§ MR. BELLAIRS (Lynn Regis)To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he can give the number of hours per week devoted to seamanship, navigation, practical engineering, mathematics, physics and chemistry, history, geography, French and Bible study of the naval cadets at Osborne and Dartmouth; whether the Bible study takes place on Sundays; whether he has received any official report as to the adequacy of the time allotted to seamanship; and whether the Admiralty propose to test the elementary knowledge of those boys 49 entered without any competition by an examination with boys of the same age at Dartmouth who were entered under the old system of limited competition.
(Answered by Mr. Edmund Robertson.) The hours per week devoted to formal teaching and study in the subjects enumerated in the Question are as follows:—
The lessons last three-quarters of an hour at Osborne and one hour at Dartmouth. The Bible study or religious instruction takes place on a week-day as well as on Sunday, each cadet having one period on a week-day as well as one on Sunday. The time allotted to seamanship instruction (school and practical work) has been fixed in conference with the officers responsible for the instruction. In addition to the above, however, a considerable amount of time is devoted to gaining practical experience in managing boats under sails, oars, and steam, and to work at sea in the cruisers. The subject of seamanship is one to which the Admiralty attach great importance, and the allowance of time in the curriculum has been fixed with due regard to the age of the boys, and the period during which they will
Osborne. Dartmouth. Seamanship (instruction with models, etc.) 1½ 1½ 1½ Seamanship (practical instruction, boat sailing, etc.) No time limit Navigation — 4 Practical engineering 11¼ 9½ Mathematics 7½ 6 Physics and chemistry (science) (one ¾-hour period on alternate weeks 4½ 7 History 3 3 Geography 2¼ — English (one ¾-hour period on alternate weeks) 3 2½ French 5¾ 6† Bible study:— Including 1 hour on Sunday at Osborne 1¾ 1¾ Including ¾ hour on Sunday at Dartmouth †Or, when German is taken, 3½ hours French and 2½hours German.50 be in the training colleges, and to the fact that the course in the colleges is to be followed by six months' training in cruisers as well as three years' subsequent service as midshipmen. The course of study and instruction of the cadets entered at Dartmouth under the old system, differs materially from that laid down for the cadets transferred from Osborne, and any examination of the kind indicated, could only apply in a few subjects, and would therefore be of little or no value for the purpose of comparison. Any comparison that has been made by officers and masters, who have under observation the cadets entered under both systems, although interesting, does not lead to results which in any way affect the principles on which the new system of training has been established.