§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, from information available from international sources, by how much the pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools in the European Economic Community increased or decreased between 1959–60 and in the most recent year for which statistics are available; and how this compares with 205W the increase or decrease in the pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools in England and Wales for the same period.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeThe following table based on information contained in the UNESCO Year Book 1970 gives the latest available figure of number of pupils per teacher at the first level of education in each of the six EEC countries, compared with England and Wales in 1968–69, and also the percentage change since 1960:
Latest available figures Pupil/teacher ratio Percentage change since 1960 per cent. West Germany 1968 27 -7 France 1968 24* -33 Italy 1968 22 -4 Netherlands 1968 31† -9 Belgium 1967 21‡ +9 Luxembourg 1967 23 -12 All Common Market Countries 1967–68 26 -9 England and Wales 1968║ 23§ -2 * Public education only. †Based on full-time teaching staff only. ‡Including special education. §Including an element for all-age schools. ║1968 figures used for comparability with EEC countries. The education systems of the various countries have salient differences which can affect the comparability of these figures and care should, therefore, be exercised in any use made of them. Similarly, the basis of the figures is not always constant from year to year.