MR. HERBERT ROBERTS (Denbighshire, W.)I beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education whether an investigation has been made by the Education Department into the comparative cost of elementary education per child in rural and in urban districts; and whether the results obtained confirm the impression that urban education is more costly than rural education; if not, whether this circumstance will have weight with the Department in coming to a decision upon schemes for association of schools, or providing a higher scale of payment to schools in urban districts?
§ THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (Sir JOHN GORST, Cambridge University)The best investigation possible was made, but there is no information in the possession of the Committee of Council which enables an accurate comparison between the cost of town and country schools to be made. In the opinion of the Committee of Council, it is the income rather than the cost which is the determining factor in estimating the amount of aid required by a necessitous school.