Resolution.

THE Manchester and Salford Schoolmasters' Association, being by experience fully convinced that it is of the utmost importance that the youth attending the public schools of England should, like those of Scotland and Ireland, and private schools generally, be put in possession of the requisite books to carry on their education in a connected manner, beg respectfully to express a hope that the Lords in Council have it in consideration to issue or adopt a series of elementary books, to be granted to public schools at a reduced price, so that they may be within the means of the poorer children attending such schools.

Copy of reply from Committee of Council on Education to an inquiry made by the Rev. R. Dawes, Vicar of King's Somborne, relating to proposed grants for School Books, &c.

REVEREND SIR,

Committee of Council on Education, Council Office, Whitehall, August 31, 1848. I HAVE the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 29th instant, in which you request to be furnished with some information respecting the conditions of grants towards the purchase of school books and maps, for the use of schools under inspection, in which books are ordinarily sold to the scholars by the managers.

Such schools may avail themselves of the advantages offered by the Committee of Council, in their Minute dated 18th of December 1847, provided that the managers obtain the books and maps on the conditions set forth in the Circular No. 1, and that the books and maps be sold to none but the teachers, pupilteachers, and scholars, for their use, and at the prices at which they are obtained by the managers, viz., two-thirds of the reduced price.

My Lords will permit the scholars, pupil-teachers, and teachers, of any school, to subscribe towards the sum to be locally provided (viz. two-thirds), to meet their Lordships' grant of one-third of the reduced cost of the books contained in their Lordships' schedules, on condition that, when the local subscription is thus provided, the scholars, pupil-teachers, and teachers, be permitted to possess books, which they have with the concurrence of the managers selected, of one-third greater value than their respective subscriptions.

In either of the before-mentioned cases, my Lords will require to be informed of the intentions of the Committee of Managers, when the application Form No. 2 is returned to this Office.

To the Rev. Richard Dawes, King's Somborne, Stockbridge.

GRANTS OF SCHOOL BOOKS AND MAPS.

No. 1.-Explanatory Circular, and Schedules.

Committee of Council on Education,
Council Office, Whitehall, 1848.

THE Reports of her Majesty's Inspectors have informed the Committee of Council on Education of the fact that, while by the aid of religious associations the managers of schools have been enabled to procure a sufficient supply of Bibles, Testaments, religious formularies, and books of religious instruction, other lesson and text books are often either not found in elementary schools, or only to a very limited extent.

The want of the means to procure such books and maps has become more urgent since the efforts to improve the standard of elementary education consequent on the operation of the Minutes of August and December 1846.

Their Lordships have therefore acceded to an almost universal sense of the importance of introducing such lesson and text books and maps, in addition to the books of religious instruction, and have determined to make grants for this purpose.

I am directed by the Committee of Council on Education to bring under your notice the conditions on which grants of books and maps are now accessible to schools under inspection.

Their Lordships have directed two schedules to be prepared, one of books and maps for the use of the scholars, and the other for teachers and pupil-teachers. These schedules are intended to comprise books and maps, the merit of which has received the sanction of public opinion as shown by their extensive adoption in schools under their Lordships? inspection. In like manner they are prepared to modify these schedules by the exclusion of those books and maps which gradually fall into disuse, or by the introduction of others, the merit of which has been ascertained by general adoption.

The Committee of Council do not assume any other responsibility for the character of the books contained in these schedules than that which attaches to the fidelity and diligence with which their Lordships ascertain and record the opinion of the public.

The managers of schools desiring to obtain this form of aid, will, at their own discretion, select from the schedules those books which they would prefer to introduce into their own schools.

My Lords have appointed Messrs. Longman and Co. their agents for the distribution of these books and maps to schools, and have assumed the expense of this agency. The carriage of the parcels from London to the school must be paid by the school managers.

The Committee of Council have further corresponded with the publishers, and in consideration of the greatly increased consumption which will be consequent on the grants in aid of the purchase of these books and maps, and of the absence of any charge for agency, they have procured a reduction varying from 32 to 55 per cent., on the retail price, and averaging 43 per cent.

Their Lordships are further disposed to encourage the purchase of these books and maps by grants of one-third of this reduced price, provided the other two-thirds of their value be raised by local subscrip

tions, and be remitted to this office by means of post-office orders, when the grant is announced. This first grant of books and maps is to be denominated a Supply Grant.

At the end of three years from the date of the Supply Grant, the Committee will be ready to entertain a second application for a grant of books and maps, towards which they will award one-fifth of their value at the reduced prices; such grants are to be denominated Renewal Grants, and they may be repeated every three years.

In the intervals the Committee will entertain applications for grants, in consideration of any remarkable increase in the number of the scholars,

The conditions of grants of books and maps are ;

1. That the books and maps purchased by the grants and subscriptions shall not exceed in value two shillings per head on the average number of scholars in attendance on the school during the preceding year, or two shillings and sixpence per head in those schools in which pupil-teachers have been apprenticed.

2. That it be strongly recommended that every scholar in the first class shall be provided with a satchel, and shall be allowed, daily, to take home a reading-lesson book, and two other textbooks, to prepare the lessons of the succeeding day.-That each pupil-teacher shall be allowed to take home daily three text-books.

3. That the name of the school shall be written in full on the inside of the cover of every book, and on the title-page, and that the managers shall engage that these books be devoted to the use of their scholars only.

If you are disposed to apply for a grant of books and maps on these conditions, you are requested to examine the Schedules No. 1 and No. 2, and then carefully to fill up the Application Form No. 2, and a duplicate of that form.

It is particularly requested that you will write the number of copies of every book which you require in the first place on a separate sheet, and calculate the cost at the reduced prices, so as to avoid error, and that you will then enter the number and the value on the Application Form, taking care that the total value does not exceed the sum for which you are allowed to seek a grant, in consideration of the average attendance of scholars at your school during the past year.

Two copies of the application forms are sent to you, in order that they may be filled up in duplicate, and I am to warn you that they will be returned to you from this office unless the two copies are sent under the same envelope.

If the grant thus sought for be approved, it will be necessary that, on the receipt of the letter from this office announcing such approval, you should procure post-office orders for the payment of two-thirds of the total cost of the books selected.

The post-office orders are to be drawn on the Branch Post-Office at Charing Cross, London, payable to Edmund Stephen Harrison, Esq., of the Privy Council Office, in account with Messrs. Drummond and Co. I have the honor to be, &c.,

(Signed)

J. P. KAY SHUTTLEWORTH.

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