§ Mr. H. Hyndasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what arrangements have been made to provide training for demobilised Colonial ex-Servicemen in this country before their return to the Colonies; and how many Colonies have benefited from these schemes.
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Mr. Creech JonesA special scheme has been arranged by His Majesty's Government for the Further Education and Vocational Training of Colonial men and women who have served in the Forces in the United Kingdom or have been engaged in war work. A copy of a leaflet describing this scheme is being placed in the Library of the House. The benefits of the scheme are available to men and women from any Colony, Protectorate or Mandated Territory, provided they satisfy the conditions of eligibility outlined in the leaflet. The scheme is not confined to the Armed Forces but applies also to civilian war-workers. Candidates from the following Colonies have already applied for training under the scheme:
Jamaica. Gold Coast. Trinidad. Mauritius. Leeward Islands. Kenya. Windward Islands. Seychelles. Bahamas. Fiji. British Guiana. Ceylon. British Honduras. Burma. Nigeria. Cyprus. Sierra Leone. St. Helena. So far 1,100 applications for further education have been received under the Further Education part of the scheme and about 170 men and women are already in training in universities and colleges. Over 3,000 applications have been received for Vocational Training of whom about 1,500 have already been accepted and will go forward to training as vacancies occur in training centres. 200 have already begun training.