§ 8. Miss Herbisonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many recruits to the teaching profession have been 1865 obtained under the special recruitment scheme; how many are, or will be, honours graduates and of these how many are, or will be science and mathematics graduates; how many are, or will be, ordinary graduates; and how many in all categories are men.
§ Mr. Henderson StewartOne thousand three hundred and thirty-one recruits were obtained in the period up to 14th March. Four hundred and eighty-eight of these are now certificated teachers, and the rest are still pursuing their studies; 155 are, or will be, honours graduates, 45 in science and 18 in mathematics, and 549 are, or will be, ordinary graduates. Six hundred and twenty-eight of the 1,331 recruits are men.
§ Miss HerbisonSince these figures show that there has been some success with this scheme, will the Minister ensure that every step is taken to try to publicise it even further, in the hope of attracting more?
§ Mr. StewartI agree. The hon. Lady has already received my compliments on the scheme. Recruits are coming in at the rate of about 40 a month, of whom about 20 are being accepted. We are doing all that we can to keep it going.
§ Mr. WoodburnWill not the hon. Gentleman do something to deprecate the sort of propaganda which seeks to underestimate the value of these recruits and to suggest that these people are not fully qualified?
§ Mr. StewartI have done what I can, by broadcasts and otherwise, to bring the right hon. Gentleman's idea to the notice of the public. It is an excellent scheme—there is no possible dilution in it—and it is of great service to Scottish education.