§ MR. T. W. RUSSELL (Tyrone, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether certain teachers in the model schools of Ireland have been dismissed through no fault of their own, but owing to the attendance having fallen below the minimum required by the National Board, and if other dismissals are imminent owing to the same cause; and, whether, in view of the hardships caused, he will consider the advisability of acting on the precedent set by previous Chief Secretaries, and retain these teachers until vacancies arise in schools where the attendance warrants the appointments being made?
THE CHLEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. A. J. BALFOUE,) Manchester, E.The Commissioners of National Education report that the services of certain teachers were dispensed with in the circumstances mentioned in the first paragraph of the question. A similar course may possibly have to be pursued in some other cases. The Commissioners inform me that they have no power to retain such teachers, the rule on the subject being explicit. They, however, point out that with the exception of two cases all the teachers whose services were so dispensed with have subsequently obtained employment in other schools.