College dealt training blow: The week that was May 23 to 29, 1977

Ramindar Singh, chairman of the CRC’s education panel, said the decision, which the council argued was in line with a necessary reduction in teacher training places across the authority, said the plan would seriously affect young people from ethnic minorities.

He said the college had won respect through its efforts to cater for the needs of all groups in a multi-ethnic community, and teachers trained in the heart of the community where they were likely
to teach were better able to understand the needs of immigrant children.

He added: “This (decision) will seriously lessen the opportunities for young immigrants in the city to continue their education after leaving school.”

The plan would include the loss
of the college’s widely praised specialist course in multi-racial education.

In industrial news, British Leyland was given the go-ahead to build a new Mini by 1980 to replace its original world-beater. The green light to the state-owned car manufacturer for the £200m development of the car was given by Industry Secretary Eric Varley. He added a gentle warning to BL about industrial relations and better productivity.

Meanwhile, figures showing a big drop in Britain’s jobless figures were given a cautious welcome at Westminster. UK unemployment in May was down 50,550 on April – recording the lowest figure since July, 1976.

Of the 44 MPs representing Yorkshire and Humberside who did not hold official government posts, 20 did not ask any questions in the House during the previous parliamentary year, according to a new report. Two of them, Sir Keith Joseph (Con Leeds NE) and JJ Mendelson (Lab, Penistone) put neither oral nor written questions to ministers. Bob Cryer (Lab, Keighley) was the most loquacious, with 33 oral questions.

The week’s foreign news was dominated by two hostage dramas in the Netherlands. Four armed South-Moluccans took 105 children and five teachers hostage at a primary school in Bovensmilde, and at the same time nine others hijacked a train in nearby De Punt. Both crises lasted for 20 days before being ended by military intervention.

The South-Moluccan community (forced by the Indonesian state from islands in the former Dutch East Indies) had been living in the Netherlands on a temporary basis, promised by the Dutch government that they would get their own independent state.

For 25 years they existed in temporary camps, often in poor conditions. The younger generation felt betrayed by the Dutch government’s inaction and began radical action to draw attention to their cause. Six hijackers and two hostages died when Dutch forces ended the train siege.

US President Jimmy Carter declared the Cold War was over. Rebutting the outlook that had dominated American foreign policy since the Second World War, he said: “Our policy must reflect our belief that the world can hope for more than simple survival.

“The United States must help to shape an international system that will last longer than secret deals. We are now free of that inordinate fear of Communism.” A spokesman said the speech was designed “to demonstrate that we are not witnessing the decline of the west”.