§ 109. Mr. K. Thompsonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many educationally sub-normal delinquent children are known to his Department; what accommodation exists for them in schools or homes appropriate to their needs; and what measures are proposed to meet the deficiency.
§ Mr. EdeThe total number of educationally sub-normal delinquent children 97W is not known. Very few children ascertained as educationally sub-normal are committed to approved schools, but a high proportion of the children in the schools are backward and it is estimated that about one-fifth of the children under age 15 are so retarded as to need special educational treatment. Education in most approved schools is accordingly organised in small classes, attendance by staff at short courses in methods of teaching educationally sub-normal children is encouraged and emphasis is laid on a practical approach to the teaching of basic subjects and on craft work. The adequacy of the provision made for the numbers and types of children committed to the schools is kept under constant review.