§ Mr. Scott-Hopkinsasked the Minister of Education (1) what is the number of teachers, by local education areas, at present in special schools who are specially trained to deal with educationally sub-normal children;
(2) what is the number of people specially qualified to teach educationally sub-normal children at present serving in primary, secondary and comprehensive schools, respectively; and what was the average size of their classes at the latest convenient date.
§ Mr. K. ThompsonSpecialised training is not a requirement for teachers of educationally sub-normal children and no regular return is made of the number of teachers with special qualifications. A special inquiry made last July showed the following number of teachers who 67W have taken one year special courses in the teaching of handicapped pupils (other than the blind, deaf and partially deaf) employed in special and other maintained schools.
68W
Local Education Authority Teaching in special schools Teaching in other maintained schools ENGLAND Counties: Berkshire 1 — Buckinghamshire 2 — Cambridgeshire 1 3 Cheshire 1 — Cornwall 1 — Derbyshire 7 2 Devon 2 — Durham 1 1 Essex 12 7 Gloucestershire 3 — Hampshire 1 5 Hertfordshire 4 3 Huntingdonshire — 1 Isle of Ely 1 — Isle of Wight — 2 Kent 12 13 Lancashire 10 6 Leicestershire — 1 Lincs. (Kesteven) 1 — Lincs. (Lindsey) — 3 Middlesex 9 14 Norfolk 1 — Northumberland 2 1 Nottinghamshire 3 — Oxfordshire 1 1 Somerset 1 — Staffordshire 9 2 Suffolk, East 1 2 Suffolk, West — 1 Surrey 6 3 Sussex, East 4 2 Sussex, West 3 1 Warwickshire 11 1 Wiltshire — 1 Worcestershire 4 1 Yorks, North Riding 2 1 Yorks, West Riding 4 1 London 64 23 County Boroughs: Barnsley 1 — Barrow-in-Furness 1 — Birkenhead 1 — Birmingham 30 4 Blackpool 1 1 Bolton — 1 Bootle 2 — Bournemouth — 1 Brighton — 1 Bristol — 3 Coventry 1 1 Croydon 2 — Darlington 1 — Derby 2 — Dudley 1 — Eastbourne 1 — East Ham 2 1 Gateshead 1 — Gloucester 1 — Great Yarmouth — 1 Grimsby 4 1
Local Education Authority Teaching in special schools Teaching in other maintained schools ENGLAND (cont.): County Boroughs (cont.): Huddersfield 1 — Kingston upon Hull 1 — Leeds 5 2 Liverpool 14 2 Manchester 2 — Newcastle upon Tyne 2 1 Northampton 2 — Norwich 1 — Oldham 1 — Oxford 3 — Portsmouth 1 — Preston 2 — Reading 1 — Rochdale 2 — St. Helens 1 — Smethwick 1 — Southport 1 1 Stockport 1 1 Tynemouth 1 — Walsall 2 1 Warrington 1 — West Ham 5 2 Wigan — 1 WALES Counties: Breconshire — 1 Glamorgan 4 3 Monmouthshire 1 2 Pembrokeshire — 3 County Boroughs: Cardiff 7 — Merthyr Tydfil — 2 Newport (Mon.) 2 — Swansea 1 — TOTALS 304 137 In addition eleven such teachers were employed in special schools not maintained by local education authorities.
The maximum size laid down by Regulations for a class of educationally sub-normal pupils is 20; but my right hon. Friend has no information as to the actual size of such classes in schools other than special schools.
§ Mr. Scott-Hopkinsasked the Minister of Education what is the number of children in England and Wales, county by county, who are classified as educationally sub-normal; and what were their age groups at the last convenient date.
§ Mr. K. ThompsonThe following table gives for the area of each local education authority in January, 1961, the number of educationally sub-normal children who are receiving special educational treatment, except for those 69W receiving it in the ordinary schools, the number of which is not known.
70W
ENGLAND Counties Bedfordshire 224 Berkshire 275 Buckinghamshire 507 Cambridgeshire 151 Cheshire 163 Cornwall 74 Cumberland 88 Derbyshire 398 Devon 202 Dorset 127 Durham 577 Essex 1,383 Gloucestershire 555 Hampshire 224 Hereforshire 80 Hertfordshire 487 Huntingdonshire 39 Isle of Ely 75 Isle of Wight 10 Isles of Scilly 1 Kent 854 Lancashire 1,334 Leicestershire 130 Lincs.—Holland 77 Lincs.—Kesteven 119 Lincs.—Lindsey 206 Middlesex 1,316 Norfolk 93 Northamptonshire 184 Northumberland 232 Nottinghamshire 243 Oxfordshire 128 Peterborough Jt. Education Board 37 Rutland 1 Shropshire 137 Somerset 338 Staffordshire 503 Suffolk East 89 Suffolk West 19 Surrey 917 Sussex East 228 Sussex West 323 Warwickshire 530 Westmorland 28 Wiltshire 169 Worcestershire 223 Yorks. East Riding 90 Yorks. North Riding 310 Yorks. West Riding 790 London 4,100 County Boroughs Barnsley 55 Barrow-in-Furness 98 Bath 115 Birkenhead 117 Birmingham 1,290 Blackburn 108 Blackpool 165 Bolton 169 Bootle 114 Bournemouth 81 Bradford 309 Brighton 191 Bristol 363 Burnley 76 Burton-upon-Trent 5 Bury 71 71W
ENGLAND (cont.): County Boroughs (cont.): Canterbury 13 Carlisle 106 Chester 20 Coventry 387 Croydon 203 Darlington 68 Derby 197 Dewsbury 69 Doncaster 90 Dudley 99 Eastbourne 70 East Ham 66 Exeter 24 Gateshead 26 Gloucester 168 Great Yarmouth 2 Grimsby 119 Halifax 107 Hastings 68 Huddersfield 152 Ipswich 104 Kingston upon Hull 179 Leeds 663 Leicester 166 Lincoln 68 Liverpool 1,845 Manchester 751 Middlesbrough 171 Newcastle upon Tyne 350 Northampton 73 Norwich 161 Nottingham 422 Oldham 79 Oxford 113 Plymouth 286 Portsmouth 290 Preston 98 Reading 151 Rochdale 123 Rotherham 132 St. Helens 94 Salford 93 Sheffield 538 Smethwick 137 Southampton 151 Southend-on-Sea 116 Southport 6 South Shields 142 Stockport 155 Stoke-on-Trent 143 Sunderland 218 Tynemouth 75 Wakefield 75 Wallasey 119 Walsall 223 Warrington 154 West Bromwich 153 West Ham 171 West Hartlepool 82 Wigan 10 Wolverhampton 152 Worcester 23 York 91 WALES Counties Anglesey 75 Breconshire 11 Caernarvonshire 43 Cardiganshire 15 Carmarthenshire 43 Denbighshire 83
WALES (cont.): Counties (cont.) Flintshire 7 Glamorgan 227 Merioneth 8 Monmouthshire 62 Montgomeryshire 53 Pembrokeshire 25 Radnorshire 6 County Boroughs Cardiff 306 Merthyr Tydfil — Newport (Mon.) 132 Swansea 136 Totals (England and Wales) 35,347 Details of the ages of the children in the areas of individual authorities are not available. The numbers of children in special schools for educationally subnormal children, classified by age in January, 1960, for the country as a whole can be found on page 172 of my Department's Annual Report for 1960.
§ Mr. Scott-Hopkinsasked the Minister of Education how many trained psychiatrists are employed by him to test children reported as educationally subnormal by head teachers; and how long a period of time elapses between report and test.
§ Mr. K. ThompsonLocal education authorities have a duty to ascertain which children in their area require special educational treatment. For the purpose of testing children believed to be educationally sub-normal they usually employ school medical officers with special training and educational psychologists. Psychiatrists are not ordinarily engaged in this work. Every attempt is made to test a child as soon as possible after he comes to the notice of the local education authority. The period varies according to local conditions; delays are often unavoidable owing to a shortage of qualified staff and I am looking into this aspect of the matter.