§ MR. SLOAN (Belfast, S.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he can state what has been the average attendance at Roughfort national school, county Antrim, during each of the last two quarters; and can he say why the National Commissioners 224 continue a grant to a school with so small an attendance, seeing that two other schools exist only a mile distant.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The average attendance during the last two quarters was 27 and 24 respectively. The Commissioners of National Education understand that the recent decline in the attendance is but temporary, and is due to local circumstances of an exceptional character. The average attendance for the year 1907 was 60, and the average number on the rolls was 95. If the school were closed this number could not be accommodated at the two other schools in the locality.