§ 4. Mr. G. M. Thomsonasked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what discussions he is having with other Commonwealth Governments regarding the fulfilment of the targets for 632 Commonwealth scholarships accepted at the Commonwealth Educational Conferences.
§ Mr. TilneyNone, Sir. Participation of the Commonwealth in the Scholarship Scheme is developing satisfactorily. Fulfilment of each country's target has been slowed down by problems of administration, but these are being eliminated by experience. Recommendations, agreed at the Delhi Conference, will help to solve some of them.
§ Mr. ThomsonThat is a very complacent answer. Is the Minister aware that this very good scheme has now been going for two years and is the very essence of a mutual aid scheme by which help can be given by the developed countries of the Commonwealth to the under-developed countries of the Commonwealth, and would he not take the initiative through the Commonwealth education machinery to try to persuade some of the Commonwealth countries to fulfil their targets more quickly?
§ Mr. TilneyWe had a debate on this matter on 19th November. Since 31st March, 1962, the number of scholarship holders in the United Kingdom has risen from 394 to 475, which is very near the target figure. I am hoping that similar rises will be reported for other Commonwealth countries for the current year. It is a new scheme, and obviously there are difficulties which any new scheme has to tackle and overcome. I believe that the recommendations of the Delhi Conference, if carried out by other Commonwealth countries, and I believe that they will be carried out, will eliminate these difficulties.