§ 14. Mr. Ridsdaleasked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what plans the Government have for increasing the accommodation available for Commonwealth students in this country.
§ Mr. SandysThe Government wish to encourage the development of closer links between young people in the Commonwealth. We have accordingly decided to initiate a programme for providing some 5,000 additional places for overseas students in hostels where they will live and mix with British students. We propose also to provide a number of new or enlarged social and cultural centres to be run by the British Council.
The Government are prepared to meet the capital expenditure involved up to a maximum of £3 million.
In addition, we shall, as at present, be prepared to consider applications for financial assistance to voluntary bodies concerned with Commonwealth Youth.
At the same time, we trust that private support will continue to be forthcoming for projects designed to further the interests of the young people of the Commonwealth, and that voluntary organisations active in this field will bear some share of the cost of this new programme and of the expense of running the hostels with which they are associated.
In coming to this conclusion, we were much assisted by the advice of a Committee under the chairmanship of Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer, which examined this whole question, and I wish to express to them the Government's appreciation.
§ Mr. RidsdaleAre we making full use of existing organisations? Also, have arrangements been made to make these plans reciprocal? Much as we welcome Commonwealth students here, should we not make it a two-way traffic and not leave it to President Kennedy alone to take the initiative? Will my hon. Friend take it that we welcome these ideas?
§ Mr. SandysWe certainly should welcome any reciprocal action in this sense among Commonwealth countries. As regards the other point made by my hon. Friend, the British Council has been authorised to consult voluntary organisations, the universities and other educational authorities and institutions about this whole programme.
§ Mr. G. M. ThomsonWe welcome very much the Minister's announcement. Can he say whether among the voluntary organisations to be assisted is included the Voluntary Service Overseas Organisation, which plays such an excellent part in sending people from this country to Commonwealth countries?
§ Mr. SandysI am not sure which are the organisations included. I will communicate with the hon. Member.
§ Mr. MarquandWill the Secretary of State consult the Universities of Cape Town and Witwatersrand in order to see whether he can give an opportunity for university education in this country to Africans or Indians who have been denied university education as a result of action by the South African Government in those two universities?
§ Mr. SandysI will see that the nature of the scheme is made widely known throughout the Commonwealth.