§ 6. Mr. Beithasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many overseas students have enrolled in universities for the 1981–82 academic year; and how many enrolled for the 1980–81 academic year.
§ Mr. WaldegraveInformation for 1981–82 is currently being collected and will be made available, we hope, by the end of the year. In 1980–81 there were 33,200 overseas student enrolments in the universities of Great Britain. This figure includes students from European Community countries who were charged home fees.
§ Mr. BeithWhat merit can the Minister see in a reduction of 43 per cent. in the number of students from Caribbean countries and in a reduction of 46 per cent. in the number of students from Sri Lanka, where Her Majesty received such a warm welcome? How does he compare that with the substantial increases in the numbers of Third world students in the Soviet Union?
§ Mr. WaldegraveEven within the overall drop there have been welcome increases from some countries. It is a correct Government decision that questions of foreign policy should be decided by the Foreign Office, which has £42 million available for expenditure in this area.
§ Mr. DorrellDoes my hon. Friend recognise the importance of overseas students both in terms of export potential and of our image abroad? Will he undertake to monitor closely the numbers of overseas students in British universities to ensure that the numbers do not fall beyond a level that the Government believe reasonable?
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe answer is "Yes". The Department is already engaged on such monitoring. As the information becomes available, the Department will analyse it closely.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Question Time is going very slowly indeed today. We must move on.