§ MR. MCHUGHI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Commissioners of National Education for Ireland have struck off the roll the Protestant national school of Ballinorley, County Sligo, of which the manager is the Rev. John Roche Ardill, LL.D., canon, Protestant rector of Calry parish; is he aware that this school has been established for more than a century, and that it has been on the roll of the Board for thirty years; that this school is three miles distant from the nearest Protestant school; and that if it is closed Protestant children living in Ballinorley will be obliged to walk a distance of four miles on the average to the nearest school under Protestant management and a like distance returning homo from school; is he aware that the Board's rule 179 (c) provides for the closing of a school under Protestant management only when it is within two miles distance of one or more schools under the management of any Protestant denomination; whether, seeing that the Compulsory Education Act of 1892 assumes that in all cases where it applies there is a school in which both secular and religious instruction are given within two miles measured by the nearest road from the residence of the child, and provided that the school grant should be paid to schools having an average attendance of ten or more pupils, and that the average in Ballinorley school for last year was thirteen, the Commissioners are empowered to make rules and orders over-riding an Act of Parliament; and will he make representations to the Commissioners with a view to having the case of Ballinorley school reconsidered.
§ MR. BIRRELLThe Commissioners of National Education inform me that the school in question was struck off the roll of national schools on 26th April last, because it was not required in the locality and the average attendance for the years 1906 and 1907 was only thirteen. The 1770 school has been under the National Board since 1876. There is a national school under Protestant management two and a half miles away, and there is also one under Roman Catholic management about half a mile away. Rule 179 (c), which applies to Protestant and Catholic schools alike, deals with the appointment of new teachers in schools with an average daily attendance of less than twenty-five. The rule under which the Commissioners acted in this case was Rule 189, which provides that, as a general rule, a national school, in order to continue to be recognised by the Commissioners, must have an annual average daily attendance of at least twenty pupils. The Irish Education Act of 1892 contains no provision which requires payment of the school grant to be made to any elementary school that does not fulfil the require of the Commissioners' rules and regulations, and in any event the Act is not in force in the district in question. The whole question as to small schools, distinguishing between those which may be suppressed without any real injury, and those which cannot be so suppressed, will, I hope, immediately engage the attention of the National Board.
§ MR. ASHLEYWhere are these thirteen children to be educated?
§ MR. BIRRELLThe Commissioners of course proceed on the assumption that they can go to another school. There is a Protestant school two and a half miles away and also a Roman Catholic school, and it is assumed the children can attend either of those schools.
§ MR. SLOAN (Belfast, S)Is it not the fact that the National Commissioners of Education in Ireland accepted the grant of £114,000 because the result of a refusal would have been the closing of 225 small schools? Seeing that this school has been in existence over 100 years and it is fully three miles to the nearest Protestant school, will not the right hon. Gentleman get the case reconsidered?
§ MR. BIRRELLIt is no use interrogating me, I am not a member of the Board. As to the grant of £114,000, it must not be lost sight of that the money has been allotted altogether irrespective of the size of the schools. I have no control 1771 over the Commissioners; the whole matter rests with them.
§ MR. SLOANIs it not the fact the National Board have twice refused to agree to the closing down of the 225 Protestant schools?
§ MR. BIRRELLI am not sure of it.
§ MR. BIRRELLAt any rate the National Board will have an opportunity of stating its views.
§ MR. MCHUGHWill the right hon. Gentleman ask the Commissioners to reconsider their decision?
§ MR. CHARLES CRAIG (Antrim, S.)put a similar Question.
§ MR. BIRRELLI will do the best I can, but I have no control whatever over the Board.
§ MR. ASHLEYBut surely the right hon. Gentleman can make representations? I am a Sligo man, and very much interested in this question.
§ MR. BIRRELLIf the facts are as stated I have great sympathy with any school which has to be closed, with the result that a number of children are left unprovided with the kind of denominational education they desire. I do not think it is desirable in the present state of public affairs that the children should be required to go to a Roman Catholic school. At the same time, the multiplication of small schools should be avoided.
§ MR. MCHUGHThere would not be a multiplication.
§ MR. BIRRELLI do not say there would; but there are a large number of schools in Ireland which might be usefully amalgamated.
§ MR. MCHUGH; I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether the teacher of Ballinorley national school, County Sligo, applied to the Commissioners of National Education on the 2nd of the present month for a quarter's salary, amounting to £11, due on the 30th June ultimo; 1772 whether the Board had written on the 19th May informing the manager that the teacher would be paid up to the 26th April, but not stating that the salary would be discontinued after the latter date; whether on the 26th May the teacher supplied to the Board, at the Board's request and at her expense, a medical certificate to qualify her for the pension fund as if she were still under salary; whether at the end of June the Board called upon her to furnish the quarterly returns up to the last day of that month; whether the first intimation the manager received that the salary was withdrawn was conveyed in a letter from the Commissioners to the manager, dated 6th July instant; and will the salary due to the 30th June be paid without further delay.
§ MR. BIRRELLThe Commissioners of National Education inform me that the teacher referred to is not a permanent principal teacher, and could not be recognised as such seeing that she has not been trained. She was recognised by the Commissioners, under rule 79, as locum tenens at the school in question for the maximum period of three months, pending the appointment of a permanent teacher, and the manager was so informed. The three months expired on the 26th April last, and salary was paid to that date. Under the rules no further salary can be paid. All teachers have to furnish a medical certificate of health when first recognised.