§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the proportion of children in receipt of nursery schooling in the (a) Kirkby and (b) Ormskirk areas for each of the years 1974 to 1979; and how these figures compare with the rest of England for the same period.
§ Dr. BoysonThe information requested is not readily available for areas smaller than local education authorities. For Knowsley and Lancashire—the local education authorities within which Kirkby and Ormskirk, respectively, are situated—and England, the numbers of full-time and part-time pupils under five years in maintained nursery schools and nursery classes of maintained primary schools expressed as percentages of the estimated population aged 3 and 4 years were as follows:
was the statutory age school population in those years compared with the current year.
§ Mr. Mark CarlisleAt the beginning of 1980 there were 423 HMI in post in England, of whom about three quarters were employed mainly in inspecting schools; in addtion, 60 HMI were on 807W loan to the Welsh Office. The corresponding figures for 1974 are 441 and 47, and for 1964 532 in England and Wales.
The numbers of children of compulsory school age in all schools in England and Wales in January of each year were as follows:
The minimum school leaving age was raised from 15 to 16 in September 1973. Figures for January 1980 are not yet available.
thousands 1964 6,942 1974 8,907 1979 8,781