§ Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total number of schools in Scotland providing exclusively for mentally and/or socially handicapped children ; how many 88W children are on the rolls; how many of the schools are run by private organisations ; how many are unregistered, and for what reasons.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellFigures relating to the educational provision for mentally handicapped children are as shown in the following table ; social handicap is not one of the handicaps specified in the Special Educational Treatment (Scotland) Regulations, 1954. It is illegal for anyone to conduct an unregistered independent school and I have no reason to believe that there are any such schools.
The figures are as follows :
Number of schools Number of mentally handicapped children on roll Schools dealing exclusively with mentally handicapped children : Education Authority special schools 102 5,218 Grant aided schools 1 67 Independent schools 2 63 Schools dealing with mentally handicapped as well as other handicapped children : Education Authority special schools 26 3,595 Independent schools 6 * Other provision for mentally handicapped children : Education Authority schools to which special classes for mentally handicapped children are attached 61 986 * The number of mentally handicapped children receiving education in independent special schools is not known. The returns received from these schools show only the total number of children on the roll.