§ SIR JAMES FERGUSSON (Manchester, N.E.)I beg to ask the Vice-President of the Committee of Council on Education whether he is aware that in the Colony of Natal it is compulsory for all boys attending Government schools to be military cadets, and that in Australian Colonies military drill is a part of the curriculum; whether he is aware what is the cost to the public of these systems; and whether he will consider the expediency of making some such system general in this country, according to the wish expressed by the present Commander-in-Chief at Pietermaritzburg, Natal, that this country would follow Natal's example, and insist on all boys joining cadet corps.
§ THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ON EDUCATION (Sir J. GORST, Cambridge University)I am not aware of the arrangements made in Natal and other Colonies, nor of their cost. A circular has recently been issued by the Board of Education in concert with the War Office making such provision as is suitable for drilling boys in the Public Elementary Schools, the great bulk of whom leave school at twelve years of age.