HC Deb 31 July 1947 vol 441 c82W
Mr. Haydn Davies

asked the Minister of Education how many of the men and women, respectively, who had been accepted for a course of training for the teaching profession under the emergency scheme, have now withdrawn their applications; and if the will state the main reasons given for the withdrawal.

Mr. Tomlinson

Up to 24th July, 1947, 4,161 men and 1,815 women who had been accepted for training under the Emergency Training Scheme had withdrawn their applications or had failed to reply to an offer of a place in a training college. In addition, 1,141 men had withdrawn from the Emergency Scheme for the purpose of entering two-year training colleges in September 1947, under arrangements made between the Ministry and the permanent training college. No comprehensive figures are available regarding the reasons for withdrawals. An investigation carried out a few months ago, however, showed that of the sample selected, about one half of the candidates gave no reason for withdrawal, about one third stated they had found other employment, about one tenth gave "domestic reasons" and the remainder gave various reasons, such as "financial," "ill health" or "change in circumstances."