VISIT OF DUKE OF EDINBURGH (Use of Students to Line Route)

Wednesday, 4th March, 1959

The following question for oral answer stood on the Order Paper of 4th March, 1959:-

"Inche AHMAD BIN IBRAHIM: To ask the Minister for Education how many (i) primary, and (ii) secondary school students were asked to line the route taken by the Duke of Edinburgh from Clifford Pier to Government House on Sunday morning, 22nd February, 1959; and whether his Ministry had obtained the permission of their parents before the students were asked to do so.".

The Assistant Minister for Education (Inche Mohamed Sidik Bin Haji Abdul Hamid), who was to have answered the question, was absent when the question was called, and has supplied the following answer:-

The answers to the first part of the question are:-

(i) 8,010 primary school pupils;

(ii) 6,410 secondary school pupils.

The answer to the second part of the question is that there was no compulsion, implied or otherwise, for the children to line the route taken by the Duke of Edinburgh. The number from each school represented was necessarily restricted to a small quota selected only from those who volunteered to attend and, in all cases, adequate time was given for the children to consult their parents.