§ 53. Mr. EDEasked the President of the Board of Education how many local authorities have by-laws purporting to allow children to be exempted from school upon passing a labour examination; and whether, seing that power to operate such a by-law was withdrawn by Section 8 (1) of the Education Act, 1918, now embodied in the Education Act, 1921, he will call on such authorities to submit new by-laws from which this exemption is omitted?
§ Sir C. TREVELYANUpwards of 200 local education authorities have school attendance by-laws containing obsolete provisions for exemption upon a certificate from His Majesty's Inspector which, however, are very generally known to 2370 have been repealed by the Education Act, 1918. I have no power to call upon authorities to submit new by-laws merely for the purpose of omitting these obsolete provisions, which do not, in fact, cause any misapprehension.