§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what action his Department is taking to encourage members of ethnic minority groups to enter the teaching profession.
§ Mrs. RumboldThe Department is actively encouraging the development of a number of new initial teacher training courses specially designed to attract more students from the ethnic minorities. This is reflected in the Department's teacher recruitment publicity and is part of the remit of the Teaching as a Career Unit, which we set up in April 1987. The collection by local education authorities of statistics on the ethnic origins of school teachers, announced by my right hon. Friend in answer to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Greenway) on 28 October, at column 261, will help us monitor progress.