§ Mr. WOOLCOCKasked the President of the Board of Education, in view of the postponement of the enforcement of Section 8 (1) of the Education Act, 1918, and the operation from 1st January of Section 1 of the Women, Young Persons, and Children (Employment) Act, what steps he intends to take to remedy the situation by which, under the existing bye-laws of certain local education authorities, children can still be exempted from school under 14 years of age and be unable to obtain employment?
§ Mr. FISHERI am precluded by Section 52 of the Education Act, 1918, from bringing Section 8 (1) of that Act into operation until the official termination of the War. The difficulty, therefore, cannot be surmounted except by legislation. I have no reason to think that the existing situation has resulted in any considerable number of claims for exemption by children who are unable to find employment, or that the difficulty is so great as to call for remedy by legislation.