§ Mr. Montgomeryasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what difficulties are being experienced by polytechnics and other colleges for which she is responsible in placing sandwich course students in industry for the practical training part of their courses.
§ Mrs. ThatcherDifficulties have arisen in finding sufficient suitable places. I greatly value this type of course, which is designed with the needs of industry as much as of the student in mind. The Confederation of British Industry recently drew the attention of their members to the great gains that industry could derive from the sandwich system of education and training and asked for strong industrial support in this area. I endorse this appeal. Any trend away from sandwich courses could well do great harm to a unique element in our higher education arrangements.