§ Flight-Lieutenant Haireasked the Minister of Education what progress has been made in the setting up of county colleges.
§ Miss WilkinsonUnder the Education Act, 1944, the duty of local education authorities to establish and maintain county colleges is to operate from a date not later than three years after that on which the school leaving age is raised, to 15, namely, 1st April, 1947. As I have previously stated, having regard to the heavy building programme with which local education authorities will be faced in the fields of primary and secondary education, it is unlikely that the establishment of county colleges can begin earlier than 1950. My Department has recently published a pamphlet under the title "Youth's Opportunity "which I hope will be of service to local education authorities in preparing their plans for county colleges.