§ MR. FIELDTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Commissioners of National Education stated on the introduction of the revised programme that the efficient instruction of six distinct standards by one teacher was, under the results system, not practicable; and, if so, whether, in the case of such teachers, otherwise eligible, service under these conditions will constitute any barrier to increments or promotion under the present system.
(Answered by Mr. Bryce.) The Commissioners of National Education inform me that upon the introduction of their revised programme in 1900 they stated that, as in most small schools the staff consists of a principal teacher only, or of a principal teacher and monitor, it is not practicable to teach separately, and at the same time efficiently, six or even fewer distinct standards. The Commissioners, therefore, announced 1606 that they would sanction in small schools the collective instruction in the same subject of two or more standards as one division. The Commissioners inform me that since that time they have issued special programmes suitable for collective instruction in small schools. It is not, therefore, the case that service under the conditions mentioned constitutes a bar to the granting of increments or promotion to teachers otherwise eligible.