§ MR. KNOXI beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the estimated average attendance on which 10s. a head was hypothetically allowed in calculating the arrears of school fee grant due to Ireland in respect of the financial years ending 31st March 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, and 1896?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOUR (for the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER)With the permission of the House I will reply to this Question. The school grant, under the terms of the Education Act, 1892, only commenced after the financial year ended March 31, 1892. Accordingly, the financial year 1892–93 was the first for which the sum of 10s. a head was allowed on the basis of the annual average daily attendance of pupils over three and under 15 years of age. The year 1891–92 was that in which a grant in aid, amounting to £90,000, was voted by Parliament for the Teachers' Pension Fund. The average attendance on which the 10s. a head was calculated in respect of the years 1892 to 1896 was as follows:—For the year 1892, 470,794; 1893, 503, 002; 1894, 502, 200; 1895, 495, 897; 1896, 510, 000.