asked the Minister of Education whether, in view of the recent expansion of colonial development, policy measures will be adopted to encourage the teaching of colonial history and colonial economics in secondary schools; and if appropriate text books will be made available to meet demands from education committees.

It is certainly my desire to encourage the teaching of the history and evolution of the British Common-wealth and Empire in secondary schools, and the attention of the local education authorities and schools was specially called to this matter in the recent Circular on the New Secondary Education of which I am sending a copy to the hon. Member. The choice of text books is a matter for the teachers and school authorities. I am arranging to increase the supply of suitable material.