HC Deb 15 February 1939 vol 343 cc1710-1
43. Mr. James Griffiths

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what was the number of youths that entered the examination for naval cadets and other branches of the naval service, held last November; and whether he can state the number of successful candidates that were drawn from secondary and in termediate schools, and the number drawn from other schools?

Mr. Shakespeare

The number of youths who sat at the written examination last November for naval and paymaster cadetships, and for first appointments in the Royal Marines, was 302. The great number of candidates come from schools recognised as efficient by the Board of Education which include grammar schools, grant-aided and otherwise, and county secondary schools. I will send the hon. Member a complete list.

Mr. Griffiths

Will the hon. Gentleman make particular inquiries into a case from my constituency, in which an applicant from the Amman Valley county school came out eighteenth in the written examination in intellectual capacity and had higher marks than 79 successful applicants? I have interviewed the young man and his headmaster, and I am satisfied that it is a case into which the hon. Gentleman should make inquiries, and that this young boy was turned down because of class prejudice on the part of the interviewers against the kind of school from which he came; and is he aware that there is great dissatisfaction in the district in regard to this matter?

Mr. Shakespeare

I cannot accept the implication in the latter part of the hon. Gentleman's question, but I will give this case my personal attention.

Mr. Griffiths

How does the hon. Gentleman explain the fact that the boy was eighteenth in the whole list—

Mr. Speaker rose

—

Mr. Griffiths

In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I beg to give notice that I shall call attention to this matter on the Adjournment.