§ MR. FRANCIS STEVENSON (Suffolk, Eye)I beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education whether lie is aware that the School Board of Henley, in Suffolk, lately refused to accede to a request made by a parent that his child should be allowed to work for the Inspector's examination a garment supplied by the parent himself, instead of one supplied by the Chairman of the Board and Vicar of the parish, and that the parent having, in consequence of the above mentioned decision, withdrawn his child from school during the sawing lesson, was informed that the child would not be received any longer at the school; and whether such refusal is in the power of the Board any in accordance with custom?
§ * THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (Sir W. HABT DYKE,) Kent, DartfordThe circumstances to which the hon. Member refers are not of very recent date, and the Department have reason to believe that the difficulty is at an end. There was no warrant for the withdrawal of the child, and the action of the parents was accompanied by personal discourtesy to the master; but the Board exceeded their power in prematurely intimating that the child would not be 1694 received back, although it would obviously have been the duty of the Department to support them in maintaining discipline against irregular withdrawals, which comes of school work.