§ Mr. Gwynfor Evansasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many students who completed their courses in the current year in Welsh colleges of education are still without teaching posts; and what proportion this represents of the year's output.
§ Mr. Gerry FowlerAs I told my hon. Friend the Member for Cardigan (Mr.512W Howells on 17th May—[Vol. 911, c. 391–2]—I estimate that about 2,300 students will successfully complete courses in initial training in Wales this summer. My Department does not collect from colleges details of prospective employment of their students, and uncertainty about trends in wastage rates from and re-entry to teaching makes it impossible to give a reliable estimate of the number who will obtain teaching posts. Returns received so far from six of the eight Welsh LEAs indicate that they intend to employ 79 more teachers in their maintained primary and secondary schools in September than they employed in January.