§ Mr. Ben ChapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many foreign students have benefited from English language training funded by the British Council in each of the last 10 years; and how much has been spent on such training in each of these years. [21216]
§ Mr. HanleyThe British Council spends a large proportion of its grant-in-aid in supporting teacher training and other projects which aim to improve the quality of English teaching in state education systems overseas. In 1995–96 this amounted to £17,500,000 or 16 per cent. of grant-in-aid. Figures for expenditure in other years are not readily available; neither are numbers for individuals, although in east and central Europe alone approximately 30,000 teachers benefited in the year 1995–96.
The Council does not teach English in this country. It does administer English language training in the UK for foreign students funded by the Overseas Development Administration's technical co-operation training programme, the FCO's Chevening scholarships programme, multilateral aid agencies and the council's own grant-in-aid. Overall figures for the last three years are as follows:
- 1996–97
- 395 students: £1,998,000.
- 1995–96
- 471 students: £2,459,000.
- 1994–95
- 520 students: £3,114,000.
These figures include fellowships funded by the Council from its government grant-in-aid as follows:
- 1996–97
- 17 students: £63,600.
- 1995–96
- 34 students: £161,000.
770 - 1994–95
- 54 students: £247,000.
Figures for previous years are not readily available.
During the past three years the British Council has also delivered English courses to 330,000 students in its language teaching centres overseas, which are all self-funding. The total number of students attending these courses over the last 10 years has been 960,000. This has been at no charge to the taxpayer.