§ Sir E. Graham-Littleasked the Minister of Education what is the total number of children and teachers respectively at present in the national schools; and whether he is satisfied with the ratio of pupils to teachers.
§ Mr. TomlinsonIn January, 1948, the latest date for which the information is available, there were 5,355,000 children on the registers of maintained and assisted primary and secondary schools (other than nursery or special schools). At the same time, there were 195,300 full-time teachers in these schools. The average number of pupils for each full-time teacher was therefore 27.4. I am not satisfied with this ratio, and as Circular 174 shows I have taken steps to improve it.