§ 2. Mr. John Wellsasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he has for the establishment of a teachers' general council.
§ Mr. WellsIs not the right hon. Gentleman aware that the establishment of such a council would go a long way to assisting teachers in their aims for professional status, and would do a great deal to help the profession in its personal well-being and therefore enable it to give a better service to education and to the State at the same time?
§ Mr. CroslandThe difficulty about this proposal is that the council, as it has been put forward by the teachers' organisations, would control such fundamental matters as standards of entry into the profession. With respect to the hon. Gentleman, I think that the House would agree with me that at this moment, when we still have a shortage of teachers, it would not be appropriate to hand over to an independent teachers' council powers which are so crucial in terms of teacher supply policy.