§ 9. Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if Circular 8/60, addendum 2, applies to women who wish to train as teachers.
§ Mr. PrenticeThe purpose of this addendum is to authorise the extension of nursery facilities where these will enable married women who are already qualified teachers but have young children, to return to the schools. I would not expect women normally to embark on a teacher training course while their families still include children under school age. But local authorities are free to allocate a nursery place to the child of a woman accepted for teacher training where this is the mother's wish and where there are nursery places available.
§ Mrs. ShortMay I thank my hon. Friend for that reply and ask whether he is aware that I know of a number of married women with young children who want to take training courses? Will he make it clear to the local authorities that these women are able to take places in nursery schools?
§ Mr. PrenticeYes, Sir; the local authorities may allocate places in nursery schools to women in the position described. The only proviso is that women in this category would not count towards establishing the justification for new nursery schools, because the addendum refers to women returning to teaching.