§ MR. SLOANTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland 1322 if he can state what was the average attendance in the model infants and Harryville Girls' Schools, Ballymena, for the month of June last; what is the accommodation, allowing ten square feet per pupil; and whether the three girls' schools, stated to have accommodation for 104 pupils more than were in average attendance in the month of June last, are supplied with suitable desks, kindergarten, and other equipment necessary for the teaching of infants.
(Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) The average attendance for June was, in Ballymena Model Infants' School, eighty, and in Harryville Girls' School, 213. Allowing ten square feet of floor space per pupil, there is accommodation in the former school for eighty-one, and in the latter for 224 pupils. But on the basis, hitherto adopted, of eight square feet per pupil, there is accommodation in these schools for 101 and 280 pupils respectively. One of the three schools referred to in the reply to the hon. Member's Question of July 24th,† has suitable kindergarten desks and equipment necessary for infants, but the other two have not. On the completion of the Guy's Infant School, towards the cost of which a grant has been made by the Commissioners, there will be ample suitable accommodation for the teaching of infants in Ballymena.