Mr. WILLIAM REDMONDasked the right hon. Gentleman whether he is aware that the girls' national school at Parteen, Limerick, consists of one room, with the ordinary furniture for grown-up children, but without any equipment for the teaching of kindergarten, and even without desks or seats of a proper size for infants, and that this girls' school is taught in all the standards, from first to sixth, by one mistress, without the help of any assistant; and whether, in face of the formal protest of the manager, the Commissioners of National Education have decided, on the report of an inspector, that this school is suitable according to the terms of their rule (127b) for the education of boys under seven years of age; and, if so, will he state on what grounds the Commissioners of National Education justify this decision?
§ Mr. ILLINGWORTHThe Commissioners of National Education having been informed in April, 1910, that rule (127b) 25 was not observed in Parteen boys school referred the matter to their senior inspector, who reported that there was no reason why the rule should not be fully observed. The manager, however, pointed out that the school was conducted in a single room by one mistress and was without any special equipment for infants, and asked whether the Commissioners considered it a suitable school within the meaning of the rule. The Commissioners thereupon called for a further report from their inspector, who reported that the prescribed conditions were fulfilled, the accommodation being adequate and the teaching of infants efficient, and the Commissioners have informed the manager to that effect.