§ Mr. KynochTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the future arrangements for the initial training of further education college lecturers in Scotland.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonIn recent years, much has been done to raise the status and quality of further education in Scotland so that students have the opportunity to develop their skills and abilities through vocational as well as academic routes.
If FE students are to receive top-quality education, college lecturers must themselves be effectively trained to provide it. The kind of training that they receive has a significant bearing on the standards of education the public expect FE colleges to deliver. This is why the Government set up a review committee in May 1992 to consider and make recommendations on the future arrangements for the initial training of lecturers. The report of the review committee was published in September last year and has since been the subject of an extensive consultation exercise with representatives of the education sector.
The Government fully endorse the report's conclusions that lecturing staff in further education should be trained and qualified to the highest standards. In writing to the FE colleges about their development plans, before final decisions were reached on the report, Scottish Office Education Department officials stressed the desirability, in the interests of both colleges and lecturers, of continuing to support the teaching qualification (further education) course offered by the Scottish school of further education, which is now part of Strathclyde university. I am glad to say that there has been an encouraging response and an increase in the uptake of places on the course. Although we do not intend to make it compulsory for lecturers to undertake the course, we accept the report's recommendation that lecturers should be strongly encouraged to undertake the teaching qualification (further education) course and will continue to explore ways in which the recent increase in uptake can be sustained. The General Teaching Council for Scotland will also, of course, continue to accredit the TQ(FE) course for registration purposes and to encourage prospective lecturers to register, although, as recommended in the report, registration will continue to be a matter for individuals. Relationships between FE and schools will develop as a result of our 607W "Higher Still" proposals and, since incorporation, a variety of FF/HE links have emerged. We accept, therefore, the report's recommendation that the issues of compulsory qualification and GTC registration should be reconsidered in a few years time in the light of these developments.
To ensure the effective implementation of the other recommendations in the report, we will establish a working group, with strong representation from the FE sector, to define FE training needs and competences, and to draw up national guidelines on which future TQ(FE) courses will be based. The working group, assisted by the short-term appointment of a consultant, will be asked to report by November 1994. In tandem with this exercise, the Scottish Office Education Department will, in conjunction with the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council, conduct an analysis of the costs of the current TQ(FE) course and consider costed options for its future funding. In the meantime, the existing TQ(FE) course will continue to be
Regional Enterprise Grants and Regional Selective Assistance Offers accepted 1 August 1992 to 31 Travel-to-work-area Regional Innovation Grants Regional Investment Grants Regional Selective Assistance Number Value (£) Number Value (£) Number Value (£) Dunfermline 5 125,000 2 17,659 3 240,000 Kirkcaldy 4 97,630 8 102,873 8 2,774,000
§ Mr. McLeishTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the level of regional selective assistance grants and regional enterprise grants in Fife compared to the number and levels of grant offered.
§ Mr. Stewart[holding answer 27 June 1994]: The data from projects completed either successfully or otherwise in recent years have shown that, on average, 70 per cent. of the value of regional selective assistance offers accepted in Scotland was eventually paid. The comparable figure for regional enterprise grants was 75 per cent. Figures for individual regions will fluctuate around these levels.