The report also refers to the educational needs of adults, particularly Meir difficulties over learning English as a second language. The Secretaries of State for Education and Science and for Scotland have, of course, nov
received the report on the Tutor Training Project funded by Government, iiich
appears to have been a very useful and welcome initiative. They will, I understand, be commenting separately on this in due course. As regards
the availability of funding for students in further education, the
Government's policy is to enable refugee students to benefit from the same
arrangements as apply to home students. This, as the Committee recognises,
is a major advance. It would be invidious, however, for the Government to allow Vietnamese students better treatment than this by granting mandatory awards for "requalification" for example and with present financial
constraints there are bound to be limits on the availability of discretizzamy
awards from local education authorities. As for the supplementary benefit
regulations, these already make provision for refugees who have been in
Great Britain for less than 12 months and who need to learn English to
equip themselves to obtain employment to follow a full-time course of up to 6 (or exceptionally 9) months whilst still in receipt of benefit. To
go further than this might prejudice the basic principle that supplementa
benefit is not the appropriate means of support for full-time students.
There is, however, I understand, considerable scope for unemployed people
to undertake part-time study or training under the 21 hour rule to which the
report refers. As regards the recommendation that section 11 of the Loca Government Act 1966 should be amended to cover refugees who are not from the Commonwealth, I regret that I can offer no early prospect of legislati
to amend the section.
Turning to employment, the evidence of the Vietnamese ill-fittedness for
employment in this country and their depressing level of unemployment is clearly set out in the report. I hope, however, I can reassure you that
Government for its part is making a determined effort to improve this
position. I understand that as a matter of priority the Manpower Services Commission will be reviewing its current policy and guidance to local
offices on the help to be given in settling refugees into suitable empley-
ment. Particular attention will be given to the Vietnamoso, who still
need considerable resettlement and a close watch kept on their progress. MSC will continue to encourage the involvement of Vietnamese refugees in
their programmes designed to enhance their acceptability to employers, main as the Community Programme. In addition, there are continuing development:
in the field of special help for long-term unemployed people and MSC
will be examining ways in which the application of policy can best be targeted at specific groups such as the Vietnamese. The main contribution of