§ Mr. David Steelasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the present shortfall of qualified technical teachers in Scotland; and what is the percentage shortage in terms of the total number of technical teachers employed.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellThere are as yet no generally recognised staffing standards in secondary schools which would enable precise measurement to be made of teacher demand in individual subjects. I am aware that there are shortages of teachers in technical subjects in some schools. The number of persons entering training as teachers in this field has, however, increased in the past two 155W years and I am hopeful that the shortages will be progressively overcome.