ACTS REGULATING EDUCATION OF CHILDREN EMPLOYED IN LABOUR. FACTORIES AND WORKSHOPS. The Factory and Workshop Act, 1878 (41 Vict., c. 16). This Act, which came into operation on the 1st of January, 1879, contains the following provisions with regard to the education of children : Attendance at School of Children employed in a Factory or Workshop. XXIII. The parent of a child employed in a factory or in a workshop shall cause that child to attend some recognised efficient school (which school may be selected by such parent), as follows: 1. The child, when employed in a morning or afternoon set, shall in every week, during any part of which he is so employed, be caused to attend on each work day for at least one attendance; and 2. The child, when employed on the alternate day system, shall on each work day preceding each day of employment in the factory or workshop be caused to attend for at least two attendances : 3. An attendance for the purposes of this section shall be an attendance as defined for the time being by a Secretary of State with the consent of the Education Department, and be between the hours of eight in the morning and six in the evening: Provided that— (a.) A child shall not be required by this Act to attend school on Saturday or on any holiday or half holiday allowed under this Act in the factory or workshop in which the child is employed; and (b.) The non-attendance of the child shall be excused on every day on which he is certified by the teacher of the school to have been prevented from attending by sickness or other unavoidable cause, also when the school is closed during the ordinary holidays or for any other temporary cause; and (c) Where there is not within the distance of two miles, measured according to the nearest road, from the residence of the child a recognised efficient school which the child can attend, attendance at a school temporarily approved in writing by an inspector under this Act, although not a recognised efficient school, shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed attendance at a recognised efficient school until such recognised efficient school as aforesaid is established, and with a view to such establishment the inspector shall immediately report to the Education Department every case of the approval of a school by him under this section. A child who has not in any week attended school for all the attendances required by this section shall not be employed in the following week until he has attended school for the deficient number of attendances. The Education Department shall from time to time, by the publication of lists or by notices or otherwise as they think expedient, provide for giving to all persons interested information of the schools in each school district which are recognised efficient schools. Obtaining of School Attendance Certificate by Occupier of XXIV. The occupier of a factory or workshop in which a child is employed shall on Monday in every week (after the first week in which such child began to work therein), or on some other day appointed for that purpose by an inspector, obtain from the teacher of the recognised efficient school attended by the child, a certificate (according to the prescribed form and directions) respecting the attendance of such child at school in accordance with this Act. The employment of a child without obtaining such certificate as is required by this section shall be deemed to be employment of a child contrary to the provisions of this Act. The occupier shall keep every such certificate for two months after the date thereof, if the child so long continues to be employed in his factory or his workshop, and shall produce the same to an inspector when required during that period. Payment by Occupier on application of Sum for Schooling of Child, and Deduction of it from Wages. XXV. The board, authority or persons who manage a recognised efficient school attended by a child employed in a factory or workshop, or some person authorised by such board, authority or person, may apply in writing to the occupier of the factory or workshop to pay a weekly sum specified in the application, not exceeding threepence and not exceeding one-twelfth part of the wages of the child, and after that application the occupier, so long as he employs the child, shall be liable to pay to the applicants, while the child attends their school, the said weekly sum, and the sum may be recovered as a debt, and the occupier may deduct the sum so paid by him from the wages payable for the services of the child. (1) Employment as Young Person of Child of Thirteen on obtaining an Educational Certificate. XXVI. When a child of the age of thirteen years has obtained from a person authorised by the Education Department a certificate of having attained such standard of proficiency in reading, writing, and arithmetic, or such standard of previous due attendance at a certified efficient school, as hereinafter mentioned, that child shall be deemed to be a young person for the purposes of this Act. The standards of proficiency and due attendance for the purposes of this section shall be such as may be from time to time fixed for the purposes of this Act by a Secretary of State with the consent of the Education Department, and the standards so fixed shall be published in the London Gazette, and shall not have effect until the expiration of at least six months after such publication. (2) Attendance at a certified day industrial school shall be deemed for the purposes of this section to be attendance at a certified efficient school. Powers of Inspectors. LXVIII. An inspector under this Act shall for the purpose of the execution of this Act have power to do all or any of the following things; namely, (1) This Section, so far as regards public elementary schools, can only affect cases where as a condition of the admission of the child to the school, a fee can properly be charged having regard to the provisions of the Elementary Education Act, 1891, ante. (2) By an order of the Secretary of State made under this section with the consent of the Education Department, on the 15th February, 1879, and published in the London Gazette on the 25th February, 1879, it was provided that "the standard of proficiency for the purpose of a certificate of proficiency shall be the standard of reading, writing and elementary arithmetic fixed by standard 4 of the Code of 1876, or any higher standard which may be attained by the child." Standard 4 of the Code of 1876, is similar to that in the Code of 1890 (in appendix) so far as regards reading, writing and arithmetic. The Order further provides that the standard of previous due attendance at a certified efficient school for the purpose of a certificate of previous due attendance shall be as follows: Two hundred and fifty attendances after a child has attained five years of age, in not more than two schools during each year for five years whether consecutive or not. 5. To enter any school in which he has reasonable cause to believe that children employed in a factory or workshop are for the time being educated; and 6. To examine either alone or in the presence of any other person, as he thinks fit, with respect to matters under this Act, every person whom he finds in a factory or workshop, or such a school as aforesaid, or whom he has reasonable cause to believe to be or to have been within the preceding two months employed in a factory or workshop, and to require such person to be so examined and to sign a declaration of the truth of the matters respecting which he is so examined. Fine for employing Children, Young Persons, and Women LXXXIII. Where a child, young person, or woman is employed in a factory or workshop contrary to the provisions of this Act, the occupier of the factory or workshop shall be liable to a fine not exceeding three, or if the offence was committed during the night, five pounds for each child, young person, or woman so employed; and where a child, young person, or woman is so employed in a factory or workshop within the meaning of section sixteen of this Act, the occupier shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one, or if the offence was committed during the night, two pounds for each child, young person, or woman so employed. Fine on Parent for allowing Child or Young Person to be employed contrary to the Act, or neglecting to cause Child to attend School. LXXXIV. The parent of a child or young person shall,— 1. If such child or young person is employed in a factory or workshop contrary to the provisions of this Act, be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty shillings for each. offence, unless it appears to the court that such offence was committed without the consent, connivance, or wilful default of such parent; and 2. If he neglects to cause such child to attend school in accordance with this Act, be liable to a fine not exceed ing twenty shillings for each offence. Definition of "certified efficient School," and of "recognised efficient School." XCV. The expression "certified efficient school" (1) in this (1) See note on sec. 48 of 39 & 40 Vict., c. 79, as to "certified efficient schools." Act means a public elementary school within the meaning of the Elementary Education Acts, 1870 and 1873, and any workhouse school in England certified to be efficient by the Local Government Board, and also any elementary school which is not conducted for private profit and is open at all reasonable times to the inspection of Her Majesty's inspectors of schools, and requires the like attendance from its scholars as is required in a public elementary school, and keeps such registers of those attendances as may be for the time being required by the Education Department, and is certified by the Education Department to be an efficient school; and the expression "recognised efficient school" means a certified efficient school as above defined, and also any school which the Education Department have not refused to take into consideration under the Elementary Education Act, 1870, as a school giving efficient elementary education to and suitable for the children of a school district, and which is recognised for the time being by an inspector under this Act as giving efficient elementary education, and the inspector shall immediately report to the Education Department every school so recognised by him. General Definitions. XCVI. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— The expression "child" means a person under the age of fourteen years: The expression "parent means a parent or guardian of, The expression "Secretary of State" means one of Her The expression" Education Department" means the Lords The expression "prescribed" means prescribed for the time |