We all recognise that the village life of the country must be preserved. We are trying to foster some form of village industry. The great movement of women's institutes has done much to preserve the amenities of the countryside. The Ministry of Health is endeavouring to recondition rural dwellings that need reconditioning, and the Minister of Agriculture is trying to improve the conditions of agriculture. It is not for the Board of Education to come in and, possibly, destroy a most valuable centre of village life, the village school. My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary has just stated that this Bill has been received with acquiescence rather than with enthusiasm by the voluntary schools. I plead with him and with the Board generally to exercise the powers of the Bill with mercy and discretion, because the village school is the centre of village life, and it will be a great pity if, in the name of efficiency and economy, that centre is destroyed.