§ MR. SUMMERS (Huddersfield)I beg to ask the Vice President of the Council whether he is aware that there are in England and Wales as many as 160 School Boards and 89 School Attendance Committees in which the standard for partial exemption is Standard II., and as many as 936 School Boards and 481 School Attendance Committees in which the standard for total exemption is Standard IV.; whether he is aware that such low standards for partial and total exemption are contrary to the law and practice of Scotland; and whether the Government will consider the advisability of availing themselves of the opportunity afforded by the introduction of the Assisted Education Bill to raise the standards for partial and total exemption in England and Wales at least to the level at which they now stand in Scotland?
§ *THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (Sir W. HART DYKE,) Kent DartfordThe hon. Member has correctly quoted from the figures given in the Return lately presented to Parliament, from which it is clear that the practice in England and Wales is more indulgent than that followed in Scotland. He will, however, have every opportunity of eliciting the opinion of the Government on the point in the course of the Debate upon the Elementary Education Bill.