§ MR. J. A. CAMPBELLasked the Vice President of the Council, Whether his attention has been called to certain recent decisions of Sheriff Lamond, one of the Sheriff Substitutes of the county of Fife, to the effect that the requirements of the Compulsory Clauses of the Scotch Education Acts would be sufficiently satisfied by children being sent to school at twelve years of age, as the necessary amount of education might be given in the twelve months before the age of thirteen years was reached; and, whether, if the Law is correctly laid down in these decisions, he is prepared to amend the Act, so as to prevent the intention of the Legislature from being virtually disregarded?
MR. PRESTON BRUCEasked the right hon. Gentleman, Whether the School Boards affected by these decisions had any right of appeal; and, if not, what means they had of testing, by reference to a higher Court, Sheriff Lamond's interpretation of the Education Act?
§ MR. MUNDELLASir, with regard to the Question of the hon. Member for Fifeshire (Mr. Preston Bruce), I may say that I believe the School Boards had the right of appeal, but they did not exercise it within the prescribed time. In answer to the hon. Member for the University of Glasgow (Mr. J. A. Campbell), I have to say that I have read with some surprise the decision to which the hon. Member refers, which, if correctly reported, is distinctly at variance with what I understand to be the correct interpretation of the law. But there has been a great variety of conflicting opinions as to what constitutes "gross neglect" on the part of a parent in providing elementary education. This has seriously interfered with the enforcement of the compulsory clauses of the Education Act in Scotland; and we, therefore, propose to introduce a short measure which will remove all doubts on the subject, and thus facilitate the work of School Boards in the discharge of their responsible and important duties.