§ LORD EDMUND TALBOT (Sussex, Chichester)To ask the President of the Board of Education whether his attention has been called to the fact that a visit of the sub-committee of the local education authority of the West Riding was paid to the Roman Catholic school at Mortomley on 17th September last, and at that visit the chairman brought to notice the case of a child named Florence Norman, a Wesleyan, attending this Roman Catholic school, stating before all the children as a reflection on the head teacher that this child's position in the school was a proof of faulty classification by the teacher, and denying and ridiculing the teacher's statement in explanation that Florence Norman was a delicate child requiring careful and special treatment; whether he is aware that a medical certificate, dated 4th November last, states that this child has been medically attended and absented herself from school at various times during the past two years under medical directions, and that she died on 26th November from an illness affecting the brain, and that the teacher has been instructed by the local education authority to visit other schools with a view of gaining additional experience at her own expense; and whether, under these circumstances, he will call the attention of the local authority to the reflection cast upon the head teacher.
2063 (Answered by Mr. Runciman.) This case is under consideration, and my right hon. friend is not in a position to make any statement at present. I may add, however, that some of the statements made in the Question are denied by the local education authority.