Standard of reading under fire

Standards of reading in schools have failed to improve in certain crucial respects for 30 years, the chief inspector of Ofsted said today.

David Bell said although more children pass literacy tests, too many do not read books for pleasure. He said teaching of the subject was "patchy" and called for a National English Centre to lead improvements.

Mr Bell said it was "remarkable" many of the problems highlighted in the 1975 Bullock Report on reading in state schools had not been dealt with.

He said: "Reading has always been seen as a source of pleasure. This has been forgotten by some schools in their pursuit of higher test results."