Teachers 24. Mr. David Knox asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when she last met representatives of the National Union of Teachers. Miss Margaret Jackson My right hon. Friend meets representatives of the union and those of other teachers' associations from time to time during public engagements and in the day-to-day course of departmental business. A recent occasion was a meeting on 26th April with representatives of teachers' associations, including the NUT, to discuss some of the implications of the current national debate on education. 32. Mr. Gwilym Roberts asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what estimates are available of the number of trained teachers completing their courses this year who will be unable to find teaching jobs this autumn; what was the cost of training these would-be teachers; and if she will make a statement. Mr. Oakes Uncertainty about trends in wastage from and re-entry to the profession makes it impossible to give reliable estimates of the number of trained teachers completing their courses this year who will be unable to find teaching jobs this autumn. As a result, it is not possible to calculate the cost of training them. Mrs. Renée Short asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many trained teachers are expected to leave each college of education in the West Midlands in July; how many from each have the promise of teaching posts for next September; and what are the corresponding total figures for England and Wales. Mr. Oakes If previous patterns of staying on for a fourth year and of examination success continue, some 30,500 students from colleges and polytechnic departments of education are likely to complete successfully a course of initial training in July 1977. Corresponding figures for these institutions in the West Midlands are:—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Radbrook College of Education | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |City of Birmingham Polytechnic Anstey Department of PE (formerly Anstey College) | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Bordesley Department for Teacher Education and Training (formerly Bordesley College of Education) | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Edgbaston Department of Teacher Education and Training (formerly City of Birmingham College of Education)| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Westhill College of Education | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |St. Peter's College, Saltley | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Newman College | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Wolverhampton Teachers College for Day Students | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Dudley College of Education | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Madeley College of Education | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |St. Paul's College, Rugby | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Shenstone New College | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Worcester College of Higher Education | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Coventry College of Education | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |West Midlands College of Education | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Hereford College of Education | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Department will be collecting information later this year about the success of those who left teacher-training institutions this summer in obtaining teaching posts, but inquiries cannot usefully be made at this stage.