§ Mr. Bourne-Artonasked the Minister of Education whether he has received the Report of the Advisory Sub-Committee on Agricultural Education; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Sir D. EcclesIn September, 1959, the National Advisory Council for Education in Industry and Commerce set up an Advisory Sub-Committee, composed partly of its own members and partly of experts in the field of agricultural education, to advise on the steps to be taken, in the light of the De La Warr 39W Report, to develop education for agriculture in establishments maintained by local education authorities. The First Report of the Sub-Committee has been endorsed by the National Advisory Council and I have today issued the Report to local education authorities with a Circular commending it. I am placing copies of the Circular and Report in the Library of the House.
The Report broadly endorses the relevant recommendations of the De La Warr Committee and I am glad to have this opportunity of expressing my appreciation and that of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, to the Chairman and members of the De La Warr Committee, and of the Advisory Sub-Committee, for their important contribution to the progress of agricultural education, and for the constructive and far-reaching proposals they have made. If the recommendations I have now endorsed are adopted by local authorities and are supported by the farming community, as I earnestly hope they will be, there should shortly be in operation a co-ordinated system of courses designed to meet the needs of the farming industry, available in suitable centres all over the country. I hope to make a further statement when the second report of the Advisory Sub-Committee has been received and considered.