§ Lord MERRIVALEasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether it is proposed to initiate discussions or, whether negotiations are taking place with any Francophone African Governments, or of the Democratic Republic of Madagascar, with a view to reaching an agreement, on the placement of students in the United Kingdom at Colleges of Further and Higher Education, along the lines of the Agreement (Cmnd. 7077) which entered into force on 1st September 1977.
§ The MINISTER of STATE, FOREIGN and COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (Lord Goronwy-Roberts)No, my Lords, the technical training to which the noble Lord refers was requested by the Nigerian1674WA Government and fully paid for by them. None of the Francophone African countries has requested such training on this basis. However, more than 200 awards annually, provided mainly under the Technical Co-operation Training Programmes, have been allocated to the countries concerned.