§ Sir JAMES YOXALLasked the President of the Board of Education whether he has required the Glamorgan Education 581W Committee to furnish him with a detailed and tabulated Return of school staffs in the county area, in order to enable the Board of Education to secure fuller information than they at present possess regarding the deficiencies which exist in the staffs of the schools; if so, whether the Glamorgan Education Committee, at its meeting held on the 8th instant, resolved that the Return be not made; and what steps he proposes to take in the interests of the 70,000 children educated in Glamorgan schools?
Mr. PEASEWith a view to obtaining all the information that is available upon the subject of the supply of teachers for elementary schools, the Board addressed, in May and June last, to local education authorities in England and Wales two circular letters asking for particulars which could not all be obtained from the ordinary Returns made to them with regard to the teaching staff in public elementary schools. Their inquiry referred especially to the estimated annual requirements of each authority, the extent of any deficiencies of the staff existing at a particular date, and the means taken by the authority to supply its annual requirements and to meet temporary emergencies. The Glamorganshire education authority appear to be under some misapprehension as to the purpose for which the information is required and the nature of the particulars asked for; but I am in communication with them, and I have no reason to believe that they will not be willing to help the Board to complete the information which has now been received from nearly all the local education authorities.