§ MR. BOLANDI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been called to the fact that the Board of National Education has recently stated that where instruction in Irish, as an extra subject, is given in lessons of half an hour's duration on five days per week, not more than two of the attendances made in any week can count in the calculation of the attendance necessary to qualify a pupil for special fees; is he aware that, under this system of calculation, although only 100 attendances at school are required, payment can be refused for a pupil who has made 130 attendances; and whether he will represent to the Board that payment should be made in respect of a pupil who has made the requisite number of attendances at the extra class in which Irish is taught, in cases where Irish is taught on every day, and not merely on two days in the week.
§ MR. WYNDHAMPayment of fees can only be made for pupils who have been in bowl fide attendance throughout the extra course, and bonâ fide is defined by the rule as attendance at a day school for 100 days during the school year, and at 75 per cent, of the minimum number of meetings required to constitute a course. The minimum number 850 of meetings in the normal school year of forty-six weeks is forty-six of one hour, or ninety-two of half an hour. The object of the rule is to spread the instruction over the entire school year. It does not disqualify a pupil for special fees whose attendances are more frequent than the prescribed minimum, provided the essential condition of bonâ fide attendance is observed. If no such condition were attached to the rule, it would be possible to crowd the attendances into a few months in each year.