§ MR. E. W. HARCOURTasked the Vice President of the Council, Whether differential fees in Elementary Schools are sanctioned by the Education Department; and, whether it is within the power of the magistrates to decide judicially the amount of fees which ought to be paid for children in Elementary Schools, fixing them in just proportion to the means of the parents, and irrespectively of all other consideration?
§ MR. MUNDELLASir, the Education Department does sanction differential fees, and there is no objection to school fees varying in proportion to the means of the parents. The magistrates have no power to fix school fees. They 1252 can only decide when appealed to whether there is a reasonable excuse for a child's absence from school if the parents plead inability to pay the fee prescribed for him.