HC Deb 17 March 1964 vol 691 cc158-60W
50. Mrs. Castle

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations how many scholars studying in this country under the Commonwealth Scholarships Act, 1959, whose awards expired in 1962–63, decided to defer their return to their own country; what percentage this constituted of the total number of such scholars; what was the country of origin of those deferring their return; what subjects they were studying; and what reasons they gave for not wishing to return.

Mr. Sandys

Of the scholars studying in this country under the Commonwealth Scholarships Act, 1959, whose awards expired in 1962–63, 80 applied for permission to defer their return to their own country and, in 73 cases, the Commission granted permission for the deferment of payment of their return fares.

The 73 cases referred to represented 40 per cent. of the total of 184 awards which expired in 1962–63.

The country of origin of the 73 scholars concerned, and their subjects of study, will be given in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

DEFERMENT OF PAYMENT OF RETURN FARES OF COMMONWEALTH SCHOLARS
DEFERMENTS CLASSIFIED BY FIELD OF STUDY
Country Number of Scholarships expired 1962–63 Number of Scholars deferring return Arts Social Science Pure Science Technology Medicine Dentistry Agriculture and Forestry Veterinary Science
Australia 13 9 1 3 4 1
Canada 16 7 2 1 2 2
Ceylon 8 7 1 2 3 1
Cyprus 1
Ghana 2 1 1
India 35 9 2 3 4
Jamaica 4 1 1
Kenya 5 2 1 1
Malaysia: Malaya 4 3 1 1 1
Singapore 3 2 1 1
New Zealand 12 5 4 1 —.
Nigeria 17 7 1 1 1 1 3
Pakistan 13 3 1 1 1
Tanganyika 2
Trinidad 3 1 —. 1
Uganda 1
Zanzibar 2
Southern Rhodesia 7 3 1 1 1
Barbados 1 1 1 —.
British Guiana 3 1 1
British Honduras 1
Gambia 1 1 1
Gibraltar 1
High Commission Territories 3
Hong Kong 11 6 1 2 3
Malta 2
Mauritius 1
West Indies 3
South Africa 9 4 2 1 1
TOTAL 184 73 8 10 22 20 12 1

The reasons given by these students for wishing to defer their return are:

(i) to finish courses for which their scholarships were awarded and which they had been unable to complete in the duration of their awards 22
(ii) to undertake further courses additional and supplementary to those for which their scholarships were awarded 28
(iii) to undertake a period of work for the purposes of gaining professional experience (e.g. in a hospital or in an engineering works) 14
(iv) to make short visits to Europe before proceeding home 6
(v) for urgent or serious personal reasons 3
Total 73