§ Miss Herbisonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) which education authorities have expressed to him their objections to the Draft Training of Teachers (Scotland) (Amendment No. 7) Regulations, 1953;
70W(2) from which education bodies in Scotland he has received support for the Draft Training of Teachers (Scotland) (Amendment No. 7) Regulations, 1953;
(3) which provincial committees for the training of teachers in Scotland have objected to the Draft Training of Teachers (Scotland) (Amendment No. 7) Regulations, 1953.
§ Mr. J. StuartThe following bodies have supported the proposal in the Draft Regulations without suggesting any amendments
Edinburgh Education Authority.Moray and Nairn Education Authority.Sutherland Education Authority.The Association of Directors of Education.The Association of Headmistresses (Scottish Branch).The following have suggested that a pass in higher English should remain essential:Angus Education Authority.East Lothian Education Authority.Peeblesshire Education Authority.Perthshire Education Authority.The National Committee for the Training of Teachers.I have amended the Draft to give effect to this suggestion. Angus Education Authority suggested that a higher pass in another subject should also remain essential, but I have not accepted this proposal. The following have suggested that the proposed changes should be temporary:Midlothian Education Authority.Kirkcudbright Education Authority.The Edinburgh College of Domestic Science.I have not specifically provided for this because the standards required for entry to training colleges have frequently been changed in the past and are subject to alteration at any time. The following education authorities have opposed the Draft Regulations:Aberdeen Education Authority.Glasgow Education Authority.Dumfriesshire Education Authority.Kincardine Education Authority.Lanarkshire Education Authority.Renfrewshire Education Authority.The Provincial Committees for the Training of Teachers of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen have objected to the Draft, but as I have said the National Committee for Scotland has approved them.
§ Miss Herbisonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how far representations have been made to him by the 71W Scottish universities on the Draft Training of Teachers (Scotland) (Amendment No. 7) Regulations, 1953; what was the nature of these representations; and by which universities were they made.
§ Mr. J. StuartI have received representations from the Senatus of Aberdeen University. The representations recognise that the change in the standard of entry to the training colleges is intended to relieve the shortage of teachers and that the existing shortage and the employment of uncertificated teachers are both disadvantageous to education. They point out that the high birth-rate in the years immediately following the war has since declined and that this will result in a smaller school population within a measurable distance of time, but that the teachers who have been admitted to the training colleges with a lower qualification will remain in the schools for many years. I do not think that these representations take sufficient account of the forecast made by the Committee on the Supply of Teachers that if additional steps were not taken to increase the supply of primary teachers there would by the end of 1956–57 be a deficiency of over 2,000.