§ MR. HAYDEN (Roscommon, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he will state the number of teachers at present employed in the national schools who have received no training in elementary science either from the Board's organisers or in the training colleges; the number who have not been trained in the full course of instruction laid down by the Commissioners for the pupils in the schools; the number of schools which have not yet received equipment grants of apparatus and in which therefore no science teaching has yet been commenced; a list of suitable centres in which no organisers' classes for teachers have yet been held, and in which, in the opinion of the Commissioners of National Education and their expert advisers, it is desirable to have continuation or revision courses of instruction.
§ MR. HAYDENI beg also to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the teachers trained in the organisers' preliminary courses have not been given as extensive a knowledge of the subject as is, according to the Board's official programme, expected from their sixth and seventh-standard pupils; and that only the 500 teachers admitted to 661 the Part II. course have yet been given such knowledge; and, seeing that it was the intention of the Commissioners that the vast majority of the teachers should be admitted to this Part II. course, whether provision will be made for having this intention carried into effect as well as for training the teachers who have not yet been admitted to any course and have already been through the training colleges.
§ MR. WALTER LONGThe number of teachers employed in national schools is about 12,000, and, of these, 5,829 have not received any training in elementary science, and 1,897 have been trained in part of the coarse only. 7,195 schools have not yet received equipment grants of scientific apparatus but, as stated by me yesterday, † provision has been made in the Estimates for the continuance of these grants. The Commissioners have arranged with the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for the training of teachers in elementary science at local technical schools, and the necessary financial provision has been made for the travelling expenses of the teachers who may receive such training during the coming year.