§ COLONEL HOWARD VINCENT (Sheffield, Central)I beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education if, having regard to the fact ascertained by the London Chamber of Commerce, that 35 per cent. of the clerks in the commercial houses of London are foreigners, and to the difficulty English employers have in finding adequate knowledge among their own countrymen for foreign correspondence, the Educational Department will encourage the greater study of foreign languages by making the higher grant equal to that obtainable in natural sciences, leaving it therefore optional both to school managers and students which course should be followed in each case?
§ THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (Mr. A. H. D. ACLAND,) York, W.R., RotherhamThe grants made by the Education Department for French or German—namely, 2s. or 3s. for each scholar presented according to the recommendation of the Inspector—are precisely on the same footing, and of the same amount, as those made for natural sciences.
§ COLONEL HOWARD VINCENTIs there no difference whatever in the grants for foreign languages and natural sciences?
§ MR. ACLANDNo, Sir; no difference whatever.