§ Sir Russell Fairgrieveasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish the report of the Council for Tertiary Education in Scotland on the structure and management of tertiary education.
§ Mr. YoungerI have arranged for the report to be published today, and copies have been placed in the Library and are available in the Vote Office.
The council's principal recommendations are:
- (1) that a new body should be set up to oversee the whole of tertiary education in Scotland—excluding the universities;
- (2) that the funds which the Government decide are required for tertiary education, advanced and non-advanced, should come from the Exchequer and be allocated on the central body's advice directly to those colleges engaged mainly in providing advanced courses and indirectly through the education authorities to those colleges concerned wholly or mainly with the provision of non-advanced courses.
Copies of the report are being widely distributed to organisations and institutions which have an interest in tertiary education for their consideration and comment. I wish to take their views into account before deciding what action should be taken on the council's recommendations.
I should like to express my gratitude to the chairman of the council, Sir Norman Graham, and to his colleagues on the committee which prepared the report for the very thorough way in which they have conducted this important inquiry and for the clarity with which they have presented their conclusions.