§ Lord Mayhewasked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps they are taking to increase the direct teaching of English in the Arab world, in which countries and at what expense.
§ The Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Lord Trefgarne)The British Council, the Government's main agency for the teaching of English overseas, maintains 17 direct teaching of English (DTE) operations in 12 countries in the Arab world. Expansion is currently under way in Jordan, where the operation has been granted a five-year loan (beginning 1987–88) of £60,000 from central British Council funds for the establishment of a special courses centre. Some modest expansion is planned in Jeddah without loan or subvention from central council funds; but demand overall in Saudi Arabia, as elsewhere in the region, has recently declined.