§ 6. Mr. Nigel EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the latest figure he has of the value to the British economy of educational exports.
§ Mr. BoswellEducational exports include both visible exports, including books, equipment and construction, and invisible exports, such as consultancy fees and the fees and other expenditure of overseas students in the United Kingdom. It has been estimated that educational exports already contribute around 4 per cent. to British invisible earnings alone. We wish to develop further all kinds of educational exports.
§ Mr. EvansI am extremely grateful for that reply. Next time my hon. Friend visits my constituency, will he accompany me to visit two schools in my constituency? Stoneyhurst college and Moorlands school are both fine institutions offering educational support to youngsters from all over the world. Does he agree that such support is important not just for its educational value to the youngsters and the financial gain to Britain but because many of those youngsters, when they return to their own countries, become involved in the higher echelons of business and the top echelons of Government?
§ Mr. BoswellI am grateful to my hon. Friend. He is entirely on the right point and I will do my best to accept his kind invitation to visit those schools. I agree that the investment that we make in importing students from overseas into our schools and higher and further educational institutions is of considerable value to us in terms of our future relations with the countries to which they return.
§ Mr. Bryan DaviesOn his recent visit to Malaysia and Singapore, did not the Secretary of State assist the Government of Singapore in reaching 80 per cent. of young people in higher education, while being complacent about the fact that only 30 per cent. of youngsters in Britain get the same opportunities?
§ Mr. BoswellI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for one thing: that he recognised my right hon. Friend's admirable and successful visit to Malaysia and Singapore, which was of great value in promoting British educational exports. However, he does us a characteristic disservice in suggesting that there is something wrong with the attainments of British higher education. If he were to look 579 at the details and compare like with like, he would find that the proportion of young people going into higher education as we know it in Singapore is very much smaller—in the order of a magnitude smaller. Malaysia and Singapore very much want to collaborate with us in improving their higher education delivery and spreading good British educational practice throughout the region.
§ Mrs. GillanWill my hon. Friend take the opportunity to congratulate an excellent university in my county—Buckingham university—which won the Queen's award for export in the last round of awards? Not only is it our only independent university but it is doing sterling work in pioneering the two-year degree.
§ Mr. BoswellI am most grateful to my hon. Friend for her comments. I have been aware of, and associated with, the university of Buckingham for many years, and while I must and do maintain a proper distinction between universities, I am aware of its achievement and the example that it has set in all the sectors of which she has reminded the House.