§ MR. JOHN WILSON (Mid Durham)I beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education, whether deductions from wages, which are made in the county of Durham and elsewhere for the purpose of supporting elementary schools, can be insisted upon; and whether charges for school books and materials can be made compulsory?
§ THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (Mr. A. H. D. ACLAND, York, W.R.,) RotherhamThe Department have always held that deductions from wages, if made from the wages of all the workmen, are not technically school fees, but contributions, voluntary or otherwise, in accordance with the agreement in the particular case; but that if the deductions are made from the wages of those only who have children attending the school, the payments so made are school fees. In the latter case the power of the managers of a school to receive such payments would be limited by the Act of 1891. The managers of the school could not in any case insist upon fees being paid in the particular manner indicated as a condition of admission to the school. Parents who pay fees have a right to petition the Education Department for free education. The managers of all schools, whether they are free schools or not, are bound to provide a proper supply of books, slates, and other school apparatus, and cannot compel a parent to provide books either by periodical payment or by purchase, nor can they refuse admission to a child whose parent refuses to provide them. Parents can, of course, buy books from the managers if they choose to do so.