§ 65. Mr. James Griffithsasked ths President of the Board of Education the number of boys and girls who registered in the 16 to 18 years age group; the number who were invited to attend at inter views and who responded; and whether he intends to present a report upon the matter?
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education (Mr. Ede)According to the latest available returns, registration cards were received by local education authorities in England and Wales for 591,379 boys and 597,875 girls who registered at the beginning of this year. The returns do not enable me to state how many boys and girls were invited to interview, but the response of the young people was, generally speaking, satisfactory. Of the total numbers mentioned 313,871 boys and 165,627 girls were shown to be in full-time education or undertaking approved activities and, of the remainder, 212,975 boys and 289,831 girls attended for interview. As regards the last part of the Question, I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Kilmarnock (Mr. Lindsay) on 15th October last, a copy of which I am sending him.