Extract from Minutes of the Committee of Council on Education, 3rd December, 1839. Their Lordships deliberated on the 9th Regulation of the 24th September, viz. :-"In every application for aid to the erection of a School-house in England or Wales, it must be stated whether the school is in connexion with the National Society, or the British and Foreign Society; and if the said school be not in connexion with either of those societies, the Committee will not entertain the case, unless some special circumstances be exhibited to induce their Lordships to treat the case as special." Resolved,-That if such special circumstances be stated as to induce the Committee to entertain the consideration of any such case, their Lordships will require to be informed 1. What are the objections which the applicants make to connecting the intended school with the National Society or the British and Foreign School Society. 2. To whom the superintendence of religious instruction will be confided in their school, and whether such religious instruction will be obligatory on all the children in the school, or whether the parent or natural guardian of any child may withdraw it from such religious instruction, or from any portion of it, without thereby forfeiting the advantages of the general education in the school. 3. Whether the Bible or Testament will be required to be read daily in the school by the children, and whether any and what catechisms will be taught, and whether, if the parents or guardian of any child object to such catechetical instruction, it will be enforced or dispensed with. 4. Whether the children who attend the day-school are required to attend a Sunday-school, for the purpose of religious instruction, or to attend for divine worship at any particular church or chapel, or whether the place of divine worship is left to the selection of their parents solely, without their incurring, by reason of such selection, any loss of the privileges of the school. 5. Whether the school is to be connected with the congregation of any religious denomination, either by the erection of the schoolhouse within the boundary-wall of the site on which a place of divine worship is built, or by reason of its being chiefly supported by subscriptions from the members of such congregation, or in consequence of any rule limiting admission to any one religious denomination. 6. If it is intended that the school shall be so established and supported the Committee must be informed what is the district from which the children will assemble in the school; what is the population of the district, and what portion of that population belongs to the religious denomination of the congregation with which the school is connected. Resolved,-That on these facts in relation to each case being presented to the Committee, and their Lordships being satisfied that the regulations of the 24th September will in all other respects be fulfilled, they will limit their aid to those cases in which proof is given of a great deficiency of education for the poorer classes in the district; of vigorous efforts having been made by the inhabitants to provide funds, and of the indispensable need of further assistance; and to those cases in which competent provision will be made for the instruction of the children in the school; the daily reading of a portion of the Scriptures forming part of such instruction. The Committee will further give a preference to schools in which the religious instruction will be of the same character as that given in schools in connexion with one or other of the abovenamed societies; and to those in which the school committee or trustees, while they provide for the daily reading of the Scriptures in the school, do not enforce any rule by which the children will be compelled to learn a catechism, or attend a place of divine worship, to which their parents, on religious grounds, object. Extracts from Minutes of Committee of Council on Education of 4th January, 1840, and 15th July, 1840, Extract from Minutes of 4th January, 1840. Read, The following letter from the Secretary to the Education Committee of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland: Edinburgh, 19th December, 1840. SIR, The Education Committee of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland respectfully request of the Education Board of the Privy Council some further information than the published regulations afford, on that part of their plan which relates to the inspection of schools aided by the funds at their disposal. They beg to learn whether the proposed inspection is meant to be in connexion and in co-operation with the Church of Scotland, to which the superintendence of schools is by law committed; if so, in what manner such connexion and co-operation are to be effected; and they would feel obliged by receiving such information generally, in regard to the nomination and purposes of the inspectors. as may enable them to judge whether there may be no hazard of any interference taking place with the established system of inspection by the Church. The Committee take leave, with deference, to suggest whether it might not be advantageous that the proposed inspection were incorporated with the existing system, by the Board consulting the Church on the appointment of the Inspectors. I have, &c. JOHN GORDON, (Signed) Secretary to the General Assembly's To the Secretary of the Education Board of the Privy Council, &c. &c. &c. Ordered, That the following reply be made:— Committee of Council on Education, Council Office, SIR, of The Committee of Council direct me to inform you, in reply to your inquiries, that the Inspectors of Schools aided by public grants are appointed by Her Majesty in Council, on the recommendation of the Committee of Council on Education; and, in order to afford you the fullest information respecting the duties of the Inspectors, my Lords direct me to transmit the enclosed copy instructions addressed to the Inspectors for England and Wales. Instructions framed on the same principles, but modified so as to render them applicable to any peculiar circumstances in Scotland, will be issued to the Inspectors for that country. With respect to such modifications, my Lords will be glad to receive any observations from the Committee of the General Assembly. In these documents you will perceive that the inspection of schools is intended to be a means of co-operation between the Government and the ministers, local committees and trustees of schools, for the inprovement and extension of elementary education; and my Lords embrace the opportunity of expressing their intention to co-operate with the Church of Scotland for the attainment of these results, as regards the schools which are placed by law, or by the condition of their endowments or constitution, under the superintendence of the Church of Scotland. In further reply to your inquiry, my Lords direct me to assure you that, with respect to these schools, my Lords will at all times feel it their duty to communicate and co-operate with the Education Commitee of the General Assembly, and will direct copies of their Inspectors' Reports to be transmitted to the Committee from time to time. My Lords conceive this co-operation may best be promoted by selecting for the inspection of such schools gentlemen who possess the confidence of the Church of Scotland, while their acquaintance with all the technical details of elementary instruction, and their zeal for the education of the poorer classes, will afford a guarantee that they are fit agents for promoting the improvement and extension of such elementary education as may secure the religious and moral improvement of the children of the poor. The Committee of Council consider that much advantage will arise from their Lordships having the opportunity of consulting the Education Committee of the General Assembly with respect to the selection of the inspectors of such schools; before, therefore, a recommendation of any gentlemen for this office is made to Her Majesty in Council, my Lords will communicate the name to the Committee of the General Assembly for their observations. I have, &c. John Gordon, Esq., Secretary to the Education Committee of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Extract from the Minutes of the Committee of Council on Education, 15th July, 1840. THE Lord President having called the attention of the Committee to their previous Minutes, relating to the appointment of Inspectors of Schools in connexion with the Church of England, their Lordships deliberated thereon, and resolved, that a Report be presented to Her Majesty in Council, embodying the following recommendations: 1. That before any person is recommended to the Queen in Council to be appointed to inspect schools receiving aid from the public, the promoters of which state themselves to be in connexion with the National Society, or the Church of England, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York be consulted by the Committee of Privy Council, each with regard to his own province; and that they be at liberty to suggest any person or persons for the office of Inspector, and that no person be appointed without their con currence. 2. That the Inspectors of such schools shall be appointed during pleasure; and that it shall be in the power of each Archbishop, at all times, with regard to his own province, to withdraw his concurrence in such appointment, whereupon the authority of the Inspector shall cease, and a fresh appointment take place. 3. That the instructions to the Inspectors, with regard to religious instruction, shall be framed by the Archbishops, and form part of the general instructions to the Inspectors of such schools, and that the general instructions shall be communicated to the Archbishops before they are finally sanctioned. That each Inspector, at the same time that he presents any Report relating to the said schools to the Committee of the Privy Council, shall transmit a duplicate thereof to the Archbishop, and shall also send a copy to the Bishop of the diocese in which the school is situate, for his information. 4. That the grants of money be in proportion to the number of children educated and the amount of money raised by private contribution, with the power of making exceptions in certain cases, the grounds of which will be stated in the annual Returns to Parliament. |