§ Mr. BURNETTasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether education authorities in Scotland are authorised to permit children under 14 years of age to be employed in school hours; if so, how many children were so employed during the period July to December, 1934; and whether they were employed exclusively in agriculture?
§ Sir G. COLLINSSection 3 of the Education (Scotland) Act, 1901, empowers an education authority to grant exemption from the obligation to attend school to individual children over 12 years of age, for such time and upon such conditions as the authority shall think fit. A child who has been so exempted from school attendance may be employed, subject to the general statutory conditions governing the employment of children and to any special statutory conditions applying to the particular employment. During the period July to December, 1934, exemption for the purpose of employment from the obligation to attend school was granted to 2,873 children. Of these, 1,532 were temporary exemptions for short periods. Of the total number of exemptions for employment, 1,479 were for agricultural work, and of that number 1,254 were temporary exemptions.