§ MR. OLDROYD (Dewsbury)I beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education whether he is aware that the managers of the Bishop Goodwin Memorial School (Church of England), Carlisle, have for a considerable time collected one penny per week from the children in attendance, although the school is reputed to be a free school; and that the pennies are collected in the caretaker's house, opposite the school, which is not technically on the school premises, the curate of the parish often being present to receive and enter the pennies in a book; whether the monies so received have been accounted for as voluntary subscriptions; whether certain of the children have, at various times, been called out by the teacher and made to stand on a form, because they failed to bring their pennies in conformity with this regulation; whether the practice is still carried on; and whether such regulations are a contravention of the requirements of the Education Department, under the Education Act, 1891?
§ THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ON EDUCATION (Sir J. E. GORST,) Cambridge UniversityThe Committee of Council understand that a penny a week is collected in the 516 manner described in the Question. Adequate notice has been given to the parents that the payments are entirely optional, and the money is not collected by the teachers. There appears to be no objection to this arrangement. The punishment referred to was once inflicted on a child at the request of his mother, who had reason to believe that he had appropriated the penny to his own uses. There is no contravention of the Education Act, and the Committee of Council see no impropriety in this collection of subscriptions.