Minister appeals for primary teachers

The Secretary of State for Education and Science, Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, said in Cambridge yesterday that there would have to be a substantial increase in the facilities for training graduates.

An audience of 200—mainly teachers and student teachers—in a lecture room at the chemistry laboratories in Lensfield Road also heard Mrs. Thatcher appeal for more graduate teachers to go into primary education and make their careers there, as well as in secondary education.

Mrs. Thatcher, who was speaking on teacher training, was introduced by the Master of Trinity College, Lord Butler.

During a question-and-answer session after her 40-minute speech, Mrs. Thatcher was asked if she approved of unqualified auxiliaries working in schools.

She said that in her position she could not say that she wanted more of them— “but I do,” she added: “There are some things that are more likely to meet with success if they are proposed by other people. I would like these staff to be used more—they are being used quietly and successfully in some schools, under strict supervision.”