§ SIR CHARLES RENSHAW () RenfrewshireI beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether his attention has been called to the fact that at present leaving certificates can be obtained by scholars, irrespective of age, who pass either in English, mathematics, Latin and Greek, or in English, mathematics, practical science, and either French or 1065 German, or in English, mathematics, French and German, and that under Circular 340, of January, 1902, no candidate after 1904 can obtain a leaving certificate unless he is seventeen years of age, and no certificate will be granted for English, mathematics, French and German except and intermediate certificate which may be taken by candidates over fifteen years of age; and whether he can give some assurance with a view to prevent the discouragement of higher commercial education which it has been the policy of the Scotch Education Department to encourage in recent years.
*MR. A. GRAHAM MURRAYAs indicated in circulars more recently issued, the Department proposes to institute a commercial certificate for pupils of a higher age. In such a certificate modern languages, as studied for the practical purposes of commerce, will receive full recognition, in accordance with the policy which the Department has for some years pursued with good results.