§ MR. BARRIE (Londonderry, N.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if in the forthcoming revision of the syllabus for Irish national schools the Board of National Education will avoid making any change in the arithmetical courses for the standards, as when change are made so frequently, owing to the losses involved, publishers decline to revise their text books, to the detriment of educational facilities.
(Answered by Mr. Bryce.) The Commissioners of National Education inform me that they have already revised their syllabuses for the school year beginning on 1st July next, and that very few changes have been made in the arithmetical courses. In any revisions they may make, the Commissioners are influenced solely by the educational needs of the pupils, and they would welcome a less dependence by teachers upon the use of text books in national schools as a, desirable change.