§ 2.38 p.m.
§ LORD CALVERLEYMy Lords, I beg to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made in recent years to provide university standards of education to students from the Colonies, and what is the nature of the subjects such students must study who hold scholarships in this country.]
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE FOR COMMONWEALTH RELATIONS (LORD OGMORE)My Lords, since the 77 end of the war new university colleges have been established in the West Indies and in West Africa. In East Africa the existing college has been raised to university college status. In Malaya a university has been formed from the fusion of two existing colleges and further grants have been given to the universities of Hong Kong and Malta. To supplement these facilities in the Colonies scholarships are granted both from the Colonial Development and Welfare Vote and from Colonial Government resources to enable students from the Colonies to study at universities and other centres of higher education in this country. At present there are 1,448 of these scholars in addition to 3,285 private students. Scholarships are awarded primarily for studies which will be of most benefit to the Colonial territories concerned. The numbers in the four largest categories were: Engineering, 193; Medicine, 177; Teacher Training, 150; and Arts, 137.
§ LORD CALVERLEYMy Lords, may I ask the noble Lord how many of these students are studying agriculture? Before he answers, may I crave the indulgence of your Lordships' House? I have put this Question down because before Christmas I made some remarks based upon information made by a distinguished journalist, an ex-Member of the other place and also a broadcaster, who wrote in a national newspaper that the greater proportion of these people were studying law in this country. I made some little research on my own and I thought the matter might be of such interest that your Lordships might like the exact information. If your Lordships will allow me to do so, I wish to express my regret—
§ SEVERAL NOBLE LORDS: Order, order!
§ LORD CALVERLEYI was asking the indulgence of your Lordships' House.
§ LORD OGMOREIn answer to the noble Lord, there are at present in this country sixty-five students from the Colonies studying agriculture. In addition, there are a number of students in the colleges of East and West Africa, and special training in agriculture also takes place at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture in Trinidad.