A PLEA by an MP for all pupils to be taught life-saving techniques was rejected by a Government minister – because it would lead to a “tick-box approach”.

Caroline Nokes called for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to be a compulsory part of the national curriculum during a Commons debate on first aid.

The Romsey and Southampton North MP said the training should go hand-in-hand with an on-site defibrillator, arguing pupils were eager to “get stuck in”.

She told ministers how the life of Sam Mangoro, 16, a pupil at Mountbatten school in Romsey, was saved after “he suffered a heart attack and collapsed”.

Ms Nokes said: “Fewer than one in ten who have a heart attack outside hospital are likely to survive but Sam was one of the lucky ones.

“His PE lesson was being led by a teacher who was there for an interview – she was not even on the full-time staff. He collapsed and she had had training.

“Enormous credit is due to Mountbatten school because it was one of the few schools in my constituency that had a defibrillator, which it had purchased some months previously.

“On March 6, 2014 Sam Mangoro’s life was saved because the school had staff trained in CPR and a defibrillator on the premises.”

The MP argued the story was a “wake-up call for many other schools” and said: “CPR should be a mandatory element of PSHE [Personal, Social, Health and Economic education].”

But Nick Gibb, the schools minister, rejected the call – arguing it was wrong for the Government to tell head teachers what lessons should include.

He said: “Prescribing a long list of specific content to be covered could be unproductive, leading to a tick-box approach that did not properly address the most important issues.

“Nor would it ensure that schools addressed those matters that were most relevant to their pupils. Indeed, we should trust schools.”

The minister said there had been lobbying for compulsory lessons on drugs, alcohol, mental health, homelessness, forced marriage, violence, transgender issues, animal welfare, bullying, knife crime and chess, amongst other issues.

And he added: “It would be easy for any minister – Conservative, Labour or Liberal Democrat – to say yes to those issues only to find that there was little time in the national curriculum.”

But Julie Hilling, the Labour MP who led the debate, said the response had put her in “a state of depression”.

She said: “He is talking about a list of issues that come to him but how many of them could save 150,000 lives a year?”

However, there was good news for lifesavers in Wednesdays’ budget. Chancellor George Osborne yesterday announced that £1m would be amade available to buy defibrillators for schools.