§ MR. LIDDELL (Down, W.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-
†See (4) Debates, clx., 888.1522 Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state the amount which would be necessary to cover a special grant of £10 per annum to national school teachers in Ireland who have already taken out. University degrees; and whether, if such a sum does not exceed £1,000 per annum, he will take steps to place this amount on the Estimates, in accordance with the recommendations of the Commissioners, of National Education of last year.
MR. BRYCEThe Commissioners of National Education inform me that the cost of giving £10 a year to existing teachers who are University graduates would be about £1,000 a year, but the Commissioners estimate that if the system were applied to teachers who may take degrees in future the cost would ultimately reach £10,000 a year. I do not express any opinion on this particular proposal, as it would need to be weighed whether so considerable an addition to the funds for primary education might not be better employed in some other direction. At the same time, I may say that the advantage of inducing teachers to take University degrees has been shown by the example of Scotland to be, very great indeed.
§ MR. SLOAN (Belfast, S.)Is a proposal for increasing the salaries of the national school teachers under consideration?