§ LORD WINSTER had given Notice of the following question: To ask His Majesty's Government whether the curriculum at a school for W.A.A.F. officers in the North-West of England has been considered by the appropriate authorities, and whether they are satisfied that no subjects are taught which are not directly related to the purposes for which the W.A.A.F. is recruited.
§ The noble Lord said: My Lords, I wish to say a few words in explanation of the question on the Order Paper, but in view of the lateness of the hour I will compress them into two or three minutes. I thank my noble friend Lord Sherwood for waiting to reply to me and I express regret that he should have had to wait so long. My question arises out of an article which appeared in the Press concerning a school for W.A.A.F. officers in the North-West of England. I have brought the article to the attention of my noble friend and I would like to emphasize, if I may, that nothing I may say is intended in any way as a criticism of the W.A.A.F., for whom, like everyone else, I have the highest admiration. If I may say so, having watched them march past many times, I think their march discipline the best of any of the Women's Auxiliary Services. Nor do I wish to say a word which would be in any way a discouragement to those in charge of this school. I am sure they are making most praiseworthy efforts and doing very useful work.
§ This school, according to the accounts, is designed to train W.A.A.F. cadets in matters pertaining to R.A.F. organization and administration, pay, equipment, legal assistance, discipline, travelling, hotel 883 management, accounts, signals, catering administration and equipment. Those are the purposes for which the school exists and the account goes on to say that the syllabus is very wide. I think the word "wide" is an appropriate word for I think it is wide of the mark, having regard to the objects for which the school exists. I say wide of the mark because, according to this account, the courses include the historical development of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, art, literature and music, and I confess that I am unable to see the bearing of any of these subjects upon the objects of the school which I have just read out. I will omit many things which I had thought of saying on this subject, and really I have no wish to drive the matter into the earth for I agree that all work and no play makes Jill a dull girl. But I think that many of us know that those connected with such establishments as this are rather inclined to let their enthusiasms take charge of them in matters where welfare, culture and uplift are concerned.
§ In spite of having read this article, I would not have raised the matter in your Lordships' House were it not that quite recently I happened to be in conversation with the Commanding Officer of an establishment where one of the Women's Auxiliary Services is under tuition and training. He expressed very great concern to me about the fact that the syllabus for these girls had this tendency to widen and expand into subjects which he thought were of very little use indeed. It is because of that information, given to me by this officer, who certainly ought to know, that I have brought the matter forward. I think that it is very necessary to keep these matters within bounds because every subject you add to a syllabus means more staff, more time and the expenditure of more money. For these reasons alone I think this is of great importance, and, therefore, I ask my noble friend if, in replying to me, he can at any rate give some assurance that the syllabus of this and similar schools will be very carefully re-examined in order to ensure that only subjects are taught which will fit the girls for the war purposes for which they were recruited.
§ THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR AIR (LORD SHERWOOD)My Lords, my 884 noble friend Lord Winster has asked me two questions. One is whether the curriculum at a school for W.A.A.F. officers in the North-West of England has been considered by the appropriate authorities. The other is whether those authorities are satisfied that no subjects are taught which are not directly related to the purposes for which the W.A.A.F. is recruited. The answer to both questions is "Yes." The training syllabus at this school is, of course, laid down by the responsible member of the Air Council, who is the Air Member for Training, and his advisers. He is responsible for laying down this syllabus, and we are quite satisfied that it is a proper syllabus.
The noble Lord has gone a little further into an article which appeared in a newspaper on May 22. I would like to say that it is an article which was written by a special correspondent, a very highly-trained lady, who went to this establishment and reported on what she saw. But, of course, what she wrote is not necessarily a report of what happens. I think that it was rather a good report concerning the school, and the correspondent said in it that a great deal was being taught which was going to be of lasting value. In fact she used the words: "Here a piece of work of lasting value to the nation is being done." Now there are really four courses at this school. Three of them deal purely with the essential matters of service training. The fourth happens to be an Officer Cadet Training Unit course, and this is one of those courses set up with the approval of your Lordships' House, and the Press, in conformity with the Report of the Markham Committee. The Committee reported that there should be, for those people who were going to be officers, some enlargement of what they were taught in the three courses to which I have alluded.
I will admit that the article does make it seem as though some things not absolutely essential to the war effort were being taught. This could give rise, as it has done in the case of the noble Lord, Lord Winster, to the idea that we were not concentrating to as full an extent as we should in war-time on a single object. But if one looks at the syllabus with respect to the question of cultural teaching, one sees that out of this weekly course, which occupies fifty-six hours, only one hour is devoted to it. Of course the students are not taught 885 the history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. That is not attempted. But during this, course a good many things, such as art, crafts, music and history, are touched upon in order to help those who are going to be officers so that they will be able to deal, to the best advantage, with people subordinate to them. The purpose is to indicate to them how they can arouse the interest of their subordinates and bring out the best that is in them.
This is only an officers' course and it deals in fifty-six hours with a great many subjects. I will not go into them all now, but one which was certainly rather dwelt on in the article really occupies only one hour out of the fifty-six. I assure your Lordships and my noble friend Lord Winster—to whom I am very grateful for bringing this matter forward—that this syllabus is a proper one and that it is in 886 conformity, even though it is perhaps not all we should like to be able to give, with the conditions asked for by the Markham Report. I am quite certain that if the noble Lord will see me afterwards, and will look at the full syllabus, which I shall be glad to show him, he will see that there is no waste of the war effort, and that in fact everything that should be done is being done in connexion with this course.
§ LORD WINSTERMy Lords, I beg to thank the noble Lord for his reply. I quite appreciate that what is being done is in conformity with what has been laid down, but I am not satisfied that what is laid down does not contain a great deal of extraneous matter having regard to the purposes which we have at the present time to accomplish.
§ House adjourned.