asked the Minister for Education if, in view of the latent talent possessed by certain pupils in primary schools in rural districts, he will introduce a special scheme of scholarships for these schools as the scheme at present operating gives little chance of advancement to these pupils.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Scholarships for Rural National Schools.
All but two of the county and county borough councils provided scholarships to secondary and vocational schools in 1943 from local funds and in most of these areas a proporation of the scholarships was, in effect, reserved for pupils of rural schools. While I would like to see more generous provision by the councils in this respect, it will be appreciated that the present is not an opportune time to press the matter.
I regret that I am not in a position to supplement the efforts of local authorities by a scheme of scholarships from moneys provided by the Oireachtas.