School, and also to make one quarterly himself to the Commissioners, in addition to his ordinary Report upon the School after each visit. 11. He is also to supply the Commissioners with such local information as they may from time to time require from him, and to act as their agent in all matters in which they may employ him; but he is not invested with authority to decide upon any question affecting a National School, or the general business of the Commissioners, without their direction.

12. When applications for aid are referred to the Superintendent, he is to communicate with the applicant so as to insure an interview, and also with the Clergymen of the different denominations in the neighbourhood, with the view of ascertaining their sentiments on the case, and whether they have any, and what, objections thereto. He is also to communicate personally, if necessary, with any other individuals in the neighbourhood.

13. The Superintendent is to avoid all discussions of a religious or political nature; he is to exhibit a courteous and conciliatory demeanour towards all persons with whom he is to communicate, and to pursue such a line of conduct as will tend to uphold the just influence and authority both of Managers and Teachers.

V.-As to Appointment, Conduct of Teachers, &c.

1. The appointment of Teachers rests with the Local Patrons and Committees of Schools; but the Commissioners are to be satisfied with the fitness of each, both as to character and general qualification. He should be a person of Christian sentiment, of calm temper, and discretion; he should be imbued with a spirit of peace, of obedience to the law, and of loyalty to his Sovereign; he should not only possess the art of communicating knowledge, but be capable of moulding the mind of youth, and of giving to the power which education confers, a useful direction. These are the qualities for which Patrons of Schools, when making choice of Teachers, should anxiously look. They are those which the Commissioners are anxious to find, to encourage, and to reward.

2. The Commissioners have provided a Normal Establishment in Marlborough-street, Dublin, for training Teachers, and educating persons who are intended to undertake the charge of Schools; and they do not sanction the appointment of a Teacher to any School, unless he shall have been previously trained at the Normal Establishment; or shall have been pronounced duly qualified by the Superintendent of the District in which the School is situated.

3. Teachers selected by the Commissioners for admission to the Normal Establishment, must produce a Certificate of good character from the officiating Clergyman of the communion to which they belong; and must pass through an examination in the Books published by the Commissioners. They are to be boarded and lodged at the establishments provided by the Board, for the purpose, in Dublin, and at Glasnevin, in the immediate neighbourhood of Dublin, to which latter an Agricultural department is attached.

They are to receive religious instruction from their respective Pastors, who attend on Tuesdays at the Normal Establishment; and on Sundays they are required to attend their respective places of Worship; and a vigilant superintendence is at all times exercised over their moral conduct.

4. They are to attend upon five days in the week at the Training and Model Schools, where lectures are delivered on different branches of knowledge, and where they are practised in the art of Teaching. They are to receive instruction in Agriculture daily; and they attend on Saturdays at the Farm at Glasnevin, which is conducted under the direction of the Commissioners, and where they see theory reduced to practice. They undergo a final examination at the close of their course, and each will then receive a certificate according to his deserts. The course of training at present occupies a period of four months and a half, and for a considerable time previous to their being summoned, they are required to prepare themselves for the course.

5. Teachers of Schools unconnected with the National Board, if properly recommended, are also admitted to attend the Normal Establishment, as day pupils, without any charge for tuition; but such persons maintain themselves at their own expense.

6. The Commissioners grant salaries to the Teachers, varying from £8 to £20 (and in the case of Female Teachers, from £8 to £15) per annum, according to the class in which they may be placed; regard being had to their qualifications, the average number of children in attendance, the state of the School, and the extent of the instruction afforded in it.

7. Teachers of National Schools are divided into three classes, to which the following salaries are attached:-1st, or highest Class, £20; 2nd, £15; 3rd, £12 per annum; and in the case of Female Teachers, 1st, or highest, £15; 2nd, £12; 3rd, £10, per

annum,

8. Masters and Mistresses, not sufficiently qualified for classification, constitute a Probationary Class, and receive at most £8 per annum each, in which they must remain for at least One Year. They are afterwards to be examined by the Superintendent of the District, or, if in training, by the Professors, and such as are deemed sufficiently qualified to be placed in a higher Class, receive the increase of Salary to which they may become entitled, from the commencement of the second year.

9. National Teachers are eligible to be re-classed at the termination of one year from the date of any previous classification. They are also liable to be depressed a Class if they have conducted themselves improperly, or if their Schools have declined, either as regards attendance, or in any other respect.

10. The Commissioners require that a further income be secured to the Teacher, either by Local Subscription or School-fees, to such amount in each case as they may direct; and the Commissioners also require that the payments made by the children

shall not be diminished in consequence of any increase of Salary which may be awarded to the Teacher.

11. In Schools consisting of Male and Female Children, occupying the same room, under the care of one Male Teacher, the Commissioners grant a Salary not exceeding £6 per annum, to a Teacher of Needlework, provided the average daily attendance of Children be sufficiently large to warrant the Commissioners in so doing.

12. In Schools attended by Female Children only, under the care of a Female Teacher, such Teacher must be competent to conduct the Needlework as well as the Literary Department.

13. The Commissioners also grant Salaries to Assistant Literary Teachers, of not more than £8 per annum each, in all Schools where, in their opinion, the daily average attendance is so large as to render additional Teachers necessary.

14. Salaries are granted by the Commissioners to the Teachers individually. No new Teacher, therefore, is to receive a Salary from them unless they have first approved of him; the amount is regulated by the Class in which he may be placed.

VI.-Books.

1. The Commissioners furnish gratuitously to each School a first Stock of School-books, in proportion to the attendance of Children, which is renewed at the end of every four years. They are to be kept as a School Stock, for which the Master or Mistress is held responsible, and they are on no account to be taken out of the School. The Commissioners also supply Books from time to time for the general use of the Children, and School Requisites, such as Paper, Slates, Quills, &c., at reduced rates.

2. The Funds of the Commissioners do not enable them to give a Free Stock sufficiently large for the entire wants of the School. It consists chiefly of Books and Lessons suited to the Junior Classes, viz. :-Spelling and Reading Tablets, First, Second, and Third Books, Grammars, Arithmetics, Copy Lines, and Arithmetical Tablets, also a Register and Report Book. The more advanced Lesson Books, Maps, Slates, Pencils, and Stationery are to be purchased at the reduced rates.

3. When Books, &c., purchased from the Commissioners at the reduced price, are sold to the children attending a National School, it is directed that in no case shall any advance be made on these prices; and the Superintendents have instructions to inquire into, and report upon, any infraction of this rule.

4. Books are supplied to Schools for the poor, not in connexion with the National Board, upon special application, at prices considerably lower than those at which they are sold to the public.

VII.-Building.

1. Before any grant is made towards Building a School-house, the Commissioners are to be satisfied that a necessity exists for

such a School, that an eligible site has been procured, that a satisfactory Lease of the site will be executed to the Commissioners in their Corporate capacity, and that the applicant parties are prepared to raise, by local contribution, at least one-third of the whole sum which the Commissioners deem necessary for the erection of the House, providing Furniture, &c.

2. If the proposed site be for a School in a Rural District, and be within three statute miles of a School-house, towards the erection of which the Commissioners have contributed aid, no grant can be made.

3. Although the Commissioners do not absolutely refuse aid towards the erection of School-houses on ground connected with a place of Worship, yet they much prefer having them erected on ground which is not so connected, where it can be obtained; they therefore require that, before Church, Chapel, or Meetinghouse ground be selected as the site of a School-house, strict inquiry be made whether another convenient site can be obtained, and that the result shall be stated to them.

4. The School premises must be vested in the Commissioners, at a nominal rent, and for such term, under the circumstances, as they may deem necessary.

5. The Commissioners will keep in repair the School-house and Furniture, where the premises are vested in them in their Corporate capacity.

6. When grants are voted towards the Building, &c., of a Schoolhouse, the conveyance must be duly executed before the works are commenced.

7. No grant can be made until the Superintendent shall have reported upon all the circumstances of the case.

8. The Commissioners determine, from the information afforded them, the dimensions of the proposed Building.

9. The Commissioners cannot in any case pay more than twothirds of the sum which they may deem necessary for the erection of the School-house (including Furniture, &c.); and they invariably require that the remaining one-third, at least, shall be locally provided for.

10. The cost of the House, &c., is determined by the number of Children which it is intended to accommodate, allowing an area of six square feet for each child.

Example.-A School-house capable of accommodating one

hundred Children should contain not less than an area of six hundred square feet, and should be 10 feet high to the wallplate.

11. The Commissioners furnish instructions as to the Plan and Specification, to which the parties receiving aid are bound strictly to adhere.

12. The Commissioners do not contribute to the ornamenting of School-houses, but merely to such expenditure as may be

necessary for having the Children accommodated in plain, sub stantial buildings. If buildings of another description be preferred, the whole of the extra expense must be provided by the applicants.

13. The Commissioners do not contribute towards the expense of erecting Residences for the Teachers, except in the case of a District Model School.

14. The House, Furniture, &c., must be completed, the Teacher or Teachers appointed, and the School in operation, before the grants can be paid.

15. The whole of the works must be completed within twelve months from the date of the execution of the Lease (unless by special permission), or the grants will be forfeited.

16. The Commissioners do not make advances or instalments of their grants.

17. Previous to the payment of the grants, a Certificate, according to a Form furnished, must be forwarded to the Commissioners, stating that the School-house, Furniture, &c., have been completed in a satisfactory and workmanlike manner, and built according to the dimensions and directions set forth in the Plan and Specification. This Certificate to be signed by the Manager, and by the Contractor. The work to be approved of by the Superintendent of the District, or by any other person authorized by the Commissioners or the Government to examine it; and if a question arise as to the expenditure incurred, the accounts must be submitted to any audit which may be deemed necessary.

18. The Commissioners do not make grants to purchase Schoolhouses, nor to purchase, alter, or furnish other Houses, for the purpose of being converted into School-houses.

Form of Lease to be executed by parties granting to the Commissioners of National Education, in their Corporate capacity, a site for the erection of a School-house.

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66

THIS INDENTURE made the

day of

in pursuance of the Act 8 & 9 Victoria, cap. 124, intituled An Act to facilitate the granting of certain Leases," BETWEEN

of the one part; and THE COMMISSIONERS OF NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND, of the other part. WHEREAS the said Commissioners, by Her Majesty's Royal Charter, bearing date the 26th day of August, 1845, have been incorporated, and are by said Charter empowered to take and hold lands as therein mentioned. AND WHEREAS the Education of the Poor of Ireland has been, heretofore, and is now, carried on by the said Commissioners, on the principle of avoiding all interference whatsoever with conscientious scruples on the score of religion, and accordingly the Schools under their control are open alike to Children of all religious denominations; and no Child is required to be present at any religious instruction or exercise of which his

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