§ 98. Mr. K. Lindsayasked the Secretary of State for War at how many Primary Training Centres in this country 10 per cent. of the National Service intake have been found illiterate; and whether he will make an inquiry to find out what special circumstances contributed to this alarming figure.
§ Mr. ShinwellAs my right hon. Friend the Minister of Defence indicated in reply to a Question by the hon. Member for Bucklow (Mr. Shepherd) on 26th November, an average of about 2 per cent. of all intakes have to be sent to special elementary education courses as being either illiterate or of extremely low literacy. The size of fortnightly intakes at particular Primary Training Centres varies widely and may be as small as 50. The percentage of illiterates in individual intakes at different Primary Training Centres, therefore, is naturally subject to considerable variation which could not be attributed to any significant cause. In these circumstances I do not consider that figures showing how many individual intakes at particular Primary Training Centres has contained a certain percentage of illiterates would be of any real value.