Full and Part-time Education

HC Deb 12 May 1972 vol 836 cc444-5W

Mr. Knox

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, from information available from international sources, what the percentage increase has been since 1958–59 in the number undergoing full and part-time education in the Netherlands; and how this compares with the percentage increase during the same period in England and Wales.

Mr. van Straubenzee:

A comparison is not readily available in the exact form requested. The percentage increases in full-time and part-time enrolments in the Netherlands between 1955 and 1967 derived from the latest figures available in the UNESCO Statistical Year Book for 1970 are:

First and Second Level	20
Third Level	151

The increases for England and Wales over the same period were:

First and Second Level	15
Third Level	207

First and Second Level figures include all years of compulsory education. However, the education systems of different countries have salient differences which can affect the comparability of all these figures and care must be exercised in any use made of them.