§ 71. Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYasked the Secretary of State for War what is the present enrolled strength of the school officers' training corps?
§ Mr. SHAWThe strength of the junior division of the officers' training corps on 1st April, 1930, was: officers 679, cadets 34,589.
§ 72. Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYasked the Secretary of State for War at what age are schoolboys enrolled for training in the officers' training corps?
§ Mr. SHAWThe Regulations lay down that no boy under 13 years of age shall be enrolled in the junior division of the officers' training corps, but subject to this restriction, it is left to the discretion of headmasters to decide at what age boys can be enrolled. Training for junior boys is modified, and no boy is permitted to go to camp until he is in his 15th year. I might add that no efficiency grant is paid in respect of any cadet who is under 15 years of age or, in the case of schools in receipt of a Parliamentary grant, who is under 16 years of age.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYMay I ask what is the difference in principle between these junior cadets and the cadet corps?
§ Mr. SHAWI have stated in the House that the difference between the officers' training corps and the cadet corps is that the officers' training corps consists generally of boys older than the boys of the cadet corps, but that the ages shade into one another.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYBut does not that show that they are just as young?