§ Mr. Andrew Smithasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans his Department has for supporting education, specifically for women, in the Third world.
§ Mr. Chris PattenAbout £140 million a year is provided from the aid programme for supporting education. A substantial poportion is spent on education within developing countries and benefits both sexes.
Some £50 million of the total is currently spent on training in Britain. We are exploring the reasons for the low number of nominations of women or training awards and are making a major effort to increase the number receiving awards for the 1988–89 academic year and beyond. We also support less formal education specifically for women. Examples include aid for Pakistan's Open University, which is particularly helpful to women who cannot leave home for education, and recruitment of women for training as agricultural extension workers in Nepal.