§ 13. Mr. Dempseyasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many newly qualified primary and secondary teachers, respectively, will leave colleges of education in the Strathclyde Region at the summer vacation; and how many vacancies for teachers will be available.
§ Mr. MillanAbout 1,200 primary teachers and 1,500 secondary teachers are expected to qualify from the four colleges in the Strathclyde Region at the end of this session. The regional education authority cannot yet estimate the total number of vacancies in the schools this summer.
§ Mr. DempseyIs my right hon. Friend aware that I could give him an estimate that in the Lanarkshire sub-area there will be scores of primary teachers unemployed under the present arrangements? Is he further aware that, by our reducing the size of classes to 30, those teachers could all be employed? Is it not time, therefore, that the Treasury was told in the strongest possible language to end the present policy of crazy economics in order to give these people employment? It has cost more than £4,000 per head to train these people.
§ Mr. MillanThis is a serious situation. There are certainly not enough jobs available for all teachers coming out of colleges. I cannot say at present what the gap will be, because no final figures are available, but I am arranging to see that we have the most up-to-date estimates, and we shall be having discussions with the education authorities about this matter. The figures to which the education authorities are working in recruitment are the figures negotiated in the contract of service with the teachers' organisations. The first aim must be to get all the schools in Scotland adequately staffed.
My hon. Friend comes from Lanarkshire, which has had the worst pupil-teacher ratio of any area in Scotland for many years now and a long history of part-time education. He will be glad to know that the Strathclyde regional authority estimates that at the start of the next session part-time education will be eliminated and for the first time we should have adequate staffing everywhere 445 in Scotland. That is a very bright side of the picture.
However, the other side of the picture is the possibility that not all teachers coming out of colleges will be able to get jobs. This is obviously a matter of serious concern, and I am closely in touch with the education authorities about it. But there is no simple answer to this problem.
§ Mr. SpeakerWe are not debating this subject now.