§ Mr. WATTasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether it is proposed by the Civil Service Commissioners to close the entrance examination to the Indian Civil Service against all candidates who have not studied at a residential university; if so, whether the assent of the Board of Education had been given to the proposed innovation; whether he is aware that there are no residential universities in Scotland, and that such a proposal would, if carried into effect, exclude all Scottish university and other students who do not choose to belong to a residential university in England, Wales, or Ireland; and whether the Civil Service Commissioners have any particular residential universities in view to which this exclusive privilege is to be confined, and, if so, which?
§ Mr. MONTAGUI presume that my hon. Friend refers to the recommendations in the Report of the Royal Commission on the Public Services in India regarding the training of probationers for the Indian Civil Service. The Commission have recommended that candidates selected for that service on the results of the open competitive examination should pass the period of their probation at any university which satisfies the Civil Service Commissioners that it can give the instruction required and can provide through a system of colleges or hostels adequate supervision over the probationers. The Commission have made no recommendation on this head affecting the open competition. The recommendations of the Public Services Commission regarding recruitment to the I.C.S. are still under examination by the Gov-440W ernment of India, and I am awaiting their views before communicating with the Civil Service Commissioners and the universities. I have undertaken to give full consideration to any representations that may be made to me on behalf of Scottish schools and universities.