§ Mr. JESSE COLLINGSasked the President of the Board of Education the average rate raised for education in public elementary schools under county councils (excluding London) in England and Wales?
Mr. PEASEThe amounts expended (out of rates) by county councils (excluding London) in England and Wales in the financial year 1910–11 upon elementary education were equivalent to rates ranging from 4.7d. to 21.1d. in the £. The total assessable value rateable for the purposes of elementary education in these county1318W councils was £75,330,085; their total expenditure (out of rates) on elementary education was £3,626,827; and this is equivalent, if taken over all the area, to a rate of 12.2d. in the £.
§ Mr. JESSE COLLINGSasked the President of the Board of Education if his attention has been called to the fact that under the 1902 Act, Section 10, the Government Grant to rural elementary schools is 4s. per child in average attendance; whether this Grant is uniform to all schools; and whether he can state approximately what Grants are made in addition to the 4s., so as to show the total Grant per child in the schools referred to?
Mr. PEASESection 10 of the Education Act, 1902, provides for the payment to local education authorities of a fixed Grant of 4s. for every scholar in average attendance in public elementary schools, and also for a variable Grant which ranges from 9d. to 6s. 9d. per head. The Grants paid under this Section are called Aid Grant. In addition to Aid Grant there are the Grants payable under the Regulations for public elementary schools, of which the chief is Annual Grant, at the rate of 13s. 4d. for children under five years of age and 21s. 4d. for children over five; and, in addition to these, there are other Grants for special instruction in cookery, handicraft, etc.; Grants paid for areas having exceptionally small populations; Grants paid for certain exceptionally small infants' schools; and Grants for higher elementary schools. In addition to the Annual Grants, there is the Fee Grant, which is paid approximately at the rate of 10s. per head for all scholars in public elementary schools complying with the conditions of the Elementary Education Act of 1891. The total amount of Grant paid in the last financial year under all these headings amounted to £11,047,712. The average attendance in public elementary schools in that period was 5,375,374; and thus the total Grants paid by the Board averaged £2 1s. 1d. per head of average attendance.
§ Mr. JESSE COLLINGSasked the President of the Board of Education the number of children on the registers of rural elementary schools in England and Wales, excluding urban areas, and the average attendance at such schools?
Mr. PEASEI must refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave him yesterday with reference to the number of public elementary schools in rural districts.
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§ Mr. C. BATHURSTasked the. President of the Board of Education if, in view of the doubt existing in the minds of many elementary school teachers, he will state whether, unless they continue to teach up to the age of sixty-five, they will forfeit the whole of the superannuation allowance provided by the Government and will only be entitled to the annuity portion of it, towards which they have themselves contributed, or what will be their exact position?
§ Mr. J. A. PEASETeachers otherwise qualified do not forfeit the superannuation allowances payable under the Elementary School Teachers (Superannuation) Act, 1898, by giving up teaching before they reach the age of sixty-five, but neither the allowance for each year of recorded service nor the annuity, to which the hon. Member refers is payable until the age of sixty-five years has been attained.