asked the Minister for Education if, in view of the fact that school transport is not provided for primary schoolchildren in rural Ireland who, on account of the very location of their homes, find difficulty in securing the same percentage of school attendance as their more fortunate town and urban fellow pupils, he will raise the age-group for primary school scholarships from 11-13 years to 11-14 years.
Ceisteanna—Questions Oral Answers. - Primary School Scholarships.
102.
Up to now the upper age limit for these scholarships was 14 years. The reduction proposed in that limit is five months in 1963 and 1964 and eight months thereafter. Educational and other considerations demanded that we should not be continuing a situation in which pupils were entering secondary schools at so late an age as 14.
The first part of the Deputy's question does not appear to take cognisance of two facts. The first is that transport services are provided where pupils reside outside of the statutory distance from school. The second is that in the vast majority of the counties a very considerable number of the scholarships in question are reserved for pupils attending rural schools.
It is not my intention, therefore, to return to an upper age limit of 14 years.