HC Deb 12 May 1959 vol 605 cc128-30W
Mr. Skeffington

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what are the qualifications required for the teaching staff at the Natural Resources Training School, Tengeru, Tanganyika; the nature of the courses; the average attendance of students; and the cost of running this establishment.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd,

pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 28th April, 1959; Vol. 604, c. 107], supplied the following information

The teaching staff of the Natural Resources Training School comprises a principal, who is required to hold both a degree and a recognised teaching qualification; masters, who are not necessarily graduates but have teaching diplomas; teachers, holding the teachers certificates of the Tanganyika Department of Education; and technical instructors, holding licences to teach handwork subjects. In addition officers from various levels of the Agriculture, Veterinary, Forest and Social Development Departments are seconded for instructional work and these hold the qualifications appropriate to their substantive appointments.

The following courses are provided:

  1. (a) Two-year courses for boys who have passed Standard X to fit them for employment as Field Assistants (Agriculture) and Forest Rangers.
  2. (b) One-year courses for serving Grade II teachers designed to equip them as teachers of elementary agriculture, principally in the middle schools.
  3. (c) Courses for the wives of the teachers on the above course (b) to instruct them in housekeeping, cooking and child care.
  4. (d) Courses for Women's Clubs Supervisors taken by a qualified teacher in domestic science. This is a six months' course in domestic skills, mothercraft and homecraft, leadership and women's clubs management.
  5. (e) A seven-week Swahili background course for newly-arrived expatriate officers designed to cover the problems of Tanganyika and to extend their knowledge of Kiswahili.

In addition, it is proposed to open in June a course for Social Development Assistants to be taught by senior officers of the Social Development Department.

The numbers enrolled for these courses are:

  1. (a) 59;
    2. 130
  2. (b) 24;
  3. (c) 12;
  4. (d) 20;
  5. (e) varies according to recruitment but up to 15 officers attend and 12 officers will attend the new course commencing in June.

In addition to the above courses, 74 students are at present following the third year of a three-year course (now obsolete) to which recruitment was made from boys who had passed Standard VIII and desired to be trained for employment in the natural resources departments. The entry qualification was raised from Standard VIII to Standard X in 1958. All students are boarders.

The cost of the establishment for the current financial year is estimated at £42,124.

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