§ 39. Mr. M. Stewartasked the Minister of Education what teachers' training colleges he expects will be obliged to close as a result of their exclusion from the national scheme of expansion; and whether he is satisfied that the recruitment of teachers will not thereby be jeopardised.
§ Sir E. BoyleThree very small colleges are due to be closed in the next few years because they are not large enough to run a three-year course and cannot conveniently be expanded. The lost places will be made good by additions elsewhere over and above the 12,000 places to be provided by the end of 1962 under the current scheme of expansion.
§ Mr. StewartIs the hon. Gentleman aware of the anxiety there is about Hereford Training College, for example? Could he say anything about that?
§ Sir E. BoyleI would put it this way, that it should not be assumed that any other colleges will be closed simply because they have not been selected for expansion. Obviously I cannot make promises too far ahead, but I can inform the House that no other early closures are in contemplation at the moment.