§ Mr. WHEATLEYasked the President of the Board of Education if he is aware that a new test for Civil Service messengers has been instituted which stipulates that the applicant must have a knowledge of industrial history from the 17th century onwards instead of, as heretofore, a knowledge of the dates of births and deaths of kings and queens; and how many elementary schools under the control of the Board have the teaching of industrial history as part of the school curriculum?
Duchess of ATHOLLI assume that the right hon. Member is referring to the2084W general examination taken at the age of about 16 by Post Office boy messengers, with a view to their selection for retention for various adult appointments. I am aware that a change is being made in the history syllabus for this examination next year, but I think that the right hon. Member is rather exaggerating the extent of the change. As regards the second part of the question, the teaching of history in the upper standards of public elementary schools normally includes the industrial history of the 18th and 19th centuries.