II. The certificate that a school is efficient may at any recalled or suspended, if—

(a.) Any one of these reports is unsatisfactory; or,

time be

(b.) Any of the conditions on which the certificate was granted cease to be fulfilled; or

(c.) The Department is not satisfied that all returns called for are duly made, the admission and daily attendance of the scholars carefully registered, and all returns and certificates of character may be accepted as trustworthy. 12. Notice of the issue, suspension, or withdrawal of a certificate of efficiency will be given to the local authority of the district in which the school is situated.

13. Notice is to be given to the Department, by the managers, of any change of teacher in the school.

14. The managers must appoint a correspondent with the Department, and must give notice of any change of correspondent.

15. Teachers cannot act as managers of, or correspondents for, the schools in which they are employed.

CERTIFICATES OF AGE, PROFICIENCY AND SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.

REVISED REGULATIONS OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT.

AT the Council Chamber, Whitehall, the 12th day of April, 1883.

By the Lords of the Committee of Her Majesty's most honourable Privy Council on Education.

The Lords of the Committee of Privy Council on Education, by virtue and in pursuance of the powers in them vested under the Elementary Education Act, 1876, and of every other power enabling them in this behalf, do order, and it is hereby ordered, that the following regulations be substituted for those contained in the Order dated the 29th day of March, 1879.

Certificates of Age.

1. A certificate of the date of a child's birth will be granted by a registrar or superintendent registrar of births and deaths on presentation of a requisition in a form prescribed for the purpose by the Local Government Board, pursuant to the 25th section of the Elementary Education Act, 1876. The prescribed form of requisition is annexed to this Order (Schedule I.). The fee for such certificate is not to exceed 6d. (Order of Local Government Board dated 22nd February, 1877) (1).

2. A statutory declaration of the date of a child's birth, made by the parent of the child before a magistrate, may be accepted by the local authority in place of a registrar's certificate. The declaration shall be made on the form annexed to this Order (Schedule II.).

3. When a local authority, under the power given by the 26th section of the Elementary Education Act, 1876, have obtained a return of the births of children in their district which will enable them to grant age certificates to individual children, they shall, on the application of any parent or other person interested in the education or employment of a child, grant such certificate under the hand of their clerk, or other officer deputed for the purpose,

(1) For Order of Local Government Board, see p. 615.

for a fee not exceeding 4d. for each child. This certificate is to be given on the form hereinafter prescribed for labour certificates (Schedule III.).

Certificates of Proficiency.

4. Certificates of proficiency are certificates of having reached any standard prescribed by the Code. To reach a standard is to pass in reading, writing, and arithmetic in that or a higher standard.

5. At the Inspector's annual visit to any public elementary or other certified efficient school, the managers are required to admit to the examination, and the Inspector to examine for a certificate of proficiency, any child over ten years of age and under fourteen, whether a scholar in the school or not, who applies to be examined for such a certificate.

6. The Inspector may, in concert with the local authority, instead of the arrangement provided for in the last preceding paragraph, hold such special examinations as he may think necessary of children. over ten years of age and under fourteen, who wish to be examined for certificates of proficiency.

7. The Inspector does not grant certificates to individual children, but after every examination held as above he sends to the managers of the school, or in the case of a special examination, to the local authority, a schedule containing the names of the children who have passed in all the three elementary subjects in any standard, with a certificate that such children have reached the standard entered opposite to their names.

8. If the local authority do not make arrangements to obtain from the managers a copy of so much of this schedule as they require, they may accept a certificate under the hand of the principal teacher of any certified efficient school as evidence that any scholar in such school has been certified by one of Her Majesty's Inspectors to have reached a particular standard. The principal teacher shall give such certificate, free of charge, in the form given in the second column of the third schedule to this order.

Labour Certificates.

9. Any parent or other person interested in the employment or education of any child may apply to the local authority of the district in which the child resides for a labour certificate. The applicant must present to the local authority the evidence of age and proficiency prescribed above; and the local authority, if they are satisfied that the child is qualified for total or partial exemption from school attendance under the bye-laws of the district, or for employment under the First Schedule to the Elementary Education Act, 1876, shall furnish the certificate asked for in the form annexed to this Order (Schedule III.).

Certificates of School Attendance.

10. Any local authority, parent, or other person interested in the employment or education of a child over thirteen and under fourteen, may require the principal teacher for the time being of any certified efficient school, which such child has attended, to furnish a certificate specifying the number of school attendances made by the child in the school during each year, since the age of five, for which the school registers are preserved.

II. The teacher shall give such certificate in the form annexed to this order (Schedule IV.), in the first case free of charge, and for a fee not exceeding 1d. for each year's attendances in the case of the second or any subsequent certificate, that may be demanded in respect of such child.

12. The school registers of every certified efficient school shall be carefully preserved by the managers for at least ten years. If a school is discontinued, the registers are to be handed over to the local authority of the district.

General.

13. No certificate purporting to be granted under these regulations will be recognised unless given in one of the printed forms annexed to this Order. All these forms shall be kept by every local authority, from whom they are to be obtained free of charge, except in the cases where any fee is specially allowed.

14. The forms may be procured from the Education Department by the local authority, who shall supply such number of copies as may be necessary to any local committee appointed by them, or to the managers of any certified efficient school in their district.

15. In these regulations

(a.) The term "local authority" means a school board, or a school attendance committee (Elementary Education Act, 1876, secs. 7 and 33).

(b.) The term "local committee" means a committee
appointed by a school attendance committee, for a
parish, or other area, in the district of such local
authority (ibid. sec. 32).

(c.) The term "certified efficient school" means a public
elementary school, and any elementary school which is
certified by the Education Department to be an efficient
school, and any workhouse school certified to be efficient
by the Local Government Board (ibid. sec. 48).
(d.) The term "attendance" means the attendance of a child
at a morning or afternoon meeting of a school, during
not less than two hours of instruction in secular subjects

if in a school or class for elder children, or one hour and a half if in a school or class for infants.

(e.) The term "year" means the civil year.

Workhouse Schools.

16. In the case of workhouse schools, certified to be efficient by the Local Government Board, and in which registers of attendance are duly kept pursuant to an order of the said board,

(1.) The term "attendance" has the meaning prescribed by the Order of the Local Government Board, dated 27th of October, 1877. (1)

(2.) Certificates of school attendance will be granted to the scholars, by one of the principal teachers of the school, or by the clerk, or other officer of the guardians deputed for the purpose.

(3.) Certificates of proficiency will be granted, after examination, by one of the school inspectors of the Local Government Board, and not by Her Majesty's Inspectors.

Marine Schools.

17. In the case of marine schools, certified to be efficient by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty,

Certificates of proficiency will be granted to scholars attending these schools, being children of the non-commissioned officers and privates of the Royal Marine Forces, after examination, by the inspector of naval schools, and not by Her Majesty's Inspectors. (Minute of 14th April, 1880).

F. R. SANDFORD,
Secretary.

SCHEDULE I.

REQUISITION TO REGISTRARS FOR CERTIFICATES OF BIRTH. Schedule.

Requisition for a certified copy of an entry of birth for the purposes of the Elementary Education Act, 1876, or for any

(1) For Order of the Local Government Board, see p. 660.