Britain: An official handbook > 1959

SOCIAL WELFARE 163
Belfast College of Technology. The junior course lasts five months and the senior
course eight months.
The great majority of technical colleges and other further education establish¬
ments in the United Kingdom are either maintained or aided from public funds.
Tuition fees are therefore moderate, and often nominal for young people under
18 years of age. Many full-time students are helped by awards from local education
authorities. The awards are generally based on the results of the General Certificate
of Education or a corresponding examination; they are assessed to cover tuition
fees and a maintenance grant, but parents who can afford to contribute towards
the cost are required to do so. There are also some scholarships available from
endowments, and others are provided under schemes organised by particular
industries or companies for the most promising of their young workers. In England
and Wales, State scholarships (see p. 159) are available for advanced technological
courses.
Adult Education
The extra-mural departments of the universities, the Workers’ Educational
Association and a few other voluntary bodies organise cultural, non-vocational
courses for adults. These courses are grant-aided from public funds, and some
158,000 students in England and Wales attended them in the year 1956-57.
Voluntary bodies with a particular view-point, such as the National Council of
Labour Colleges and the Co-operative Union, also organise adult education courses
without grant-aid. Six residential colleges (five in England and Wales and one in
Scotland) directly aided by the Education Departments provide one-year or two-
year cultural, non-vocational courses for adult students. In addition, there are
about 30 other residential colleges where students can take short courses of a
similar kind lasting for a few days or a few weeks. Most of these latter colleges are
maintained or aided by local education authorities.
I he National Institute of Adult Education provides in London a centre of
information and research for adult education, as well as a channel of co-operation
and consultation for the many organisations in England and Wales which are
interested in the subject. It is assisted by a grant from the Ministry of Education.
1 he Scottish Institute of Adult Education performs similar functions in Edinburgh.
Local education authorities can provide community centres for urban areas; these
centres normally supply facilities for both vocational and non-vocational classes
for the further education of young people and adults. The centres are usually
managed by Community Associations, many of which are affiliated to the National
Federation of Community Associations. Similar classes in rural areas are provided
in village halls and a variety of other premises by local education authorities and
voluntary bodies.
OVERSEAS STUDENTS IN BRITAIN
Opportunities for students from overseas to come to Britain to study in univer¬
sities or other educational institutions, or to obtain specialised training in industry
or elsewhere, have greatly expanded since the second world war. There are some
35,000 overseas students in Britain, of whom about one-third are at universities,
another third at technical colleges, and the remainder training for the law, in
industry, or at hospitals as doctors or nurses. In the year 1957-58, Britain’s
universities contained 7,000 students from Commonwealth countries overseas and