§ 10. Mrs. Whiteasked the Minister of Education if he will seek power to require independent schools, where appropriate, to accept the same quota for teachers as is imposed on maintained schools.
§ Sir E. BoyleNo, Sir. The quota system applies to areas, not to individual schools, and it does not aim to reduce staffing ratios but to restrain increases in schools in the more fortunate areas until the worse off areas have improved their position. In 1960 my predecessor appealed to the independent schools to restrain their demands for teachers and since then their staffing standards have not materially changed.
§ Mrs. WhiteWould not the Minister recognise that there is a grave sense of injustice among those local authorities who feel that they are restrained in their recruitment of teachers when 1375 they know that within their own area—for example, the London County Council—there are many independent schools which are not so restrained at a time when the shortage of teachers is very acute?
§ Sir E. BoyleThe hon. Lady is asking now about a more general point, to which I would gladly reply that we are very ready to consider whether it may be useful for me to approach the independent schools again, as my predecessor did in 1960. I was making the point that we cannot apply the quota system to the independent schools, because the quota system applies to areas and not to individual schools.
§ Mr. JegerShould not the right hon. Gentleman try to raise the standard of the maintained schools to that of the independent schools, rather than bring the standard of the independent schools down to his own?
§ Sir E. BoyleI welcome what the hon. Gentleman has said. It has been precisely with that aim in view that I have made a number of speeches on this subject. It was clearly reasonable in 1960, when we were anticipating the year of intermission, for my predecessor to take the initiative which he did. I have said that I am prepared to consider whether a similar approach might be useful again.