§ 1. Mr. EvennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received from local education authorities concerning difficulties in recruiting primary school teachers.
§ The Minister of State, Department of Education and Science (Mrs. Angela Rumbold)None recently. There are sufficient primary teachers nationally. However, the high cost of housing in particular has led to recruitment difficulties in some parts of London and the south-east.
§ Mr. EvennettI thank my hon. Friend for her reply. I am sure that most LEAs welcome the Government's initiative in teacher recruitment. However, in Erith and Crayford there is a considerable shortage of primary teachers and housing is, of course, a major consideration. Will my hon. Friend consider further initiatives to encourage married women to come back into primary school teaching, perhaps on a part-time basis?
§ Mrs. RumboldI thank my hon. Friend for his question. I recognise that there are some difficulties in his constituency. I understand that all but three of the teaching vacancies in the borough of Bexley have been filled this term and, indeed, all but one in the school in which I believe he is particularly interested, Southlake primary school.
We are doing everything in our power to recruit teachers and to encourage part-time teachers; and the borough of Bexley is taking an initiative in encouraging married women to come back into the teaching profession part-time.
§ Mrs. ClwydIs it not a fact that the Government have no published targets for overall teacher numbers? The Secretary of State's recent report of 31 March, which criticised the lack of objective data available, makes it 786 impossible to state whether recruitment, retention, motivation and quality are satisfactory. How can the Minister expect us to take anything that she says on this matter as being definitive?
§ Mrs. RumboldThe hon. Lady will no doubt therefore be glad to hear that the demand for teachers rises as primary school pupil numbers rise and, to cope with the future demand, target entry into initial teacher training for primary pupils has increased from almost 7,000 in 1983 to 11,000 in 1989. To date, we have more than 17,600 applications for almost 10,000 places. That is 77 per cent. over target, and I am sure that the hon. Lady will welcome that.
§ Mr. PawseyTo bring those figures into perspective, will my hon. Friend give the House details about the number of teachers employed in the profession and about the recruitment of teachers? Is she satisfied with both the quantity and quality of recruits coming forward for the profession?
§ Mrs. RumboldYes, Sir. We have almost 500,000 teachers in primary and secondary schools at present. We are very happy about our programmes for recruitment of teachers through our task Force, particularly in London through the Islington recruitment fair, which has been extremely successful in attracting 3,400 people who showed an interest in primary school teaching.