HC Deb 11 February 1926 vol 191 cc1227-8
54. Sir H. BRITTAIN

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he can inform the House as to the amount spent per head upon education in Great Britain, France, Switzerland, and Norway, respectively

Lord E. PERCY

As the reply to this question is rather long, I will, with my hon. Friend's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT

Following the reply:

It is not possible to extract from the published statistics of the educational expenditure of the countries concerned, figures which would afford a reliable basis for comparison, and such figures as are obtainable can be rightly interpreted only in the light of an intimate knowledge of the educational and financial arrangements, and the social and economic organisation, of each country. Moreover, in the case of France, no figures are available of the expenditure of the local authorities. Subject to this important reservation the answer, so far as information is available, is as follows:

England and Wales.—The Board's Estimates for 1925–26 of the expenditure from public funds, central and local, on the educational services within their purview, was £73,427,000, which represents an expenditure of £1 18s. 8d. per head of population of England and Wales. As regards Scotland, my hon. Friend should address his inquiry to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland.

France.—The total proposed expenditure of the French Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts for 1926, excluding the expenditure on universities, State records and scientific institutions, is 1,675,815,700 francs, representing an expenditure by the Central Government of 12 francs per head of population. As I have said, this does not cover any local expenditure, nor does it cover, I believe, the whole of the remuneration of teachers.

Switzerland.—The total educational expenditure of the federal, cantonal and communal authorities (i.e., central and local) in Switzerland in 1922–23 was, excluding expenditure on university education, 179,547,030 francs, representing an expenditure of 46 frarcs (Swiss) per head of population.

Norway.—The total expenditure in 1922 from public funds, central and local, on education in Norway, excluding expenditure on the university and on schools corresponding to the English industrial and reformatory schools, was 122,315,078 kroner, representing an expenditure of 46.16 kroner per head of the population.