§ 19. Mr. LENNOX-BOYDasked the President of the Board of Education the estimated Budget expenditure on education in France, and the cost per head of education for 1932 in France and Great Britain, respectively?
§ Sir D. MACLEANThe estimated Budget expenditure of the French Ministry of Public Instruction, for 1932, is about 2,606 million francs, that is about £21,000,000 at par of exchange, and, if account is also taken of certain educational services which fall outside the scope of this Ministry, the combined estimate amounts to some 2,939 million francs, or £23,700,000 at par of exchange. This estimate is for a period of nine months only, and is in a number of respects not comparable with the estimates of the Board of Education in this country. As regards the second part of the question, I assume that my hon. Friend wishes to obtain figures as to the actual cost of education in the two countries in schools of comparable types. I am afraid that, for a variety of reasons, I am unable to give figures of this kind, in particular because no information is available as to expenditure from local sources in France.