§ MR. BRADLAUGH (Northampton)I beg to ask the Vice President of the Council whether he is aware that, in several of the Board schools under the London School Board, the percentage of attendances to number of boys, girls, and infants on the roll, has been a decreasing percentage during the years 1888, 1889, and 1890; whether he can state if this decrease of attendance is exceptional, or whether it is general in the London School Board district; whether similar decrease in attendance has been brought to his attention in other School Board districts; whether any and what reason has been reported to him to account for such decrease; and whether the Education Department proposes to take any action in the matter?
§ THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (Sir W. HART DYKE, Kent, Dartford)There has, I believe, been some decrease in certain schools within the metropolitan area, but it appears to be due to local and accidental circumstances rather than to any general cause, for the percentage throughout the whole of the London district has been steadily improving since 1887, and for this year stands higher than at any previous time.