HC Deb 27 November 1961 vol 650 cc15-7W
Mr. Malcolm MacPherson

asked the Minister of Education (I) whether he will make a statement about the agenda of the forthcoming Commonwealth Education Conference at Delhi;

(2) if he will now announce the composition of the British delegation to the forthcoming Commonwealth Education Conference in Delhi.

Sir D. Eccles

The delegation will be led by myself and I shall be accompanied by my right hon. Friend the Secretary for Technical Co-operation. The other delegates from the United Kingdom, besides officials from the Government Departments concerned and the British Council, will be:

  1. Dr. J. W. Cook, Vice-Chancellor, University of Exeter.
  2. Dr. J. F. Foster, Secretary, Association of Universities of the British Commonwealth.
  3. Mr. A. Hill, Managing Director, Heinemann Educational Books, Limited, London.
  4. Dr. W. B. Inglis, Principal, Moray House, College of Education, Edinburgh.
  5. Professor L. J. Lewis, Professor of Education, Institute of Education, University of London.
  6. Sir Douglas Logan, Principal, University of London.
  7. Mr. R. M. Marsh. County Education Officer, Hampshire.
  8. Miss M. Miles, Headmistress. Mayfield Comprehensive School, London.
  9. Mr. E. E. Temple, Assistant Secretary, Association of Universities of the British Commonwealth.
  10. Dr. G. E. Watts, Principal, Brighton Technical College.

The Dependent Territories of the Commonwealth will be represented in the delegation by Ministers of Education from Aden, British Guiana, The Gambia, Kenya, Mauritius, Uganda and Zanzibar and by officials from the Bahamas, Fiji, Hong Kong, North Borneo, Sarawak, Singapore, the West Indies and Basutoland, the Bechuanaland Protectorate and Swaziland.

The agenda for the conference, which has been drawn up by the Commonwealth Education Liaison Committee and the Governments concerned, is as follows:

  1. 1. To receive and consider reports on the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan; and to recommend such measures as are considered necessary for improving its working.
  2. 2. To receive and consider reports on the training of teachers; and to recommend such measures as are considered necessary for improving the working of these schemes.
  3. 3. To receive and consider reports on the supply of teachers to other Commonwealth countries for service in universities and in other educational institutions, and to recommend such measures as are considered necessary for improving the working of these schemes.
  4. 4. To receive and consider reports on technical education; and to recommend such measures as are considered necessary for improving the working of these schemes.
  5. 5. To receive and consider reports on the work of the Commonwealth Education Liaison Committee and the Commonwealth Education Liaison Unit and to recommend what administrative machinery will be required to assist intra-Commonwealth cooperation in the future.
  6. 6. To consider the possibility of co-operation in the extension of, or addition to, the Commonwealth Scholarship arid Fellowship Plan by providing awards for:
    1. (a) basic professional training not obtainable in the student's own country;
    2. (b) undergraduate study at universities and colleges of adult education;
    3. (c) study at technical colleges below postgraduate level;
    4. (d) short-term visits of senior educationists; and
    5. (e) travel grants.
  7. 7. To consider the possibility of cooperation in the provision of text-books and other hooks, viewed in relation to items 1 to 4 above.
  8. 8. To consider the possibility of co-operation in social education.
  9. 9. To consider the possibility of co-operation in education in rural communities.
  10. 10. To consider the possibility of cooperation in the financial problems of education expansion.
  11. 11. To consider in general the holding of conferences of experts from Commonwealth countries and in particular the holding of 17 conferences of experts on the following subjects—
    1. (a) school building;
    2. (b) the teaching of science and mathematics;
    3. (c) the use of audio-visual aids including television in education.

The Prime Minister of India, Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru, will open the conference in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on Thursday morning, 11 th January, and Dr. K. L. Shrimali, Minister of Education, will be its Chairman. About 200 delegates from thirteen Commonwealth countries and from Colonial Territories are expected to attend. The conference will end on 25th January, but delegates are being invited to remain in New Delhi for Republic Day ceremonies on the following day.