asked the Minister for Education whether the instruction which appears in the Instructions issued by his Department to the Committee appointed under the Vocational Education Act, 1930, to the effect that Vocational Schools should have a definite technical trend, that the mode of conducting such schools and classes and the methods of instruction employed should differ radically from those of primary or secondary schools, that a definite break both as to subject matter and its treatment is needed all through the vocational course, and that where subjects of the ordinary school curriculum are included they should be treated with a view to their direct utilisation in employment, expresses the policy of his Department in regard to the nature of the education to be provided for children between the ages of 14 and 16 years, and in view of the fact that he definitely stated during the debates on the Act both in the Dáil and Seanad that the education to be given in the proposed continuation schools to the children between these ages was to be mainly of a cultural and general type, will he now explain the reason for the changed policy expressed in the instruction quoted.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Instructions to Vocational Education Committees.
The memorandum referred to is not a general statement of policy by my Department in regard to the nature of the education which is suitable for children between the ages of 14 and 16. It deals solely with the type of education to be provided by Vocational Education Committees. The programme and regulations of the National Education Branch—and of the Secondary Branch—give scope for the provision of education of a general type for pupils between 14 and 16. This memorandum does not, as is suggested, involve any change of policy. It not only is not inconsistent, but is in full accord with the terms of the policy that I outlined whilst the Vocational Education Act was being passed through the Oireachtas. One of the matters most strongly emphasised by me on these occasions was the difference that ought to exist between the instruction provided by the Committees and the education of a general type that is given in the ordinary primary schools—and in the secondary schools—throughout the country. Sometimes I had to refer to the fact that it was not intended to confine the instruction to manual subjects, but I was careful to insist that when what are called "cultural" subjects are taught, especially between the ages mentioned, they should have a strong practical bias.