§ 9. Mr. Rankinasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he proposes taking to overcome the growing shortage of teachers required to meet existing educational needs and the additional shortages which will accrue from educational developments such as raising the school age, reducing the maximum size of classes and introducing compulsory part-time education.
§ Mr. MaclayI have written to the three main teaching bodies asking them to discuss with me this serious problem for which there is no single or simple answer. I shall also meet other bodies. After these consultations, I shall consider what further steps may be taken.
§ Mr. RankinDoes the Secretary of State realise the magnitude of the task which faces him in the next ten or twelve years? I hope that he will take a long view—and also a short view—of this problem. Does he realise that, if he is to meet the needs of teaching alone as expressed in his fourth Departmental Report, he must obtain at least 12,000 teachers in the next ten years and that to do this he must be prepared to spend money at a rate and in a quantity which he has never before attained?
§ Mr. MaclayOf course, I am fully aware of the gravity of this problem, but I am not convinced that money is by any means the only issue involved in solving it.