§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science from information available from international sources, what percentage of the national income of the Netherlands was devoted to current expenditure on pre-school and primary education in the most recent year for which statistics are available; and how this compares with the percentage in the United Kingdom for the same year.
§ Mr. van Straubenzee:In 1967–68 current expenditure on pre-school and first level education amounted to an estimated 1.7 per cent. of gross national product in the Netherlands and to an estimated 1.0 per cent. in the United Kingdom. The Netherlands figure, unlike the United Kingdom, includes, however, a share of administrative expenditure and the education systems have salient differences that can affect the comparability of these figures.