Scholarships From Primary Schools.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ___________________________ ___________________________01/09/1924:

SCHOLARSHIPS FROM PRIMARY SCHOOLS.

In virtue of the powers conferred upon him by Section 17, sub-section (3) of the " Local Government (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1923 " the Minister of Education hereby makes the following rules for the purposes of the said section:—

Number of Scholarships.

1. A scheme may, subject to the provisions of the above section make provision for the award of scholarships of such number as the Council may, with the approval of the Minister, decide.

Value.

2. (a) The value of a scholarship shall not, unless in special circumstances sanctioned by the Minister, be less than £15 per annum, or more than £50 per annum.

(b) A candidate to whom an approved Secondary or other School of suitable type is accessible from his ordinary residence owing to its proximity, or convenient railway or other means of communication, shall not be eligible for the award of a scholarship of greater value than £30 per annum.

Eligibility.

3. (a) A scheme shall make provision for the restriction of the scholarship to candidates whose parents' means would not be sufficient to provide them with a Secondary Education; and

(b) may also make provision for varying the value of the scholarship within the limits of (2) above, according to the valuation, income, or other means of the candidates' parents.

Duration of Scholarships.

4. A scheme may make provision for the annual renewal of a scholarship for not more than six years, such renewal to be subject to the receipt of reports as to the conduct and progress of the holder which are accepted as satisfactory by the Council and the Minister. A Scholar who does not pass the Ministry's Intermediate Certificate Examination at or before the end of his fourth year shall not be eligible for a further renewal of his scholarship.

5. Scholarships shall be tenable only at a School approved by the Minister for this purpose. (See sub-section (2) of Section 17 of the Act, Appendix II).

General.

6. To prevent an unduly large number of scholarships being awarded to pupils of large schools, a scheme may with the approval of the Minister make provision for (a) the award of a certain number of Scholarships to each rural and urban District in the county ; or (b) for the reserving of a certain number of scholarships to pupils from small schools.

7. A scheme may make provision for the award of a certain number of scholarships to boys and a certain number to girls, or for the award of scholarships to the best candidates irrespective of sex.

Examination Conditions, etc.

8. Subject to these rules and to the regulations contained in an approved scheme, scholarships shall be awarded in the order of merit as determined by examination.

Ministry conducts Examination.

9. The examination shall be partly oral and partly in writing and shall be conducted by Inspectors and Examiners appointed by the Ministry.

Date of Examination.

10. Except in special cases sanctioned by the Ministry the examinations for all schemes shall be held on the same date or dates, which will be not earlier than June 10th or later than July 10th in each year.

Age of Candidates.

11. The examinations shall be confined to candidates whose age on August 1st of the year in which the examination is held is not more than 14 years.

Cost of Examination.

12 (a) The cost of the examination will be borne by the Ministry except in the case of special examinations held at the instance of a Council, or to meet the conditions of a Council's special programme of examination, when the cost must be defrayed by the responsible Council.

(b) A scheme may make provision for the payment out of the Council's funds of some or all of the necessary expenses of candidates who attend the examination and secure not less than 40 per cent. of the gross marks allotted to the six subjects in which they were examined.

Evidence of Age, etc.

13. Before admission to the examination candidates must furnish such evidence as to age, character and eligibility as may be required by these Rules and by the Council's scheme.

Subjects of Examination.

14. The following shall be the subjects of examination :—

(a) Irish ; (b) English ; (c) Arithmetic ; (d) History and Geography ; (e) Algebra ; (f) Geometry ; (g) Drawing ; (h) Nature Study ; (k) Needlework.

Candidates must answer in the first four of these subjects, and in any two, but not more than two of the remaining subjects.

Essential Subjects.

15. (a) To be eligible for the award of a scholarship a candidate must secure at least 40 per cent. in each of the first four subjects above, and 50 per cent. of the aggregate marks allotted to these subjects, and 40 per cent. in each of the two optional subjects selected by the candidate.

(b) A scholarship may be awarded to a candidate who obtains less than 40 per cent. but not less than 20 per cent. in one of the two optional subjects, provided he obtains at least 40 per cent. of the total marks awarded to the two optional subjects.

Programme.

16. The Programme in each of the above subjects will be the sixth standard Primary School Programme, with such modifications as may be found in the Appendix herewith or as may be prescribed in an approved scheme.

Use of Irish.

17. (a) Candidates at the Scholarship Examination may answer in either Irish or English in subjects (c) to (k) in 14 above, subject to the following limitation ;

(b) A scheme may with the approval of the Minister require that all or any part of the examination should be answered in Irish only.

Approval of Schemes.

18. All schemes must be submitted in duplicate for the approval of the Minister not later than 1st June in the year preceding that in which the examination is to be held.

(NOTE.—Schemes may be submitted for the year 1925 up to 31st December, 1924.)

Annual Sanction.

19. Schemes are sanctioned for one year only, and must be re-submitted annually for sanction with such amendments, if any, as may be made by the Council.

Amendment of Rules.

20. These Rules shall be subject to such amendment as may be made from time to time by the Minister.

Definitions.

21. In these rules " Scheme " means any code of regulations drawn up in accordance with these Rules for the purpose of Section 17, sub-section (3) of the " Local Government (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1923 ."

A " Council " means the Council of any County or County Borough.

" Minister " means the " Minister of Education."

Signed,

EÓIN MAC NÉILL,

Minister of Education.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION,

DUBLIN.

September, 1924.

APPENDIX I.

PROGRAMME FOR 1924-25.

(a) IRISH (200 Marks).

ORAL.

(100 Marks).

(1) Conversation on simple topics—health, weather, school, etc.

(2) Reading a passage of Fifth Standard difficulty. Conversation on passage read.

(3) To memorise and understand 60 lines of poetry.

WRITTEN

(100 Marks).

(1) To write a letter or simple essay.

(2) To answer in Irish easy questions involving the use of common verbs, prepositional pronouns, etc.

(b) ENGLISH (200 Marks).

ORAL

(100 Marks).

To read and explain passage from suitable reader, to recite intelligently, and explain the meaning of 120 lines of English verse.

WRITTEN

(100 Marks).

Composition : Description of familiar scenes and incidents

Letter-writing ; Analysis of simple and complex sentences.

(c) ARITHMETIC (200 Marks).

Operations with simple and compound quantities, including decimals and Vulgar Fractions—Metric System—Unitary Method, and its application to problems in percentages and Simple Interest. The use of Aliquot parts. Averages. Rectangular Areas.

(d) HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY (200 Marks).

HISTORY

(100 Marks).

General outlines of Irish History, and the relations between Ireland and the following countries :—England, Scotland, America, France, Spain and Australia.

GEOGRAPHY.

(100 Marks).

Elementary knowledge of the physical and economic geography of Ireland.

Maps: the Map of Ireland : elementary knowledge of the Map of the World.

(e) ALGEBRA (100 Marks).

Primary Schools' Programme (new) for Standards 4 and 5 and paragraph (a) and (b) of 6th Standard Programme.

(f) GEOMETRY (100 Marks).

Primary Schools' Programme (new) for Standards 4 and 5, and paragraph (a) (b) and (c) of 6th Standard Programme.

(g) DRAWING (100 Marks).

Easy freehand, object and mechanical drawing (including the use of instruments).

(h) NATURE STUDY (100 Marks).

Primary Schools' Programme for 5th and higher standards.

(k) NEEDLEWORK (100 Marks).

Programme for 6th Standard Primary Schools.

NOTE.—Essential subjects : (a), (b), (c) and (d). Optional subjects : any two of the remainder.

APPENDIX II.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT (TEMPORARY PROVISIONS) ACT, 1923 .

SECTION 17.

Power to County Councils to grant Exhibitions, etc.

17.— (1) The Council of any County or County Borough may assist by means of exhibitions, scholarships, bursaries, payment of fees or otherwise, any students or intending students at any approved school in Saorstát Eireann who are ordinarily resident in such County or Borough and who satisfy the Council that they are qualified to profit by instruction in such school and are in need of assistance, and who also satisfy such tests of ability as shall be prescribed in pursuance of this section.

(2) An approved school shall be such school, either extern or residential, for the giving of secondary education or the giving of instruction or training in agriculture, forestry, trade, commerce, domestic economy, teaching or any other subject of a vocational character as may be approved of by order of the Minister for Education.

(3) The tests of ability to be satisfied by students under this section shall be prescribed in a scheme to be formulated for the purposes of this section by the Council of the County or County Borough in accordance with rules to be made by the Minister for Education, and no such scheme shall have any effect unless and until approved by the Minister for Education.