§ 53. Mr. HARRISasked the President of the Board of Education how many pupils are attending the London County Council continuation school classes; what is the cost per head of such classes; and in what parts of the country are similar facilities being provided?
§ The PRESIDENT of the BOARD of EDUCATION (Lord Eustace Percy)I assume that the hon. Member refers to the council's day continuation schools. The total number of pupils attending these schools at any time during the 1650 session 1925–26 was 10,631. Owing to the large variation in the number of hours attended by students, it is not possible to give a satisfactory figure of cost per student calculated upon the number of students in attendance, but the council estimate the cost per 100 student-hours at £3 9s. 8d. Similar facilities are provided by the local authorities for Manchester, West Ham and Warwickshire, and in several other areas individual firms and employers either maintain schools of their own or enter into arrangements under which the local authority meets or share the cost of day continuation schools for young employés.
§ Mr. HARRISWill the right hon. Gentleman make representations to other education authorities as to the necessity of having similar day continuation classes held, as they have proved very inexpensive?
§ Lord E. PERCYI do not know what the hon. Member means by "very inexpensive," but the local authorities know perfectly well that I am prepared to consider any proposals on that subject.