§ Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many secondary teachers in each education authority are involved in the 3½ per cent. allowance for in-service training contained in Scottish Educational Department circular No. 1053; and what is the total number in each area.
§ Mr. Alexander FletcherThe number of teachers to be employed by each education authority is a matter for the authority to decide. The margin of 3½ per cent. allowed in the Government's public expenditure plans for several purposes, including in-service training would be sufficient to provide for some 900 secondary teachers in Scotland as a whole. Information about the total number of secondary teachers actually employed by each authority at September 1980 is not yet available.
§ Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will initiate a study of the savings to local authorities by the introduction of schemes of 380W school-based in-service training which were pioneered by Hamilton college of education.
§ Mr. Alexander FletcherNo. It would not be possible to estimate retrospectively the extent to which authorities might have decided to support other forms of in-service training had not all colleges of education introduced school-based in-service training.