are made in time to meet demand; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robin Walker
To support the temporary measures recently introduced, the department has worked with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to deliver a contingency supply of face coverings to education providers. These face coverings have been provided by DHSC at no cost to education providers.
We would expect most staff, pupils and students already have access to face coverings. However, we recognise that some individuals may not have access or might forget their face covering. We hope that this extra supply will mean all students, pupils and staff are able to access a face covering when needed.
We delivered the majority of face coverings to secondary schools before the Christmas break, with the remaining deliveries completed in early January, including to those schools in Harrow West.