§ 9. Mr. J. Johnsonasked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, what steps he is taking to expand the facilities for agricultural education in the Bechuanaland Protectorate.
§ Mr. AlportIt is proposed to operate an agricultural training scheme as an adjunct of a trades school in the Bechuanaland Protectorate, when it is established. The present demand for agricultural education does not justify the provision of special training facilities.
§ Mr. JohnsonIs the hon. Gentleman aware that too often in the Colonies there has been an academic bias in our schools, particularly in the mission schools? We are turning out too many clerks and pen-pushers, and yet this is a Protectorate with basically a cattle and farming economy. Leaders like Tshekedi Khama want more extensive schemes of agricultural education. Would not it be a good thing to meet them in this matter and spend more money and give more technical help in promoting such schemes?
§ Mr. AlportI fully agree with the hon. Gentleman on the importance of improving standards of technical training in agriculture and particularly in the cattle 1355 industry in the Protectorate. The minimum qualification for agricultural training is the possession of the junior certificate. There are about 46 passes at this standard each year, but none up to the present has shown himself to be particularly interested in agricultural training, although Southern Rhodesia is prepared to accept two or three qualified students for a matriculation course with an agricultural bias. However, I can assure the House that we attach great importance to this aspect of technical training within the Protectorate because its future depends largely upon the standards of agricultural efficiency in its major industry.