§ Mr. AshleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many teachers have been seconded for training as teachers of the deaf in the academic year 1988–89 under the new grant related in-service training scheme; and what steps he has taken to ensure that at least the minimum number of teachers necessary to maintain the current supply will be trained in that year.
§ Mrs. RumboldFigures are not yet available for courses starting in September 1988. We have made provision through the LEA training grants scheme to support the training of 110 specialist teachers of the deaf through in-service training. This, with the numbers qualifying through initial training, is sufficient to maintain supply broadly at current levels. LEAs have, however, forecast that they will spend some 50 per cent. more in 1988–89 than the sum allocated under the training grant scheme to provide for the 110 trainees.
§ Mr. AshleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many qualified teachers of the deaf are employed in maintained and non-maintained schools; and how many teachers not having a specialist qualification are employed to teach hearing-impaired children.
§ Mrs. RumboldInformation in the form requested is riot available. The available information, which covers England and Wales as at March 1986, is as follows
In maintained and direct grant special schools there were 704 full-time teachers who were recorded as holding qualifications for teaching the hearing-impaired. In main-tamed nursery, primary and seconday schools there were 692 full-time teachers teaching classes for hearing-impaired or visually handicapped children. Of these, 477 were recorded as bolding qualifications for teaching the hearing-impaired, 26 for teaching the visually handicapped and 189 had neither type of qualification recorded.