§ MR. O'MALLEY (Galway, Connemara)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland (1) whether he can state the number of applications for organisers' science courses in local centres which have been sent to the Commissioners of National Education by school managers or others, and which have not yet been dealt with; (2) whether he will give a I list of suitable centres in which in the opinion of the Commissioners it is advisable to hold preliminary revision and continuation courses respectively; (3) whether he will recommend that funds be provided for the continuance of the organising work after the 31st instant on the same scale as heretofore in order to permit of these classes being held; (4) whether he can state the number of unequipped schools in which no science instruction has yet been given; (5) and whether, seeing that the three science organisers whose services are being retained would be unable to pay even one organising visit per annum to each of the schools already equipped, he will recommend that an adequate staff of organisers be appointed after the 31st instant to guide and supervise science teaching in the schools.
(Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) No such applications have been undealt with. Four such were received during the current year, and were refused for the reasons which I stated in reply to a Question yesterday.† The second Question depends upon the provision which has been, and is to be, made by the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for the training of teachers in elementary science. 7,195 schools have not yet received equipment grants of science apparatus, but some of them may have been equipped from local sources. It cannot, therefore, be inferred that science instruction has been given in none of these schools. There are 5,551 schools manned by only one teacher, and in these it would be difficult to give practical instruction in elementary science, even if the teacher were specially trained. Instruction by way of object-lessons is considered sufficient in such cases.
† See page 972.1081 Instruction of that kind was given in 8,281 schools in 1903. The Answers to the third and last Questions are in the negative.