Sir R. Younǵasked the Secretary of State for Air whether it is a condition of service of education officers that they possess a degree qualifying them for the service required of them; whether the same applies to the appointed technical officers; and, if not required of all of them, how many in each category have educational degrees?
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§ Sir A. SinclairCandidates for appointment to the Royal Air Force Educational Service are normally required to have a full university degree or equivalent qualification. About 99 per cent. of education officers now serving are so qualified. The Technical Branch of the R.A.F. consists partly of officers transferred from other branches, partly of ex-airmen of the technical trades who have been commissioned after experience in the Service, and partly of direct entrants from civil life. All entrants in the last category are required to possess a full university degree or equivalent qualification. No record is maintained of the number of officers of graduate status in the Technical Branch as a whole.
Sir R. Younǵasked the Secretary of State for Air whether the engagements of education officers are made by contract wherein it is stated the engagements can be terminated by three months' notice either way; and, if so, why the terms of the contract have, in some cases, not been fulfilled by the Air Ministry when applications were made to resign in order to offer their services in other directions?
§ Sir A. SinclairThe conditions of service for Royal Air Force education officers provide that appointments will normally be terminable by three months' notice on either side. Under present conditions, however, an education officer's right to resign is subject to any order or direction which may be in force or may be made under Defence Regulations. Owing to the shortage of education officers, permission to resign has been withheld in all cases where it was deemed that the war effort would best be served by the retention of the officers in question in their present capacity.