§ Mr. SITCHasked the President of the Board of Education the number of classes in the elementary schools in Staffordshire where there are more than 40 scholars in the class; and what action is being taken by the Board of Education, the county, and other local education authorities to reduce the number of scholars in all classes in elementary schools to 40 or less?
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§ Lord E. PERCYThe number of classes containing more than 40 pupils in the area of the Staffordshire local authority was, on the 31st March, 1926, 632. As regards the second part of the question, the immediate aim of the Board is that stated in Circular 1325, issued by my predecessor in 1924 i.e., the elimination of classes of over 50 children and the reduction to 40 of classes for older pupils. The size of classes depends largely upon the accommodation, and the process of reduction is necessarily gradual; but the number of classes with over 50 children in this area fell from 177 on the 31st March, 1925, to 144 on the 31st March, 1926.