§ Mr. BOLANDasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the Board of Intermediate Education has received any communications from representative bodies of Irish "head-masters and teachers, protesting against the handicapping of science as a subject in secondary schools and against the injury involved for the methods of teaching that subject by introducing now a written examination as an additional obligatory test for a pass; whether he is aware that this will disturb the present system of inspection by the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction, which is declared to be working smoothly in the schools and to have effected great and remarkable improvement; whether protests have further been made to the Board against making such changes without notice and without consultation by the representatives of intermediate schools; and whether the Irish Government will call upon the Intermediate Board to publish the terms of such protests as it may have received, in order that the country may understand what competent educational opinion in Ireland thinks of a step which one of these protests declares to be educationally a backward step, likely to lead to less efficient teaching, and involving expense which the schools cannot afford?
§ Mr. DUKEI am informed that protests in the matter referred to have been received by the Intermediate Education Board from the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction, the Board of Technical Instruction, the Schoolmasters' Association, the Education Committee of the Christian Brothers and the Science Teachers' Committee. There is no reason to suppose that the introduction of written examination will disturb the present system of inspection. The proposal2314W of the hon. Member as to the publication of the terms of protests has been communicated to the Board.
§ Mr. BOLANDasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that, by a resolution published in the Regulations of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for 1901–2 as regards experimental science in secondary schools, the Intermediate Education Board deliberately abandoned a written examination in experimental science and bound itself not to hold an examination in the subject until a year's notice had been given by the Board; whether a year's notice was given by the Board before they introduced a written examination, as a condition for a pass in this subject, into the rules for the school year commencing next month; if so, to whom was the notice given; and, if such notice has not been given, whether the change in the rules will be held to be valid?
§ Mr. DUKEI have seen the resolution referred to. Notice of the introduction by the Intermediate Education Board of a written examination in experimental science for the examinations of June, 1917, is given in the rules and programme of the Board for 1917 ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on 6th April, 1916.