§ MR. GRAY (West Ham, N.)I beg to ask the Vice-President of the Committee of Council on Education whether he is aware that the Portskewett Severn Tunnel School was closed about three months ago, owing to the death of a sub- 801 scriber on whose contributions the school had almost entirely depended for local support; whether since the school was closed more than 200 children have had no opportunity of securing education; and whether he can state what steps the Department propose to take in order to provide suitable school accommodation, and whether, if another small school board be formed, he can give the population of the district over which such board would have jurisdiction.
§ THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ON EDUCATION (SIR J. GORST,) Cambridge UniversityThe answer to the first paragraph of the question is in the affirmative. Since the closing 200 children have had no public elementary school to which they could reasonably have access. There is no course open to the Education Department but to establish a school board. This will be done forthwith. The population of the Portskewett school district was 1,190 at the census of 1891.