I shall draw my right hon. Friend's attention to the request. School Curriculum 6. To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the curriculum in use in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland has its own distinctive curricular framework based on areas of study.
Compulsory subjects are broadly the same as in England and Wales.
Arrangements are in place for ongoing monitoring and review of the curriculum, but, in response to teachers' concerns about overload, I have asked the Northern Ireland Curriculum Council to complete a detailed review of the primary curriculum by the end of April 1994. Friend for that reply. Not everything can be tackled, but changes will have to be made, and teachers, parents and children must be ready to accept them in the interests of future generations. Friend has said. He will appreciate that Sir Ron Dearing's review does not extend to Northern Ireland, but, because our systems are similar in many respects, his recommendations will be of much interest to us.