§ 33. Mr. CLARRYasked the President of the Board of Education if he is prepared to review the present system of supervising and inspecting schools, having regard to the unnecessary overlapping which at present occurs and the heavy cost of administration?
Mr. WOODI share the desire of my hon. Friend to reduce as far as possible the cost of administration and inspection, and I have lately been making investigations with that end in view. On the facts at present before me. I am of opinion that the degree of duplication and overlapping between the inspectors of the Board and the officers of local education authoritiesis
§ colleges and to training colleges provided by local authorities in 1919, 1920, 1921 and 1922, respectively?
Mr. WOODAs the answer is of a statistical nature, I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate the figures in the OFFICIAL REPORT,
§ Following are the figures:
§ The rates of Government grant per student, including personal grants, payable to denominational training colleges in respect of the four years ending in July, 1919, 1920,1921 and 1922, respectively were as follow:
§ is slight, but I hope to furnish the House in due course with more precise information on the subject.
§ Mr. A. V. ALEXANDERIs it not a fact that a considerable number of local authorities have already- discharged a large portion of their inspectorial staff, and that there is no need for any further investigation?
§ Mr. E. HARMSWORTHMight not the whole of the inspection take place either by the local authority or by the central authority, so that there should be no overlapping?
Mr. WOODI think the question of overlapping is exaggerated, and although these officers are called by the same name, they do in fact very different tasks.