§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools in the Common Market as a whole in the most recent year for which statistics are available; and how this compares with the pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools in England and Wales for the same year.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeThe latest available ratio for the Common Market countries as a whole is for 1967–68 when it was 26 compared with 23 for England and Wales in 1968. These figures and those for the individual Common Market countries were included in the answer I gave to my hon. Friend on 24th April. As I then stated there are salient differences between the education systems of the various countries which can affect the comparability of these figures and care should be exercised in any use made of them.
§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much the proportion of the national incomes of the European Economic Community countries devoted to capital expenditure on education increased between 1960 and the most recent year for which statistics are available; and how this compares with the figures for the United Kingdom over the same period.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeFrom information contained in the UNESCO Year Book for 1969, it is estimated that in the European Economic Community countries, the proportion of the gross national products devoted to capital expenditure on education decreased by 12 per cent. between the financial years 1960–61 and 1967–68, while the proportion in the United Kingdom increased by 32 per cent, over the same period. The education systems concerned have, however, salient differences that can effect the comparability of the figures.