HC Deb 16 February 1971 vol 811 c425W
Mr. Bishop

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many women teachers were trained each year for the last five years and how many left the profession in each year; and what action she is taking to encourage more women to train as teachers and to remain in the profession after training.

Mr. van Straubenzee

The figures available are:

WOMEN TEACHERS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETING COURSES OF INITIAL TRAINING (OTHERWISE THAN AT ART TEACHER TRAINING CENTRES AND COLLEGES OF EDUCATION (TECHNICAL))
Academic Year Number
1964–65 13,377
1965–66 15,335
1966–67 17,782
1967–68 21,731
1968–69 23,670

WOMEN QUALIFIED TEACHERS LEAVING MAINTAINED PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS (OTHERWISE THAN ON TRANSFER TO OTHER POSTS IN GRANT-AIDED ESTABLISHMENTS)
Year ending 31st March Number
1966 19,070
1967 20,680
1968 21,120
1969 21,579
1970 Not yet available

Notes:

1. In addition many women teachers enter maintained schools from other sources.

2. Many of those who leave return later; in 1968–69 for example nearly 9,000 did so.

3. The number of women teachers in maintained schools has since 1968 been rising by over 10,000 a year.

4. There is no reason to think that wastage for other than family reasons is excessive.