HC Deb 06 November 1989 vol 159 c673
45. Mr. Cran

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the United Kingdom doing to help improve primary education in India.

The Minister for Overseas Development (Mrs. Lynda Chalker)

A grant of just over £31 million was approved in September for a primary education project in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It provides for the design and construction of some 1,100 teachers' centres and 4,000 classrooms mostly in remote rural areas throughout the state. It also covers teacher training, in child-centred learning techniques, teaching materials and research and evaluation.

Mr. Cran

Does my right hon. Friend agree that educational support is a particularly important form of aid, especially because of the long-term benefits that it confers? Therefore, will she tell the House whether, in India, the United Kingdom benefits other than primary education?

Mrs. Chalker

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is why we provide more than £3 million towards the development of the Indira Gandhi national open university and other distance learning projects. In addition, there are a large number of English language tuition programmes and numerous collaborative links between British and Indian academic institutions. There is also a United Kingdom training programme which costs about £11 million a year.

Mr. Vaz

The Minister is probably not aware that Leicestershire county council's director of education has recently returned from a three-week visit to India, where he established important links with Indian schools. Does she join me in supporting such ventures? If she does, what plans has she to enable more resources to be made available for local authorities to establish such important cultural links?

Mrs. Chalker

Of course I welcome cultural links between local authorities and other countries that can benefit from such links. I should like to learn more about the links between Leicestershire county council and the Indians. If they are worthwhile projects, which fall in with the Indian Government's overall considerations, there is no reason why, in due time, other projects should not follow.