XN000022-1971-02-24 — Page 18

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Wednesday, February 24, 1971

$610.8 MILLION ON EDUCATION

Not Including Cost of Three Decisions Already Made In Principle

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Government spending on education in the next financial year is

estimated at $610.8 million, compared with $272 million five years ago.

But Sir John Cowperthwaite, Financial Secretary, said today the

figure was "understated" because it did not include provisions for three

decisions that had been made in principle, but whose detailed application

had not been formally approved "so that it would not be entirely proper to

ask the Council to vote funds for them in the context of the Estimates."

The first was the revised structure of teachers' salaries, which

would cost about $13 million a year initially.

The second was the new and extended programmo of post-primary education,

calculated to cost $9 million in recurrent costa initially, plus $10 million in

capital subsidies.

The third was the formal decision already taken to provide primary

education free, though the actual details of the scheme had not been fully

agreed yet.

Sir John said it would probably cost initially $14 million a year,

including an additional subsidy to meet certain essential costs of school

operation at prosent net from additional contributions by parents, not from

the basic fees.

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