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Page 286 8. Too many students are attending evening classes (see Appendix A on Statistics and Explanation of Terms. Study after a day's work is often not good enough for present requirements. Our policy is, therefore, to encourage day-time release, and to increase the number of places for this purpose at the appropriate satellite colleges. At present about 180,000 boys under 18 are taking day-time courses. We should persuade industry to double this number.
9. We must also undertake a campaign to get more boys to persevere to the end of the course. The wastage to-day is even more serious here than in the advanced courses.
THE PROGRAMME OF CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT
10. We have compiled for England and Wales a provisional list of building projects for carrying out these policies (see Appendix B). It is based on our present information about the needs of industry in the different parts of England and Wales, but new developments may very well create new needs. The total cost of these projects at present prices is estimated roughly at £70 million, with a further £15 million for equipment, say £85 million in all.
11. For 1956-57 the local education authorities asked for permission to start building to the value of £30 million. I could allow them only £9 million, and this had to cover some further education developments outside the scope of this paper, e.g., for commerce. At this rate the last projects in the £70 million programme cannot begin before 1964-65. This is not good enough. I suggest the programme should be expanded year by year with the object of starting the whole of it within five years from now.
THE SUPPLY OF TEACHERS
12. It would be a waste of money to build new technical colleges unless we made sure of recruiting adequate teaching staff.
At present there are 10,400 full-time and 34,000 part-time teachers in technical colleges. We shall need some 7,500 more full-time teachers. It will certainly be necessary to improve pay and conditions if we are to get the right men in competition with industry and other rival employers.
13. We shall hope to recruit some from industry or research work; others may come from the secondary schools as the bulge passes through them. The number of places and special courses for training teachers for technical colleges will have to be increased.
14. Industry has been generous in releasing part-time teachers, and we can expect this source to expand, but it cannot be a complete substitute for full-time staff.
15. While I am certain we should not slow down the building programme on the score of a shortage of teachers, there is no doubt we shall have to make a major effort to get them.
TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND LIBERAL STUDIES
16. The clamour for scientific and technical education is so great that we shall have continually to watch the courses given in technical colleges to see that they are broad enough. In particular, the ability to speak and write clear English seems to be declining, and I should think it wrong if the technical colleges did not make an effort to improve the knowledge and use of our language.
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CONCLUSION
17. Before the financial estimates are discussed in detail, I am asking my colleagues to give general approval to the policy of technical college development outlined in this memorandum, and, in particular:
(a) to increase the annual output of technologists from technical colleges as
soon as possible from 10,000 to at least 15,000;
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