928 TRANSACTIONS OP SECTION t. 



entrusted by tlic Act of 1903 with powers relating to all branches of higbel" edited,-' 

 tiou, and was commissioned ' to supply or aid the supply of education other than 

 elementary, and to promote the general co-ordination of all forms of education.' 



All matters relating to the exercise of their powers under the Education Acts, 

 except the power of raising a rate or borrowing money, stand referred by statute 

 to the Education Committee of the Council, and the Council before exercising 

 any such powers, unless in their opinion the matter is urgent, receive and consider 

 the report of the Education Committee with respect to the matter in question. 

 The Council may delegate to the Education Committee any of their powers under 

 the Education Acts except their power of raising a rate or borrowing money. The 

 Education Committee is composed of fifty members, of whom thirty -eight are 

 members of the Council, and twelve co-opted members (including six women). The 

 powers and duties of the Education Committee are distributed among eleven sub- 

 committees. The Education Committee is assisted by 180 statutory bodies of 

 managers for provided elementary schools, while the statutory bodies of managers 

 of non-provided elementary schools number 367. In the management of its own 

 .secondary schools, training colleges, technical institutes, and schools of art, the 

 Education Committee is assisted by advisory or local sub-committees. The Council 

 also appoints representatives to serve upon the governing bodies of all schools and 

 institutions to which it makes grants. 



II. Area of the administrative county, 120 square miles ; population, 4,795,757. 

 School rolls: Public elcmmitar;/, 734,288 ; provided, 566,086; non-provided, 165,620. 

 Public secondary, 32,010; provided, 3,070; aided, 16,158; non-aided, 12,779. 

 Technical, 50,800; provided, 7,700; aided, 38,000 ; non-aided, 4,500. Ordinary 

 evening sckools, 121,208. Training colleges, 1,363. 



In these figures neither the University of London, the Imperial College of 

 Technology, nor the Schools of the University are included, although the Council 

 aids them all. 



The Council spends five and a half millions sterling (round figures) on education, 

 4,500,000/. on elementary, and 1,000,000/. on higher. The receipts amount to 

 1,750,000/. ; the rest of the cost falls on the ratepayer. The education rate is 

 19r/. per pound ; a penny rate raises about 185,000/. 



The administrative staff consists of 1,000 officers, including 41 inspectors and 

 28 organisers ; and there are 20,000 teachers engaged in some 3,000 schools or 

 departments of schools of all kinds. 



III. The Council purchases sites, designs and erects its own schools, equips the 

 schools with furniture, desks, books, and apparatus ; supplies fuel and light ; does its 

 own repairs; engages, pays, trains and affords further training to its own'teachers. 



IV. Elementary Schools. — Education is free in all public elementary schools 

 (provided and non-provided). The enforcement of school attendance employs 

 a large body of officers. With relatively few references to the magistrate the 

 average school attendance is maintained at 88-0 per cent, of the average roll. 



The subjects of instruction, in addition to those usually found in public ele- 

 mentary schools, include elementary science, nature study, domestic economy, 

 manual training, physical exercises, swimming, and in certain cases modern 

 languages. A strocg endeavour is made by means of conferences and consultative 

 committees to secure in the management of the schools the assistance of the expert 

 views of the 20,000 teachers. 



Much attention has been given to medical inspection, a comprehensive system 

 having been established before the passing of the Education (Administrative Pro- 

 visions) Act of 1907. 



Voluntary funds provide meals for necessitous children. 



Some 2,000 of the ablest of the children in the elementary schools annually 

 receive scholarships, including free education at secondary schools ; in the majority 

 of cases the scholarship holders are assisted by maintenance grants. There are 

 further scholarship schemes for trade schools aud for higher institutions, including 

 the Universities. For the weakest, medical inspection. For the physically and 

 mentally defective, special schools, with a roll of 9,000 ; and for those not under 

 control there are industrial and reformatory schools* 



