§ MR. J. HOWARDasked the Vice President of the Council, If Article 29, Code 1879-80, applies to day and evening schools alike; if not, what rule provides for the examination of evening schools; if the Article does apply, on what ground the Committee of Council on Education maintain that the exception provided in Article 29 does not apply to evening schools; and, whether an overpayment having been made to a school and such overpayment has been due to an error of the Education Department in estimating the grant due to the school, are the Committee justified in demanding repayment of the sum overpaid when more than a year has elapsed from the time when such overpayment was made?
§ MR. MUNDELLAArticle 29 of the Code, which provides, generally, that scholars may not be presented a second time for examination under a lower or under the same Standard, applies to day and evening schools alike; but the exception stated in that Article (29b) is not applicable to evening schools, because in an evening school payment is made for a child who passes only in one of the three subjects of reading, writing, and arithmetic; while in a day school (by Article 19 B 3) no grant is allowed for a child unless he passes in two out of the three subjects. With regard to the second part of the hon. Member's Question, I have to say that under the system by which public accounts are audited over-payments made by the Education Department to managers of schools may be detected by the Audit Office and re-payment required many months after the grants have been made; but, as my hon. Friend knows, the repayments are not enforced upon merely technical grounds, but only when there has been a breach of the spirit of the Code.