§ Mr. Russellasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what progress has been made in education in British Guiana in recent years.
§ Mr. LytteltonA school-building programme has increased accommodation in primary schools by 12,129 places or 21 per cent. during the period 1945–52. The cost was largely met by a Colonial Development and Welfare grant of $699,998. A complementary scheme for providing teachers' houses for the new schools cost $125,040 and was financed from the same source. During the same period the number of primary school teachers has increased by 275.
A new building for the Government secondary school, Queens College, was completed in 1951 at a cost of $562,000. In the same year a new technical institute was also opened; expenditure on this building was $150,000
The following table which gives the total expenditure (including Colonial Development and Welfare funds) by the Education Department shows that 226W expenditure has more than doubled since the end of the war:
$ 1945 1,240,848 1946 1,382,464 1947 1,532,438 1948 1,684,939 1949 2,049,040 1950 2,607,088 1951 2,716,975 1952 2.966,612 In addition to these sums, the Government also provided money for the running of the two Government secondary schools (Queens College (Boys) and Bishops' High School (Girls)), made a contribution to the University College of the West Indies, and provided various scholarships and training grants. In 1952 these items amounted to $232,871.
Education has, therefore, made substantial progress in the territory since the war, but there is a great deal still to be done. Primary schools are still over crowded and with the rapidly growing population many more places are needed. This problem was examined by a local committee in 1952 and its report was put before the P.P.P. Ministers. This was, however, one of the many problems of the Territory that they never attempted to tackle. The International Bank Mission has recommended the expenditure of $875,000 during the next five years on school buildings and $100,000 on the housing of rural teachers.