§ MR. STANLEY LEIGHTON (Shropshire, Oswestry)I beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education if he can inform the House with reference to the payment of grants to evening schools, and the Article declaring that the amount of such giant will be dependent on the value of the instruction given, how an Inspector is to appraise without examination the value of a series of lectures on the life and duties of a citizen?
§ THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (Mr. ACLAND, York, W.R., Rotherham)I think the hon. Member's question is already pretty fully answered in Paragraph IV. of the Explanatory Memorandum prefixed to the Evening School Code. There is a strong feeling among persons concerned with education that the visits of inspection without notice provided for in the now Evening Code will be an effective method of appraising the real value of the instruction given. Of course, a lesson in the subject mentioned by the hon. Member would be given in the presence of the Inspector if he desired it.
§ MR. STANLEY LEIGHTONSeeing that the lecturers are required to make the lectures as attractive as possible, may I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether, say, for instance, in the case of a lecture on the composition of the House of Commons, the teacher would be allowed to deal with the antecedents of Members; and would he, in describing the process by which a Bill becomes law, be allowed to give a description of the operation of the Closure?
§ MR. ACLANDTeachers are usually expected to show some tact in teaching history of a modern character; and I venture to think that as in the past, so in the future, they will use such tact and judgment.
§ MR. STANLEY LEIGHTONWill the right hon. Gentleman draw up model lectures on these points?
§ [Mr. ACLAND gave a negative sign.]