Education (Scotland) Act 1908
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1908 c. 63 |
| Year | 1908 |
Education (Scotland) Act, 1908
(8 Edw. 7.) CHAPTER 63.
An Act to amend the Laws relating to Education in Scotland, and for other purposes connected therewith.
[21st December 1908]
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
1 Short title and construction.
1. This Act may be cited as theEducation (Scotland) Act, 1908, and this Act and the Education (Scotland) Acts, 1872 to 1893, the Education (Scotland) Act, 1897, the Education (Scotland) Act, 1901, and the Education of Defective Children (Scotland) Act, 1906, shall, so far as consistent with the tenor thereof, be construed together as one Act, and may be cited as the Education (Scotland) Acts, 1872 to 1908.
2 Extent of Act.
2. This Act shall extend to Scotland only.
3 Additional general powers of school board.
3. It shall be lawful for a school board, if they think fit, in addition to any powers already vested in them, to incur expenditure, and to defray the same out of the school fund, in carrying out or in combining with one or more school boards to carry out the following objects (that is to say):—
(1) In providing any form of education or instruction which may from time to time be sanctioned by any code or minute of the Department:
(2) In providing accommodation, apparatus, equipment, and service for the preparation and supply of meals to pupils attending schools within their district: Provided that no expense incurred in the purchase of food prepared and served at such meals shall be defrayed out of the school fund except as herein-after provided:
(3) In bringing opportunities for education within easier reach of children in outlying parts of their district, whether by providing means of conveyance, or paying travelling expenses for teachers or pupils to and from their homes, or defraying the cost of lodging pupils in convenient proximity to a school (provided such cost shall not exceed the amount which might alternatively have been incurred in paying travelling expenses for such pupils), or otherwise:
(4) In contributing towards, or where deemed expedient providing for, the maintenance and education in homes or other institutions within or without the district of the school board (with due regard to the religious persuasion of the parents) of epileptic or crippled or defective children within the meaning of the Education of Defective Children (Scotland) Act, 1906 , and in paying the cost of conveying such children to and from such homes or institutions:
(5) In maintaining or combining with other bodies to maintain any agency for collecting and distributing information as to employments open to children on leaving school:
(6) In providing any or all of the pupils in attendance at any or all of the state-aided schools within their district with school books, writing materials, stationery, and other articles of a similar nature, where the school board shall consider such provision required:
(7) In paying such reasonable expenses incidental to the proper discharge of the duties of the school board as may be sanctioned by minutes of the Department: Provided that no such minute shall come into force until it has lain for not less than one month upon the table of both Houses of Parliament.
4 Medical inspection of children.
4. A school board may, and where required by the Department shall, provide for the medical examination and supervision of the pupils attending schools within their district to such extent and subject to such requirements as may from time to time be prescribed by any code or minute of the Department, and, for the purposes of this section, the school board may employ medical officers or nurses, or arrange with voluntary agencies for the supply of nurses, and provide appliances or other requisites. It shall be a condition of grant to the managers of any school within the district of the school board at which there is not provision to the satisfaction of the Department for the medical examination and supervision of the pupils that such managers shall give admission and all necessary facilities for the discharge of his duties to any person so employed or supplied.
5 Defective children.
5. It shall be lawful for a school board which makes special provision for the education of physically or mentally defective children to require the parents of such children to provide efficient education for such children up to the age of sixteen years.
6 Neglected children.
(1) When as the result of medical imspection or otherwise it is brought to the notice of a school board that a child attending a school within their district is in a filthy or verminous state, or is unable by reason of lack of food or of clothing to take full advantage of the education provided, it shall be the duty of the school board, after due warning, to summon either or both of the parents or the guardian of such child to appear before them to give an explanation of the child's condition, and, if the school board shall find that such explanation is not forthcoming or is insufficient or unsatisfactory, and that the condition of the child is due to neglect, they shall transmit a copy of such finding to the parent or parents or guardian of the child and to the procurator fiscal, and it shall be the duty of the procurator fiscal to institute a prosecution under the subsection immediately following.
(2) Without prejudice to the general operation of the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act, 1904 , or any Act amending the same, neglect to exercise due care of a child as aforesaid shall be deemed wilful neglect likely to cause the child unnecessary suffering within the meaning of such Act, punishable summarily as an offence of cruelty in terms of such Act, and subject to the provisions thereof as to the committal and custody of the child and otherwise:
Provided that if it shall be shown to the satisfaction of the school board, or in the event of a prosecution under such Act of the sheriff, that such parent or parents or guardian are unable by reason of poverty or ill-health to supply sufficient and proper food or clothing for the child, or to give the child the necessary personal attention, the school board, if satisfied that the necessities of the case will not be provided for by voluntary agency, shall make such provision for the child out of the school fund as they deem necessary during such period while the child is under obligation to attend school as they may determine: But it is hereby provided that any aid given in terms of this section shall not deprive such parent or guardian of any franchise, right, or privilege, or subject him to any disability:
Provided also that the school board, where they deem it necessary owing to the condition of the child, shall have power to make temporary provision for the child out of the school fund pending the completion of the procedure hereby prescribed, and to recover the cost of such provision from such parent or guardian as an alimentary debt, unless it is shown to the satisfaction of the school board that such parent or guardian was unable by reason of poverty or ill health to supply sufficient and proper food or clothing for the child, or to give the child the necessary personal attention.
7 Provisions as to parents' obligation and school attendance.
(1) It shall be the duty of every parent to provide efficient education for his children who are between five and fourteen years of age.
(2) A school board shall have power, with the approval of the Department, to prescribe two or more dates in each year as the dates of commencing and terminating school attendance for children within their district, and publication of the prescribed dates shall be made by advertisement or otherwise as the school board think fit.
(3) For the purposes of this section a child shall be deemed to attain the age of five years on the prescribed date next succeeding the fifth anniversary of the child's birth, and shall be deemed to attain the age of fourteen years on the prescribed date next succeeding the fourteenth anniversary of the child's birth.
(4) When a child who is under the obligation to attend school is removed from any public or inspected school, it shall be the duty of the head teacher of the school to issue to the parent of the child a certificate showing the period during which the child was in attendance at the school, the number of attendances made during that period, and the class of the school in which the child was placed for purposes of instruction at the time of removal. Such certificate or certificates shall be exhibited by the parent upon any application for the admission of the child to any other public or inspected school, and shall also be taken into consideration by a school board upon any application for the exemption of the child from the obligation to attend school.
8 Power for school board to pronounce attendance order.
8. If it appears to a school board that the parent of any child without reasonable excuse is neglecting to provide efficient education for his child in terms of this Act, or failing to secure the regular attendance of his child at some public or inspected school, it shall be lawful for the school board, after due warning to the parent, to summon such parent to appear, with or without the child, before the school board at any meeting thereof, and to require from him every information and...
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