§ 7. Mr. G. M. Thomsonasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many teachers have been recruited for the East African territories of Tanganyika, Uganda and Kenya from the United States of America and the United Kingdom, respectively, as a result of the decisions taken at the recent Princeton conference in which his Department participated.
§ Mr. H. FraserOne hundred and fifty graduates from the United States and eight graduates from the United Kingdom. After a period of training at Makerere, they will supplement the large numbers of African, Asian and British teachers already at work in East African secondary schools and will, I am sure, make a valuable contribution in this important field.
§ Mr. ThomsonWhile welcoming this expression of practical American idealism, and while agreeing on the contribution already made in this area by existing British teachers, is not the British response to this disgracefully inadequate, and will not the Minister make a serious effort with the authorities in this country and with the universities to make sure that we in this country match the kind of response which we have had from America?
§ Mr. FraserI do not think that that is entirely fair. We were asked for only ten teachers in this scheme, as agreed with the Americans. We are already recruiting several hundred teachers for our colonial possessions, and we hope that more Commonwealth teachers will come forward in the near future. There is, moreover, a campaign by the National Council for the Supply of Teachers Overseas, which is already having some effect.
§ Mr. ThomsonDoes not the Minister agree that in the years which lie ahead it will be very important that we in this country match the kind of contribution which America can make in this educational field? Does he not agree that we do not want to see a situation in which the overwhelming number of expatriate teachers come from the United States and not from this country?
§ Mr. FraserI agree, but we are already making a very big contribution.