§ MR. ARTHUR ARNOLDasked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, with reference to Mr. Fairfield's Report that £188 4s. 5d. are expended upon Christian schools, and £640 19s. 6d. upon Moslem schools in Cyprus, and upon his statement that £330 of the latter sum are granted to Hodja schools, in which nothing but the chanting of "pieces of the Koran" is taught, which "is not education in any sense," Her Majesty's Government, in approving an estimate of £3,000 for education in Cyprus, have taken steps to secure that the taxpayers of Cyprus and of the United Kingdom shall obtain results adequate to that expenditure?
§ MR. EVELYN ASHLEYSir, three-fourths of the grant of £3,000 will be spent on Christian schools, to which the criticisms referred to do not apply. The Secretary of State has expressed his opinion that the payment of the Hodjas should be transferred to Evkaf funds, and that the whole of the fourth part of the grant allotted to the Moslems should be devoted to secular education; but he considers this to be a step on which the Moslem community should decide. A Board, or, possibly, two Boards—one Christian and the other Moslem—are to be formed to administer the grant; and it is believed that they will satisfactorily push forward the work of education in the Island.