§ MR. T. E. ELLIS (Merionethshire)asked the Vice President of the Com- 833 mittee of Council on Education, Whether, in the "Class Subjects" of Article 15 of the Education Code, the Education Department will sanction an alternative scheme of English adapted to schools in Welsh-speaking districts; whether, in the "Elementary Subjects," Li-lingual reading books, of the ordinary size, may be used in Welsh schools; whether Her Majesty's Inspectors in Wales are in a position to suggest such a scheme of bi-lingual teaching, and, if approved, whether it will be inserted in Schedules I. and II. of the Code; and, whether such a scheme will be made equally applicable to evening schools in Wales?
§ THE VICE PRESIDENT (Sir WILLIAM HART DYKE) (Kent, Dartford)The hon. Member is aware that in Welsh-speaking districts it is already provided that the intelligence) of the children examined in any elementary or class subject may be tested by requiring them to explain in Welsh the meaning of passages read, and I know of no reason to object to the use of bi-lingual reading books. The forthcoming-General Report on Wales, which will be published separately, will show the attitude of Her Majesty's Inspectors on the subject, and will, I hope, satisfy the hon. Member that the Department is not insensible to its importance.