§ Captain LOSEBYasked the President of the Board of Education if he can state the approximate cost per head of pupils attending primary and secondary schools in this country?
§ The PRESIDENT of the BOARD Of EDUCATION (Mr. Herbert Fisher)With regard to public elementary schools, the latest figures in my possession are those of the estimates of the local education authorities for the current year; on these figures the gross cost per head of pupils attending these schools is £6 13s.; but the cost is increasing.
As regards State-aided secondary schools, the latest tabulated information at my disposal relates to the year 1912–13, when the average gross cost of maintenance per pupil was £14 19s. It is not at present possible to estimate, even roughly, how far the figure has been affected by the general rise in salaries and in the cost of materials. It should be noted, moreover, that, owing to the wide variation between different types of secondary schools, the average figure given above must be used with great caution, if misleading inferences are to be avoided.