§ 116. Mr. Sorensenasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is satisfied with the present rate of educational expansion in the West African Colonies; to what extent agreement has been reached respecting divergent proposals for higher education; and if all school and college buildings requisitioned during the war have now been derequisitioned.
Mr. Creech JonesNo, Sir, I am not satisfied but, having regard to present difficulties in the recruitment of trained manpower and the execution of building programmes, the West African Governments are pressing forward with the development of education facilities as rapidly as possible. Proposals for higher education, based largely on the minority report of the Commission on Higher Education in West Africa were sent to the West African Governments by my predecessor in July last. A delegation of the Inter-Universities Council for Higher Education in the Colonies has just returned from a visit to West Africa, where these proposals were discussed with the four Governments and others concerned. I would prefer to await the Council's advice in the light of the report of this delegation before making any further statement on this subject.
In reply to the third part of the Question; all schools and colleges in the Gambia, Sierra Leone and Gold Coast which were requisitioned during the war have now been vacated with the exception of one school in the Gold Coast which is not at present required. In Nigeria all educational buildings except King's College, Lagos, have been de-requisitioned.