§ Sir John Rodgersasked the Minister for Overseas Development whether, in view of the hardship occasioned to the Government of Sierra Leone and to individual Sierra Leonean students and prospective students in Great Britain by the recent and impending further rise in fees charged by universities and further education establishments, he will increase the number of OSFAS awards available to Sierra Leonean students, having regard to traditional educational lies between Great Britain and Sierra Leone and the difficulty that country will have in expanding her own higher education facilities.
§ Mr. PrenticeSo far as Government nominated students are concerned the fees of Sierra Leonean students brought to the United Kingdom under the technical assistance programme, which is agreed with that Government, will continue to be paid in full by my Department. The OSFAS scheme is now confined to cases of individual hardship and institutions are of course free to seek awards for Sierra Leone students but these are not allotted on the basis of nationality. Six out of eight Sierra Leone applicants were in fact granted awards for this academic year.