Mr. Jim Callaghanasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many teachers are employed in the Greater Manchester area; how this compares with each of the previous three years; and if he will publish the numbers of qualified teachers unemployed, both nationally and in the region.
§ Dr. BoysonThe latest available figures for teachers in service are for September 1980. In the local education authority areas in Greater Manchester there were then 27,954 teachers in the maintained nursery, primary, secondary and special education sectors, including unattached units for handicapped children, or providing education otherwise than at school under section 56 of the Education Act 1944. The comparable figures for September in 1977, 1978 and 1979 were, respectively, 27,970, 28,377 and 28,510. Part-time teachers are counted on the basis of their full-time equivalence. In December 1980 there were 11,255 people registered in England with the Department of Employment as unemployed and seeking teaching posts in schools. The comparable figure for the North-West of England was 1,854; separate information on Greater Manchester is not available.