text: minority background, but just over 2 per cent of probation officers come from such a background.) Women in public life Judges 368. One Lord Justice, 1 High Court judge and 16 circuit judges are women. This represents only 4 per cent of the judiciary at those levels but is some improvement on the past. Parliament 369. There are 41 women Members of Parliament, 6.2 per cent of the House of Commons. This is a higher percentage than in any Parliament since the Second World War. Government 370. The Prime Minister is the only woman member of the Cabinet, but 5 junior ministers out of 69 are women. Public bodies and Civil Service 371. In 1987, 19 per cent of appointments to public bodies were of women. This represents only a very slight increase since 1984. In the Civil Service, 48 per cent of the staff are women, although they are overwhelmingly concentrated at the lower grades. Only one Permanent Secretary is a woman, but the proportion of administrative assistants (the lowest non-industrial grade) is 75 per cent. The difference between women's and men's promotion rates has however narrowed over the years. CCPR/C/58/Add.6 page 79 Article 27 372. The position of ethnic and religious minorities has been discussed above. The position of minority languages is as follows. Non-indigenous minority languages 373. General education in a minority language is not offered as part of the mainstream curriculum in schools. This is because it is considered to be more advantageous to the pupil to be taught in English, the official language. There may however be initial bilingual support where a child's first language is not English. At secondary level, certain mother tongue languages may be taught as a foundation subject, as part of the National Curriculum, and many children from an Asian background receive mother tongue teaching outside 
analysis: The text appears to be discussing the representation and inclusion of various groups in society, including women, ethnic and religious minorities, and language minorities. The focus is on the proportion of these groups in different professions, such as judges, parliamentarians, and civil servants, as well as their representation in education and public bodies.