§ MR. J. WARDI beg to ask the President of the Board of Education whether any Order similar to that of the Kent authority to allow the practice of rifle shooting in elementary schools was petitioned for previously by any other county authority and refused by the late Administration.
§ MR. BIRRELLSo far as I can discover, no such application was made during the late Administration. Two applications were, however, received in 1901—one from Manningtree National School (Essex), the other from Kimblesworth Colliery School (Durham). These applications were refused. It must be remembered that there were at that time no local education authorities claiming to represent the views of the ratepayers.
§ MR. J. WARDIn view of the fact that these five orders were issued under a misapprehension, will the hon. Gentleman direct their revocation at once?
§ MR. BIRRELLI have already stated that having regard to the letters that were written it would not be fair to the local authority, who were entitled to assume that the letters were written with authority.
§ MR. BIRRELLPending the Report the use of rifles will not be tolerated in the schools.