§ LORD R. CECIL (Marylebone, E.)I bog to ask the President of the Board of Education whether the Board have determined that the non-provided school at Llanfair Talhaiarn is unnecessary, and if they have sanctioned the enlargement of the provided school in that parish at a cost of £1,650; and, if so, what ground have they for thinking that this is in accordance with the wishes of the parents and conduces to the economy of the rates.
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION (Mr. LOUGH, Islington, W.)The Board sanctioned in December, 1906, the enlargement of the council school and determined that upon the completion of the enlargement the voluntary school would be unnecessary. I cannot say if the noble Lord's estimate of cost is 1140 correct. The overcrowding at the council school, to which His Majesty's inspector has called attention for some years past, proved in the opinion of the Board that an enlargement was necessary. The fact that in the school year ending May, 1906, out of the 160 children on the books of the two schools only twenty-one attended the voluntary school must be taken as affording evidence of the wishes of the parents, and I have no doubt that the existence of one school instead of two conduces to the economy of the rates.