§ MR. HARRY FOSTERI beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education whether his attention has been called to the steady and increasing diminution in the number of pupil teachers annually admitted since 1888; whether they have fallen from 8,964 in 1888 to 7,455 in 1892; whether he is also aware of the increasing percentage of failures to pass the scholarship examination at the end of their period, the percentage being 89.4 in 1892 and only 74.7 in 1893; whether he is also aware of the great difficulty which now prevails in engaging teachers, and especially assistant teachers, for elementary schools, and whether attention has been called to this difficulty in the 446 Reports of many of Her Majesty's Inspectors; whether he will ascertain as soon as practicable the number of pupil teachers apprenticed and the number of teachers under Article 68 employed during the year ending 31st August last; and whether, in revising the Code, he will take measures to secure a more abundant and more efficient supply of teachers, both immediate and prospective?
§ THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (Mr. ACLAND,) York, W. R., RotherhamThe number of pupil teachers annually admitted fell from 8,964 in 1888 to 7,455 in 1892, but has risen to 8,473 in 1893. The percentage of passes in the Queen's Scholarship examination is incorrectly stated in the question. It was 74.09 in 1892 and 68.79 in 1893. The number of teachers under Article 68 for the year ending 31st August last was 8,534, or an increase of 1,583 over the preceding year. I have had cases brought under my notice of difficulty in engaging teachers and assistant teachers, and have seen Reports from Her Majesty's Inspectors to the same effect. Put this difficulty is not so great as it was, and is in many cases due to the low salaries offered. Taking the various classes of teachers all together, I have no reason to think that the supply secured under the present Regulations is at all insufficient.