§ MR. BLACK () BanffshireI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether he will add to the Education Bill a definition of the word "education"; and if not, will he say whether the terms "educational grounds" and "grounds connected with the giving of religious instruction" are mutually exclusive.
§ THE PRIME MINISTER AND FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR,) Manchester, E.I think that the terms to which the hon. Member refers are, taken with their context, mutually exclusive. I should be sorry to embark on such a Herculean task as that of defining "education."
§ MR. BLACKDoes the hon. Gentleman then regard religious education as outside the sphere of "education"?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURNo, Sir. The hon. Member must not extend my answer to cover that general proposition. I am talking of the legal interpretation of a particular Clause, and not of the broader question. He might as well ask me whether I regard the home life of a child as outside the sphere of "education." Of course, in one sense, it is the most important part of education; but it is not referred to in this Bill.
†See Preceding volume, Page1237