G.— No. 16.

EXTRACT FROM THE EIGHTH REPORT OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF VICTORIA, 1869.

PRESENTED TO BOTH HOUSES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, BY COMMAND OT HIS EXCELLENCY.

WELLINGTON.

1871.

(}.—No. 16.

MEMORANDUM ON THE STATE OF EDUCATION IN THE PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES OF EUROPE AND AMERICA IN REFERENCE TO QUESTIONS OF COMPULSORY EDUCATION, PAYMENT OF SCHOOL FEES, AND THE RELIGIOUS DIFFICULTY.

The following Memorandum consists of three parts. The first gives a short account of the state of public education in the principal countries of Europe and America in reference to the questions of compulsory attendance, payment of school fees, and the treatment of the religious difficulty. The second part shows, as far as the information at our command allows, the present state of public opinion in England on these questions, and contains an account of the various schemes by which it is proposed to enlarge the educational provision there, and spread elementary instruction more widely among the lower classes. In the third portion it has been our endeavour to draw a few principles from the systems of other countries, and to apply them to the circumstances of this Colony. PAET I. COMPULSORY EDUCATION.

STATE OF EDUCATION IN THE CHIEF COUNTEIES OF EUROPE AND AMERICA. Great Britain. England. Education is at present compulsory only on a small class in England, namely, those children who are forced to earn their living in factories and mines, and in a few other cases, which are specified below. 1. Compulsory attendance is required under the Factory, Factory Extension and. Workshop Regulation Acts, of nearly all children at work under thirteen years of age, with the exception of children of the agricultural classes. 2. The attendance at school of the children of indoor paupers is compulsory, and is provided for out of the poor-rate. There is a permissive Act (Denison's Act, passed 17th July, 1862) empowering Boards of Guardians to pay out of the rates for the children of outdoor paupers; but this is not often carried into effect. 3. By the Industrial Schools Act the police may send vagrant children to Industrial Schools, education to be paid for from the borough rates when the parent cannot pay.* The number of children receiving education under these Acts is estimated at about 08,000. t Scotland. In Scotland, provision is made for primary education—l. By parochial schools established by the landowners, or in their default, the Presbytery; and 2. By supplementary denominational schools, supported partly by voluntary efforts, and partly by grants from the Privy Council. The latter class alone supply the educational requirements of the boroughs and towns. The establishment of the parochial schools with paid teachers and low school fees has brought education within reach of almost the whole population; and the custom of regularly sending children to school has long been universal, alike with the poorest as with the well-to-do, so that the question of compulsion has not arisen in recent times. The Factory Acts which have been already mentioned apply, however, to Scotland, and make the attendance at school of children earning wages compulsory. * Educational Mecord, No. 86, p. 41, and National Education Union Report, p. 11 ; Progress of the Working Class p. 28 ; Statutes at large, vol. _]. p. 574, &c.: 18 and 19 Vict. c. 34, as to outdoor paupers ; 7 and 8 Vict. c. 15, as to cotton and woollen manufactories ; 8 and 9 Viet. c. 29, and 10 and 11 Viet. c. 70, as to print works; 23 and 24 Viet. c. 78, as to bleaching and dyeing ; 24 and 25 Vict. c. 117, as to lace workers ; 26 and 27 Vict. c. 38, and 27 and 28 Vict. c. 98 and c. 48, as to other trades ; 23 and 24 Vict. c. 151, as to miues. t Transactions of the Association for the Promotion of Social Science.

EXTRACT FROM EIGHTH REPORT OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF VICTORIA.

G.—No. 16,

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EXTRACT PROM EIGHTH REPORT OP THE

Ireland. The present National system may be said to have been established in 1831, when a Board of Commissioners was appointed with power to grant aid to schools, provide model schools, publish class books, certify teachers, &c. Though preference was to be given to applications for schools under a joint management of Roman Catholics and Protestants, yet in fact the great majority of the schools built are denominational. The history of " the religious difficulty" in Ireland is particularly instructive, since the system in many respects resembles our own. The Select Committee of the House of Commons appointed in 1828 to inquire into the state of education in Ireland were of opinion that combined education was possible, and that it should at any rate be attempted by the State. This opinion, which they seem to have held in common with all statesmen of the period, was favoured by the leading Roman Catholics, but opposed by the Irish Protestants, and the more violent English Churchmen. The plan first adopted provided that separate religious instruction should be given by the ministers of the different denominations after school hours on two fixed days in the week, and that combined religious instruction should be given in school hours to all the children by means of special books drawn up for the purpose, such as " The Scripture Lessons," " The Scripture Extracts," &c. This system, however, was gradually relaxed ; first one clay alone in the week was reserved for religious instruction; then, religious instruction was allowed to be given at any fixed hour in the day; lastly, the use of " The Scripture Lessons," &c, was forbidden except at the time for separate religious instruction. Combined religious instruction may be said to have now ceased altogether. The schools at present consist of two classes: —-1. Vested (number in 1867, 1,864) ; 2. Non-vested (4,824). The large number of the latter class arose from the Irish Protestants refusing to co-operate with the Roman Catholics in building combined schools. The religious instruction in the Irish vested schools is given as in our own, except that one whole day in the week is also set apart for separate religious instruction; and as a large majority of the vested schools in Ireland have Roman Catholic priests as patrons, the Protestant ministers keep away from them, and they are therefore strictly denominational. The non-vested schools, 8-llths of the whole, depend as to the religious instruction on their patrons. In a few, no religious instruction is given; in the rest, it is denominational. Notwithstanding the failure of combined religious instruction, combined schools cannot be said to have failed, as the following figures will show : —ln 1867, 598 per cent, of the National Schools were combined ; 1,039 National Schools taught by Protestant teachers had an average of 111 Protestant to 28 Roman Catholic children; 132 schools with both Protestant and Roman Catholic teachers had an average of 112 Protestant to 100 Roman Catholic children; 2,619 schools taught by Roman Catholic teachers had 9 Protestant to 126 Roman Catholic children. France. In France the burden of maintaining the public elementary schools rests on the communes, the departments, and the State jointly. In 1856, the proportions which these severally contributed were—the communes about If, the departments and the State each T y. Of the _■ furnished by the communes, T 9 T was raised by rates, T v by school fees and voluntary contributions. Thus, more than half the expense of elementary education was met by parish rates. Since the enactments of 1850, 1852, and 1854, the schools are generally denominational ; unsectarian schools are the exception. Education is not compulsory. "In the opinion of most Frenchmen," to quote Mr. Arnold, " the difficulties in enforcing attendance by law would be insuperable. Perhaps," he proceeds to say, " for a Government to be able to force its people to school, that people must either be generally well off as in America, or placid and docile as in Germany, or ardently desirous of knowledge as in Greece/ Primary instruction is free; that is to say, any person who can prove that he is in possession of certain capacities, and who remains within the limits of the programme of the subjects considered as constituting primary instruction (see Art. 23 of the law of 15th March, 1850, p. 3), is entitled to open a school of primary instruction. On the other hand, the State secures to the citizens primary instruction, by maintaining at the public expense a number of schools. There are, in consequence, two classes of primary schools. Ist. The schools founded and supported by the communes, the departments, or the State, and which are termed public schools. 2nd. Schools founded and supported by private individuals or associations, and which arc termed free schools (ecoles libres). —Law of the 15th March, 1850. 1. Public schools. Every commune is bound to supply one or several primary schools. In some cases when the communes are very small, one commune may join another, or several other neighbouring communes, for the support of a communal school. On the Ist of January, 1866, there were 36,692 communes, possessing one or more public schools each, and 694 which did not as yet possess any means of primary instruction. Every year the number of the latter decreases. The expenses of the schools are defrayed by the commune, and where insufficiency of means exist, they are supplemented by the funds of the

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G_ITo.-16.

department; finally, the Minister of Public Instruction grants subsidies, which arc annually included in the Budget of the State. Every commune comprising more than 500 inhabitants must possess two distinct schools, one for boys, the other for girls. The Department of Public Instruction cost in 1865 fifty-eight millions of francs, placed to the debit of the State. This amount will soon be considerably augmented. The State,grants in addition important subsidies for the building of schoolhouses. The school fees [retribution scolaire) arc generally very low, the ordinary amount is three francs a month. Primary instruction is given gratuitously to all children whose families are not able to pay for them (law of 15th March, 1850, Art. 24). The Mayor, assisted by the ministers of the different forms of worship, draws up every year a list of the children who are to be admitted gratuitously into the public schools. This list is submitted to the approval of the Municipal Council, and is definitely fixed by the Prefect (law of 15th March, 1850, Art. 45). The number of children so admitted will in future be greatly increased, owing to the new administrative measures (decree of 28th March, 1866) taken to insure the full execution of Art. 24, already referred to, of the law of 15th March, 1850. 'flic teachers in the public schools arc nominated by the Prefect of the department. The Municipal Council decides whether ths school shall be confided to the care of a lay teacher or to that of an ecclesiastic belonging to any of the religious denominations. The teachers in the public schools must fulfil the conditions hereafter to be named, and which arc equally binding on the teachers in the free schools. 2. Free Schools (ecoles libres). Every Frenchman who has attained the age of twenty-one may exercise throughout France the profession of teacher in primary schools (public or free) if he be provided with a certificate of competency. For the certificate of competency may be substituted a certificate of three years' service in public or free schools authorized to take pupil-teachers (stagiaires) , a diploma of Bachelor of Arts or Letters, a certificate showing that the holder has been admitted into one of the special schools of the State, or the title of minister of one of the forms of worship recognized by the State. (Law of 15th March, 1850, Art. 25.) The certificate of competency is given by a special jury after proper examination. In an interesting account of the condition of primary education in France,* the Minister dwells with great force on the absolute necessity of the introduction of the compulsory system, to be applied not only to the attendance of all children at school, but to the duration of such attendance. After passing in review the organization of the costly French system (where the obligation of attendance at school has indeed been pompously proclaimed, but has remained a dead-letter), with its vast resources, amounting to 58,000,000 francs a year, and its huge but illpaid staff of 77,000 persons, employed in primary instruction alone, he sums up the results obtained. In 1863, out of 4,018,427 children between the ages of seven and thirteen, who should by law have attended school, 884,887, or considerably more than one-fifth, were absent. Out of 657,401 children who had left school that same year, only 395,593, or 60 per cent., could read, write, and reckon, whilst the remaining 262,000, or 40 per cent., had attended so short a time, or so irregularly, as to have learnt nothing, or at best to have taken away knowledge so insufficient as to be soon forgotten. One-third of the conscripts of the year could not read, and 36 per cent, of the persons married could not sign their names in the register.f As regards the diminution in crime, although doubtless remarkable, M. Duruy points out that in 1863, out of 4,543 persons, of all ages and both sexes, accused of crimes, 38 per cent, were completely illiterate, and 43 per. cent, only read and wrote imperfectly, so that 81 criminals out of 100 in France had not had the full benefits of primary instruction. "En mcchanique," exclaims the Minister, " une machine gui ne produirait pas plus d'effet utile scrait Finstant reorganisee."J Passing then, with exemplary candour, to foreign countries, His Excellency quotes the official statistics of Prussia for 1864, showing that only 3 per cent, of the recruits were illiterate, and that out of 3,090,294 children who should have frequented the primary schools, 130,437 only were missing, from which number must be subtracted all those who had been taught at home or in the secondary schools, and those physically or mentally incapacitated; he points to the example of Wurtcmberg, where the primary schoolmasters receive salaries of no less than 500 florins (£42) a year; he shows the clergy in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark denying the rite of confirmation to all illiterate children ; in Switzerland, the Government of Bale Campagne paying premiums to the poor whose children are regular attendants at school; and in the United States the laws of Connecticut declaring every citizen unable to read to be unworthy of exercising electoral rights. Finally, with the view apparently of enlisting more directly the sympathies of * Rapport _ l'Empereur sur l'etat de l'cnscignemcnt primaire pendant l'anncc 1863. t In England, in 1866, 216 per cent, of the men who married, and 30 per cent, of the women, signed with a mark. In Ireland, nearly one-half. In Scotland, 168. In Victoria, for 1868, only B'4o per cent, of tho men, and 1671 of tho •women, signed with a mark. In 1859, the numbers were 998 and 2642 respectively. X It is but fair to tho working of the French system to quote the following figures, taken out of M. Duruy's report, ihowing the increase in the school population from 1832 to 1863 : — 1832 ... ... ... ... ... 1,934,624 scholars out of 32,510,934 inhabitants. 1817 ... ... ... ... ... 3,530,135. „ „ 35,400,456 „ 1863 ... ... ... ... ... 4,336,368 „ „ 37,382,225 2

G.— No. 16.

EXTRACT FROM EIGHTH REPORT OF THE

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his Imperial master in the cause he has so much at heart, he brings forward an argument well deserving the consideration of a ruler of France : " Apprenc-us leur a compter, et ils sauront bien • vite calculer cc que coute une revolution." Holland. On the educational system of this State Mr. Arnold writes—" I have seen no primary schools worthy to be matched even now with those of Holland; otKer far more competent observers have come to the same judgment."* Public education is now regulated by an Act passed in 1857, which provides that schools for primary education shall be established, that school fees shall be exacted from those who can afford to pay them, and that if the charge of a school be too heavy for a commune the province and the State shall aid it by a grant, of which each contributes half. The law, however, does not define the amount of burden which shall be deemed too heavy for the commune, but it is determined by the Government, on investigation by the Provincial States and the Deputies.— (Article XXXVI. of law of August, 1857.) Education is not made compulsory, but municipal councils are enjoined to provide as far as possible for the attendance at school of all children whose parents are in receipt of relief. Great though unsuccessful efforts were made in 1857 to obtain legislative recognition of the duty of parents to send their children to school. Mr. Thurlow, writing in February, 1868, observes that sufficient time has now elapsed to enable us to pronounce on the working of the law of 1857, which had only been two years in operation when Mr. Arnold reported. He states that the results of this law may be stated generally to have been —in the provision of primary instruction, in 1865, for 432,383 children, or a fraction under one-eighth of the entire population of this kingdom, at a total cost of £374,127 annually, or about 17s. 3^d. a head. Of these children, 225,541 received instruction gratuitously, and for the remaining 206,839 school money was collected to the amount of .€62,139, or rather more than six shillings a head. The two stumbling-blocks in the primary instruction question in Holland at this moment may be termed the religious and the gratuitous questions. In both cases the Ultra-Protestants are combating the advanced section of the Liberal party, and the Ultra-Protestants comprise among their numbers, and are even led by, staunch Conservatives. The religious question has to do with the interdict imposed in the law of 1857 on religious teaching at Government expense and in school-hours. The gratuitous question is slightly more complicated in its character, but may almost be termed a second issue on religion. The law of 1806 recognized the teaching of religion, and in a way provided for it. All went well until, after the union with Belgium in 1815, the Catholic interest was brought to bear successfully against the practical monopoly enjoyed by the Reformed faith in the majority of Government primary schools. Meantime Belgium was lost to Holland, but the Roman Catholic influence and this agitation ended in the law of 1857. Since that day the Ultra-Protestant party has sought to recover its lost ground by the establishment of sectarian schools; but these are naturally exposed to severe competition by the gratuitous non-denominational instruction freely extended under the law of 1857. Hence it comes to pass that the Ultra-Protestants, under the guise of the moral effect produced upon the population by the payment of their mite towards the instruction of their children, combat the demands of Romanists, Jews, and Radicals for extension of the gratuitous system. The weak point of the present state of the law respecting gratuitous primary instruction appears to be the proviso that no Government aid shall be accorded to any school not having a list of paying scholars. This works badly in the poorest districts, where such aid is most required; and subterfuges arc not unfrequently resorted to in order to avoid the written tenor of the law. One point in which all parties coincide is, the readiness of the wealthy in the land to contribute to national education. Primary instruction is divided into primary and extended primary instruction. Primary instruction included reading, writing, arithmetic, the rudiments of syntax, and of geography, history, natural history, singing. Extended primary instruction includes the rudiments of modern languages, and of science, agriculture, gymnastics, drawing, female handiwork.—(Article I.) Schools are open to all, without distinction of creed; but the law provides that school instruction, besides imparting the above prescribed and useful subjects, shall be made serviceable to the development of the reasoning powers of the children, and their rearing in all Christian and social virtues. Instructors are prohibited from teaching, from doing or allowing to be done, anything irreconcileable with, or contrary to, the religious opinions of others. Instruction in religion is intrusted to the various churches. For this purpose school buildings may be used out of school hours by the scholars attending the schools.—-(Article XXIII.) * After this high praise from such a competent authority, it may be well to quote the law as to tho staffs of schools in Holland :— " XVIII. "Whenever the number of scholars in one school exceeds 70, the principal instructor shall be assisted by a pupil-teacher; when more than 100, by an assistant instructor; more than 150 by an assistant instructor and pupil-teacher. Above this number he shall be assisted, for every 50 scholars, by one pupil-teacher; and for every 100 scholars, by one assistant instructor."

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o.—Ko. 1«,

Switzerland. Education is compulsory and gratuitous in all the cantons except Geneva. Religious instruction is given by the minister alone, or by the teacher at the request and on the responsibility of the minister. Education has been compulsory since 1840. As a rule, it is compulsory or all classes, from ths richest to the poorest, between the ages of six and fifteen. As a rule, daily attendance in primary schools in the majority of the cantons is obligatory. In the three cantons of Bale Villc, Bale Campagne, and Schwyz, the obligation extends only to the age of twelve ; in others the period of instruction is prolonged to that of sixteen and seventeen. In general, the age of confirmation marks the limit of primary instruction. In some of the cantons of Eastern Switzerland, the scholars are divided into categories according to ages. From seven to twelve they are bound to attend the schools five days a week; from twelve to fifteen, only one day; at tbe age of sixteen, for two hours only. This system of categories has the advantage of enabling the children to contribute at an earlier age to the support of the family, besides giving them leisure to acquire the first rudiments of the trade to which they may be destined. In general, the schools are maintained partly by communal taxation and partly by the canton. Of the educational condition of the French cantons, Mr. Arnold remarks, " Tho schools are confessedly among the best in Europe. Schools exist everywhere; they arc well supplied with efficient teachers and most numerously attended." Yet he does not think this prosperity is due to the fact that education is prescribed by law, for in another place he writes, " Not that primary education is unprosperous in Vaud; on the contrary, it is most flourishing. What I say is, that the making it compulsory by law has not there added one iota to its prosperity. Its prosperity is due to the general comfort and intelligence of the population. Where these arc equally present, as in Geneva, the prosperity of education is equal, though there is no compulsion; where these fail, the law is powerless to prevent the inevitable check inflicted on education by their absence." Mr. Arnold remarks that the Canton Zurich may be taken as an instance of the method of instruction both in German Switzerland and in Germany, and therefore gives very full particulars of the educational system in force. The account which follows is abridged from his description. In this canton attendance is compulsory from the sixth to the end of the sixteenth year. For the first six years of this term, every child must attend the communal day school. The school hours vary from eighteen in the lowest class to twenty-seven in the highest, and eight weeks' holidays are allowed in the year. At thirteen the child either passes into the secondary school, or attends the " erzanzung schule," receiving eight hours' instruction a week, or he becomes a " sing und untcrweisung schuler;" as such he receives each week one hour's practice in singing, and religious instruction from the pastor for one hour and a half. This amount of instruction continues till the sixteenth year. Children who are not instructed at the communal day school must receive equivalent instruction, and also pay the school fee as if they attended. The mode of dealing with punishable absences varies. In the town of Zurich, the school authorities warn the offending parent or guardian after three punishable absences, cite him after three more, fine him after three more. In all cases, the law which.makes non-attendance penal is enforced, the Educational Council repaying to the local school authorities the costs of any proceedings against defaulters. The number of unallowed and punishable school absences in the year, at all the day schools in the canton, was only l-04 per scholar. M. Rumbold thus reports as to the working of the compulsory system : — " Primary instruction is declared compulsory by law in the whole of Switzerland, with the exception of the Canton of Geneva. The obligation goes thus far—that all parents and guardians arc legally bound to give every child under their care instruction at least equal to that afforded in the public primary schools. The parents or guardians arc at liberty, if they prefer it, to teach the child at home, or send it to a private school or a higher public school (' sccundar-schul,' or ' progymnasium '). The State interferes only in the event of the child not duly receiving the minimum of education decreed by law. The legislation on this question of education, for which the Swiss may be said to entertain a veritable passion, shows no shrinking from the severest enactments necessary to the due enforcement of a principle held sacred. Earnestly applying and putting into practice the striking words used by a French Minister of PublicInstruction* —' Le droit de suffrage a pour corollaire le devoir d'instruction, ct tout citoyen doit savoir lire commc il doit porter les amies et payer l'impot.' The Swiss have made the neglect of parents and guardians an offence against society, punishable by fine, and in some cases even by imprisonment.f The obdurate father who persists in refusing to let his child attend the publicschools, and is utterly neglectful to teach it at home, may indeed, according to the letter of the law, run the risk of seeing it committed to the custody of others. * Kapport a I'Empereur sur l'etat de l'enseignement primaire pendant l'annee 1863. f In the official report for 1864, published by the Board of Public Instruction of the Canton of Lucerne, I find that tho following penalties were inflicted duriifg the year on negligent parents : —Fines to the amount of 222 francs, 24 days' imprisonment, and 7 days' compulsory labour.

G—No. IG.

EXTRACT FROM EIGHTH REPORT OF THE

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" The schoolmasters arc bound to keep regular registers, showing the number and proficiency of the scholars, and specially noting any irregularities in their attendance. These registers are periodically examined by the District Inspectors, and in any case of confirmed delinquency being brought home to parents, the penalties above mentioned may be enforced. "To the honor of the Swiss, as well as other nations who have, within the last thirty years, successfully applied the same principles of general primary instruction, it may be stated-that the enforcement of these penalties is now seldom necessary.* Three anecdotes respecting this country, Prussia, and Baden —two of which arc related by M. Duruy, French Minister of Public Instruction, in his report above quoted—illustrative in a remarkable degree the marvellous results of the compulsory system, and the strong hold it has already obtained on the consciences of the people. "At Geneva,f a member of the Gcnevese section of the Swiss Statistical Society, wishing to test a system of primary instruction to be applied to adults, was at great trouble in finding a person wholly incapable of reading and writing. After as painful a search as that of Diogenes, he at last succeeded in securing his man, who, when examined, proved to be no citizen of the republic but a simple Savoyard. "M. Duruy gives the companion anecdote to this, about Prussia. An officer, charged at Potsdam with the military instruction of the Land wehr, found, in the course of twelve years,nomore than three recruits wholly incapable of reading and w-riting. The fact was thought deserving of inquiry, when it was ascertained that the illiterate phenomena were all three sons of boatmen, born on the river, and whose lives, passed in floating up and down the river, had afforded them no opportunity of frequenting the schools on its banks. M. Duruy likewise mentions tho experience of a French ' sportsman' who, crossing the Rhine for a few days' shooting in the Grand Duchy of Baden, offered a florin a head to some children to act as beaters for him, and to his surprise saw what he naturally thought a tempting bribe rejected by the parents, on the plea of its interfering with attendance at school. I know no instance of a Swiss peasant's zeal for his children's education having been put to so critical a test; but I think it is only fair to assume that, despite adverse proverbs, be would have stood it as triumphantly as his Swabian kinsman. " I have said before that in this matter of education the Swiss people manifest a veritable passion, and it is indeed a thing worthy of sincere admiration, though but natural, perhaps, in the land that gave birth to Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Fellenberg, and others, to note what heavy, self-imposed, pecuniary sacrifices they cheerfully make to the cause. The public foundations, the private gifts, the State contributions devoted to education by this otherwise thrifty, closefisted race, may be truly said to be noble in the extreme." " I think I have been enabled to show that the Swiss faith in the compulsory system is founded on an experience the more encouraging, as it dates from barely thirty years." M. Rumbold, quoting from a return furnished to him from the Federal Statistical Department, states that of 413,.2!>9 children comprising the legal school population of Switzerland in the year 1860, no less than 397,538 actually were in the schools in 1865, and this after subtraction of all the children debarred from education by mental or physical causes, and the not inconsiderable number of those taught in the middle aud higher public and private educational establishments. He states, further, that he has it on the authority of an eminent medical practitioner at Berne, that in a long experience in the hospitals of that city he has often had cause to be surprised at the thorough elementary knowledge shown by the children of perfect vagrants and paupers, so strictly and conscientiously are the benefits of primary instruction extended even to the poorest and most abandoned classes. Much has been said about the hardship to the poor of depriving them of the assistance of their children in agricultural and other work for the sake of forced attendance at school, but no such complaints would' be listened to in Switzerland, and it may in truth be said that poverty in that country is seldom met together with its elsewhere inseparable companion, complete ignorance. At the same time, every inducement is held out to the poor for sending their children to the schools. Not only is instruction provided for them .free of cost in all the cantons on its. being well established that they belong to the indigent classes, but the rule which obliges all scholars to make a decent appearance in school, as regards dress and cleanliness, is turned to good account in this respect. The child that otherwise would run about barefoot in idleness is certain of being presented with shoes at the public cost as soon as it attends school. Gifts of clothing arc made at Christmas or New Year, and the accounts of many schools show a considerable outlay in the purchase of cloth and woollen stuffs for distribution to the poor scholars. In some districts—even Bfile Campagne, for instance—substantial premiums arc in certain cases granted to the poor whose children arc specially assiduous. The Swiss rightly consider all these disbursements to be amply repaid by the fact of their towns and villages containing indeed paupers, but being free from the heavier curse of a proletariat steeped in ignorance and ready for every species of outrage and disorder. * It is officially stated, with respect to the Grand Duchy of Baden (a model state as regards public instruction), that ' application of penalties for non-attendance of boys at school is now almost unknown ; they have sometimes to be applied, that seldom, for non-attendance of girls. In the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar no infraction of the rules respecting ■ "tendance at school has been known for the last forty years. t Primary instruction is not, strictly speaking, compulsory at Geneva, but the results of the existing legislation are identical with those of the legislation of the rest of Switzerland. T

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G.—No. 16.

As an instance of the splendid endowments for school purposes, and the large-hearted liberality of the people, the case of the Canton of St. Gall is quoted. The population numbers 180,411 souls, and the entire property amounts to 62,830,069 francs. No less than 7,817,842 francs, or about one-eighth of the entire property, and 4333 francs per head of the population, belonged to the 5ch0015—4,274,199 francs falling to the share of the primary schools. Prussia. Frederic 11., in 1763, ordained that education should be compulsory. The code of 1794 repeats this, and the law of 1819 re-enacts it. Attendance is now compulsory between the ages of seven and fourteen. The school councils enforce the penalties for non-attendance. When the town contains different denominations, if it is large enough there is a school for each ; otherwise religious instruction is left to the pastors. Generally the schools are denominational, though a few non-sectarian schools are to be found. Besides this direct compulsion, there are Factory Acts similar to those of England, which compel children earning wages to receive instruction. These have been consolidated by the new Labour Act of North Germany, which comes into force this year, and provides—l. That no child shall work before he attains the age of twelve, and until he has been six years at school. 2. That no child between twelve and fourteen shall work more than six hours daily, and that every such child shall attend school three hours daily. 3. That every child between fourteen and sixteen shall attend school six hours per week. These provisions apply to the whole labouring population. Lord A. Loftus, Her Majesty's Ambassador at Berlin, in a Despatch addressed to Lord Stanley, dated the 18th January 1868, thus describes the present law : —"This law is divided into four sections, namely : — " Ist. It establishes or confirms the principle of compulsory education, viewing it as the necessary foundation of primary instruction. " 2nd. It establishes the extent and aim of the instruction given—the class of public schools —and the necessity of taking into account, in the internal organization of the schools, the circumstances of the locality, population, and religion. " 3rd. It treats of the maintenance of scholastic institutions ; and finally, and 4thly, it refers to some general regulations. " In the elementary schools religion is considered as the basis of instruction in conformity with the religious creed of the pupil, and consequently every school bears a religious character. The religion of the master must be in conformity with that of the majority of the children ; where the master is not of the same creed with the child, the parents of the child may decide as to the religious instruction which the child has to receive." The following is the section relating to compulsory instruction : — " 17. If anyone prevents his own children, or those under bis charge or in his service, from attending the national schools in accordance with the provisions of this law, he may be compelled to it by the police. The penalties for this offence are —Ist. A fine to the amount of 10 silver groschen (Is.) for neglecting school, or proportionate imprisonment. 2nd. Taking the children to school by force, and levying a tax to be determined by the Government. " The Government are empowered to issue more detailed regulations with regard to the observance of this provision." Mr. West reports as follows as to the operation of the compulsory system : —" The system appears to work so well in all its details, that the arguments used against compulsion in other countries, can scarcely be urged against it in Prussia. The poor man, even if he feels temporarily the loss of the earnings of his children, submits to it patiently, and seems to recognize the advantages which accrue, not only to the children themselves in after life, but also to himself, by the greater amount of assistance which their superior social condition enables them to afford him in his old age. " The ( half-time' system also, which partially prevails, does not entail upon the parents the loss of the whole of the earnings of their children. " The theory of the Prussian system, in making primary education compulsory, appears to have been founded upon the recognized fact that great apathy, as regards the education of their children, prevails among the poorer classes. As a preliminary step, therefore, it was necessary to get rid of it, and as it did not seem possible to do so by mere inducement, it was resolved to establish a compulsion which should be judiciously and carefully applied, the odium attached to which would gradually diminish as the advantage accruing from it became apparent, and thus render its application necessary only in a modified form. Such a result would, it seems to have been thought, be attained by creating a direct local interest in the management of the primary schools, by rating, so that parents, as well as local authorities, should find themselves associated with the State in carrying on the great work of social improvement. The report* under consideration leaves no doubt as to the successful result of this theory. It must be borne in mind, moreover, that compulsion is applied directly, and not upon the principle which the Colliery Acts in England seek to apply it. Children are not punished because their parents may have refused them instruction; for the prohibition to work after a certain age unless provided with a certificate that they can read and write, which, by the wilful neglect of their parents they may not * Statistical Report upon Elementary Education in the Prussian States issued by the Government, 1864. 3

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be able to obtain, virtually amounts to a punishment, but, on the contrary, the parents are punished if they neglect to have them duly instructed. The direct application of the principle of compulsion, therefore, as far as Prussia is concerned, would seem to be attended by a better result than could be obtained by any other method, which must more or less leave the parents an option on the question of the education of their children, and thus give place to that apathy so fatal to educational progress, and -which it is the main object of the system to overcome." Such being the nature of the compulsory system adopted, it is important to remark that, notwithstanding the local burthens which it imposes, the number of convictions for non-com-pliance with its provisions were so few in 1864 in the whole country, that the report makes uo mention of them. In the year 1866, however, we are informed that there were 2,434 penalties imposed in Berlin, and that 750 fathers were sentenced to prison. The following is the practice as regards the religious question:—"As a rule, the national schools must be Evangelical or Catholic ; but in the case of a population containing Jews, whereever a sufficient number of Jewish children are found, Jewish elementary schools may be established and considered as national schools. "No child is to be refused admittance to the schools on account of difference of religion. " Children who may belong to a religion which differs from that of the teacher are not to be forced to attend his religious instruction against the will of the father or guardians. If there are more than fifteen children in such a position, care must be taken to provide them religious instruction, according to their persuasion, from the teachers in the neighbouring districts." Austria. An Austrian law, which was to have come into force on the Ist January, IS7O, adopts the school system of Saxony, and therefore makes education compulsory, as in that country. The following is an account of the system, in 1863, prevailing iv non-Hungarian Austria:— " Every school is essentially sectarian, and schools attended by children of different religions are only permissible generally as a last resort, and with the consent of the ecclesiastical authorities. Yet Protestant and Jewish children, where there is no school of their own, are obliged to attend the nearest Catholic school; and in want of such, Jewish children attend the nearest Protestant or Greek school; attendance at school prayers and religious instruction being dispensed with." " The existence of a regular school makes obligatory the attendance of all children within its limits between the ages of six and twelve, unless they have entered a higher institution or receive equivalent instruction at home. This obligation is not only general, but special to the school of the district within which the child resides. " Usually the co-operation of those immediately intrusted with the management of the school secures the required attendance. Should this fail, the aid of the magistrate, and in extreme cases of the provincial authorities, may be called upon, who may place the children at school, and fine or imprison the parents." Mr. West reports as follows, as to the effect of compulsory education : — " Although primary education is compulsory also in Austria, and the penalties even more severe than iv Prussia, we do not find the same satisfactory results. In Croatia, and parts of Gallicia, the attendance in schools is only from 10 to 18 per cent, of the population. In the South of Hungary, 21 to 38 per cent.; but in Carniola, Istria, Translyvania, and parts of the Tyrol, 92 to 96 per cent.; and on the frontiers of Saxony and Switzerland, 97 to 99 per cent., and even 104 per cent."* The following remarks and suggestions are from the Annual Report of Ober Real Schule, Vienna :— " Never did the cry for a better system of National Education in general, and for improved system of professional education in particular, resound more loudly than after the terrible events which fell so heavily on our country about a year ago. The dictum that,' Not the needle-gun, but higher national education conquered us,' pronounced by a man of deep insight and knowledge, struck home so forcibly that it was repeated on all sides, and became almost a proverb among us. Radical changes were clamoured for, and in their zeal for improvement people seemed to forget that there was any good at all in the established system." The following suggestions for improvements arc then made : — " 1. Let the number of schools be increased in as far as the means will allow, so that overcrowding of the classes, which must inevitably act injuriouly, may be avoided, and that attendance may be facilitated by the greater proximity of the school to the home. " 2. Let the weekly hours of attendance be increased by at least two, to be devoted to drawing and modelling. Two hours a week are not sufficient for practice in these arts, which arc of so much importance in a great variety of trades. "3. Let endeavours be made to unite, as far as possible, apprentices only belonging to the same trade, or to trades bearing some affinity to each other, in the same division of the school, so that when they have gone through the preparatory course, the instruction imparted to them may be as specially adapted to their trades as possible. * This percentage, however, includes children sent to school before the age required by law.

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" 4. Let the most earnest endeavours be made to render more stringent the laws and rules which bind masters to send their apprentices to school, and to cause them to be carried out. Persevering, uninterrupted attendance at school is the first condition of success, at least as far as the great majority of scholars are concerned. "5. Let special divisions be constituted for journeymen, who being more mature in mind, and having a more correct appreciation of the advantages of knowledge, are more likely to avail themselves of the zeal and perseverance of the instruction offered, than the more giddy and less developed apprentices. In these divisions for journeymen, a free choice may be allowed of the subjects to be learnt. The advantage to the trades will be the same, whether it be the apprentices or the journeymen who are made more competent for their calling." Baden. In this Grand Duchy the Protestant and Roman Catholic populations are about equal in numbers, and are intermixed often in equal proportions in the towns and even in many of the villages. Education, as in the rest of Germany, is prescribed by law, and negligent parents and guardians are punished, in the first place by fine, and afterwards more severely. The duty of seeing that the law is enforced devolves on the mayor and council of the town or village. Every community (parish) is to have at least one primary school, and the different denominations may have cither separate or common schools. The denominational primary schools are to be combined, to form common unscctarian schools, if the different school congregations shall independently decide for it by a general vote. Should one of the denominational schools fall below the number of twenty-five pupils, it is closed, if there is in the place another denominational school; in which case the Catholic children are to attend the Protestant school, and vice versa. There was last year a great agitation against denominational schools, and, notwithstanding the lively opposition of both Protestants and Roman Catholics, these schools have been almost entirely abolished, and common schools established in their place. Religious instruction at the primary unsectarian schools is to be given by the clergymen. The income of the schools is derived from school fees, special school funds (endowments), and local rates. Hanover. Before its annexation to Prussia, compulsory attendance was enforced in Hanover. The school age was from seven to fourteen, but attendance might be deferred by consent of the Ministry.* School fees were charged. The school hours were thirty per week in winter; and eighteen, or even twelve in summer. Poor children in service or tending flocks were allowed to be absent from school. The Prussian systom has now been extended to Hanover. Hesse Cassel. The following is an account of the condition of education in this State before its annexation to Prussia :— " The common schools arc essentially secular; no distinction is made between Protestant sects, and there are no special schools for other denominations. " The children of such are obliged to attend the same schools with the others, but are excused from religious instruction. Attendance at school is compulsory from the sixth to the end of the fourteenth year. The teacher reports cases of absence to the inspector, who in turn informs the school committee, who prosecute. The fine is from 1 to 15 groschen per day, or imprisonment in default of payment. Physical infirmity and attendance at another school are the only excuses allowed. " These regulations, however, are not uniformly carried out; there are many local exceptions. " School fees are paid, but vary in amount." The Prussian system has now been extended to this State. Hesse. In the Grand Duchy of Hesse primary education was made compulsory in 1827. There are 1,760 schools, which give instruction to 135,000 children. The Prussian system is now in force. Wurtemderg. In this State education is compulsory between the ages of seven and fourteen. The following is a summary of the law on the subject:— 1. At the beginning of each year the minister must compile from the baptismal register and send to the teacher a list of all the children in the parish who, during the year, will attain the age of seven. 2. The teacher at his examination, is sworn to report every case of absence without leave (from the teacher or minister) to the mayor (schuitheis). * This is given in the words of the writer. It is not clear whether under the term " Ministry " he means the Government or the pastors.

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3. This officer inflicts a fine of from three to six kreutzcn for every case of absentc. A contumacious parent may be imprisoned; but this is rarely necessary. The law as to the fine is by no means a dead letter. Compulsory education has existed in Wurtemberg since 1810. The number of schools is 2,337. The teachers said to be better off in this kingdom than in any other part of Germany. Saxony. Education has been compulsory between the ages of six and fourteen since 1835. The penalties for non-attendance are fine or imprisonment, as in Prussia, and are enforced by an officer attached to each school. Children are exempted from attending during harvest. Mr. Mundella, speaking of the effect of compulsory education, says : —" I have tried to find some corner or spot in Saxony, the Canton of Zurich, or some Swiss Canton, where there are uneducated children. I have always failed." He proceeds to say —" Interested parties are disseminating the idea that compulsion means espionage and the policeman. A greater fiction never entered into the mind of man. The machinery is simply this: —Every child in every cottage, hamlet, or town in Germany, Prussia, Saxony, Mecklenberg, Wurtcmburg, or Switzerland, is registered. The schools arc not free, although the population is poor. The children at six years of age must go to school. At the end of the sixth year the parent receives a notice from the school board that the child must be sent to school; if this is not obeyed, the parent is summoned before the board and the Act read to him. This is generally sufficient; if it is not, he is fined a franc. The matter rarely, if ever, goes beyond this." Bavaria. Education is compulsory, and has been so since 1856. Parents who do not send their children to the public schools pay double the lowest rate levied for supporting the schools. The number who can neither read nor write is stated not to be more than 5 per cent. Mecklenburg Schwerin. Here attendance is obligatory after the sixth year, absence being punished with fine and imprisonment. Schools are kept open throughout the year, with the exception of three weeks' vacation at the high feasts, and five or six weeks at seed time and harvest; the summer schools ing kept open but three hours, generally from 6to 10 a.m. Children over ten found able to read arc allowed to go into service during summer. Mecklenburg Strelitz. Attendance is enforced from the age of six till confirmation. The school hours are six a day in winter, and two in summer, viz., from 7to 9 a.m. There are four weeks' holidays in the hay and grain harvest, and two weeks at potato-gathering. Grand Duchies of Oldenburg, Saxe Coburg Gotha, Saxe Meiningen, Weimar, Eisenach ; Duchies of Nassau, Altenburg, and Brunswick. Education is compulsory in all these States. In Nassau and Saxe Coburg Gotha it is also gratuitous. In regard to the method in which education is generally enforced throughout the various German States, the following summary is given in the report of the French Minister of Public Instruction for the year 1864:—" With respect to Germany, we may say that compulsory education is regulated by the following principles : —Lists of the children are drawn up by the registrars, and are forwarded to the teacher, that he may compute the absences. Registers of absences are kept with scrupulous care b\ r the teacher, who forwards the list of absentees to the chairman of a school board composed of the parents of children. Absence is allowed in cases of unusually wet weather or on account of the great distance from a school, and in harvest time. " Penalties .-— " 1. A written caution or notice from the chairman of the school board. "2. A summons to appear before the school board, followed by a reprimand from the chairman. "3. An information sent by the school board to the magistrate, who most frequently simply inflicts a fine of from one to four francs, which is doubled in case of a second offence. In certain cases the offending parent is sent to prison for twenty-four hours. " At the present time these are nothing more than threats, the penalties being scarcely ever imposed. But the same effect is produced. And the Frenchman travelling through Germany to study the Education question, seeing the regularity of attendance, the thoroughness of the studies, and the steady prosperity of the schools, when he recrosses the Rhine remarks with regret the difference between the primary education of the two countries."

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Sweden. In 1684 Charles XL ordained that no one should be admitted to the rite of confirmation (which was necessary to marriage) until he could satisfy the pastor of his ability to read. So effectually has this regulation worked, that it is said that not one in 1,000 cannot read. In the year 1684 a law was passed to allow half of the amounts levied as a poll-tax to be applied to the support of the National Schools. Where this amount, about sixpence sterling for every man and threepence for every woman, was insufficient, the parish was required to make up the deficit. The laws as to compulsory attendance and penalties incurred by disobedience are almost precisely' similar to those in Norway. Since the year 1863, half the expense has been born by the parish and half by the State. Children are sent to school at seven years old, and continue to attend till fifteen. Education is compulsory on all classes. If the parents or guardians oppose the children being sent to school, the master, after giving due notice, cau take the children from under his care, but the parent will legally be compelled to pay for the education of his children. The education is denominational, and the schools are under the inspection of the bishops or the chapter. Luther's First Catechism is learnt by heart, and morning and evening prayers are read daily ; clergymen are requested to see this rule enforced. Mr West reports as follows on the religious question : — " The instruction given in the schools ought to have for its main object the mental development of the children, who should be made to understand what they read on religious subjects before they take their first communion; such instruction should be based on Luther's First Catechism, which ought to be learnt by heart, but which ought, in the first instance, to be fully explained to the children. Morning and evening prayers are to be read daily in school. The clergyman should pay attention to see this rule enforced. "In 1840 a committee was appointed to inquire into the religious instruction given in schools, and tho committee proposed that the religious instruction should be intrusted to the clergy; the proposal, however, was rejected, although the teachers, who are very ill paid, cannot be expected to possess the requisite knowledge for such instruction. It was contended, on the other hand, that the clergy had not leisure to attend and teach in the schools, having their parish duties to attend, which occupied them, besides having to prepare the young for their first communion. The King, therefore, withheld his consent to the proposal. Many objections which were then raised against this proposal are no longer in existence, on account of the new parish law, by which the ' Communal Styrelse.' or municipality, has now to take upon itself some of the duties which formerly devolved upon the clergyman ; for example, the collecting rents on church property and handing them to the clergyman, and letting church lands not occupied by the clergyman; this and other changes effected by the new law give more time to the clergyman, so as to enable him, at least for two hours in every week, to attend and instruct the children in Luther's Catechism." Norway. By the law of 16th May, 1860, education in elementary subjects is obligatory on all from the eighth year of age till the children's confirmation, about the fourteenth or fifteenth year, until which time they must not leave unless with the sanction of the school commission. If parents, after being remonstrated with, allow the children to absent themselves from school without satisfactory reason, a fine of from 245. to five silver dollars may be imposed upon them by the school commission. Manufacturers and other employers are bound, under the same penalties, to allow the children the proper time for attendance at school. If parents conduct themselves so as to exercise a detrimental effect on the moral character of the children, the latter may be taken from them and placed under the care of more conscientious persons; and the expenses caused by this may be reclaimed by the guardians of the poor from the culpable parents. If a young person of sixteen, who has been neglected, refuses to submit to the means provided for his or her instruction, the commission may use compulsory measures, extending to imprisonment in any penal establishment. In cases of poverty, the school fees are paid from the school fund of the district. The education is denominational; and if children have left before confirmation, and the parents do not take care that their religious knowledge does not decrease, they may, on demand of the clergyman, be sent to school again. The school-fund arises from fees, gifts, fines, grants from the school community, and out of the public moneys. Denmark. Attendance at school is obligatory between the ages of seven and fourteen. Admission is free. The state of education is said to be very satisfactory. Italy. The fundamental law by which primary education in Italy is now regulated was passed in 1859 by the first Parliament of Upper Italy. A supplementary enactment, of 10th January, 1865, makes the institutions of primary schools obligatory on all the communes of the kingdom, _

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and asserts the duty of parents and guardians to send their children and wards to these schools, but imposes no penalty on the neglect of this obligation. The last report of the Minister of Public Instruction upon the state of elementary education in the northern and southern provinces of Italy, recommends that education be made compulsory, and that the time during which children receive instruction be determined by law. The primary schools of Italy are supported by the communes, the Government, and the provinces, jointly; the first contributing about 55 per cent, of the annual cost, the second S7_, and the last 7£. Education is now compulsory in Italy. Turkey. An important step has been very recently taken by the Porte for the advancement of education in Turkey. The Sultan has issued a law on Public Instruction, the most important provisions of which are the following : —Each quarter in a city, and each village, must maintain a primary school; or, if the population be mixed, a school for Mahomed ans, &c, and another for non-Mussulmans. Children arc to receive instruction in the religious books of their persuasion. Attendance is compulsory, except in certain cases specified in Art. 13, during four years, namely, between the ages of six and ten for girls, and of seven and eleven for boys. Superior and normal schools are also to be established. Spain and Portugal. In Spain compulsory education dates from 1857, and in Portugal from 1844; but the law is not generally enforced, from want of a sufficient number of schools. United States. Education is prescribed by law in the States of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Arkansas ; it does not seem to be so prescribed in New York, Ohio, Illinois, and California.* In Massachusetts, attendance at school has been compulsory since 1642. This subject is now regulated by Act No. 240 (1852), which provides : — In sec. I.—That every town shall maintain one school at least. In sec. 2. —That every person have under his control a child between the ages of eight and fourteen, shall send such child to a public school for at least twelve weeks in the year. Sec. 3 states the penalty. In Connecticut, by a law passed in 1858, every person who cannot read is disfranchised. In Rhode Island the State authorizes each town to make by-laws for enforcing attendance at its schools. The present Bishop of Manchester, then one of the Assistant Commissioners to the Schools Inquiry Commission, reported that these laws were not effectual in checking " absenteeism ;" but most of the instances he adduces in proof of this occurred in the States in which education is not compulsory. Since his report a law has been passed imposing a fine of twenty dollars throughout Massachusetts for neglect of the school regulations. Mr. Field, Chairman of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, who is well acquainted with the States, speaks favourably of the working of the school laws. Education is free in Massachusetts, Illinois, and Ohio. Rate-bills (school fees) may be imposed in New York, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. In all the States the schools are maintained chiefly by local rates, and are unsectarian, the Bible only being read without comment. On this subject the Rev. J. Fraser says : —" There appears to be no difficulty in assembling children of all denominations in the same schoolroom ;" but he thinks that the practically entirely secular character of the education given by the public schools causes them to be regarded with growing disfavour by certain sections of the community. Canada. (1.) — Ontario (Upper Canada). In this province education is not compulsory. Most of the schools are said to be practically secular, but religious instruction may be given by the different denominations after school hours. In certain cases " separate," i.e. denominational, and in fact Roman Catholic schools, may be established. Both in Upper and Lower Canada each township may establish a school rate, but is not compelled to do so. The support of the schools depends— 1. On a legislative grant apportioned to each municipality according to population. * bee Eeport on the Education in America, &c, pp. 30-35, &c. ; American Statesmen's Year Book, 1869; American Journal of Education, toI. xvi. p. 625 ; Revised School Law of 1866 ; Eeport of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, California, 1864-65 ; Visit to America—Jen Blake, p. 159; Eevised Code; Eeport of School Committee, Boston, 1858, p. 336 ; Transactions of the Social Science Association, 1868; Eev. J. Fraser's Eeport, p. 160.

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2. Each municipality is empowered to assess and collect as large an additional sum as as it may think proper for the education of youth within its jurisdiction. 3. By voluntary contributions. The local taxation consists in— (a.) A municipal assessment. (b.) A trustees' property rate levied in each school section of from two to four mdes square. (c.) Trustees' rate-bills levied on all parents, and limited to 25 cents per month for each pupil. (d.) School fees. The mode in which the local funds shall be raised is left to the discretion of the Municipal Councils and trustees of school sections respectively, some schools being entirely free and supported by the legislative grants and rates on property; others having their income supplemented by rate-bills or fees. At the school convention of every county held during 1868, the desire was expressed by resolution that all the common schools should be made free by law. About 10 per cent, of the children are reported as not attending any school, and the subject of compulsory education is strongly urged, and its necessity was affirmed by nearly all the county school conventions. (2.) — Quebec (Lower Canada). The only form in which compulsion is applied is by the law which enables rate-bills (school fees) to be levied on all children between seven and fourteen, whether they attend the public schools or not. This regulation is said to have a very beneficial effect on the attendance. The aided schools are of two classes—lst, Common Schools; 2nd, Dissentient Schools. Much greater facilities are afforded for the formation of schools of the latter class in Lower than in Upper Canada. The religious difficulty only emerges where Catholics and Protestants attend the same school. This does not happen in many cases; where it does, religious instruction goes to the wall. A table is given below showing the educational condition of the countries mentioned above in respect to the following principles : — 1. Attendance, whether compulsory or not. 2. Admittance, whether free or only on payment of fees. 3. Whether the schools be partly supported by rates or not. 4. Whether they be denominational or non-sectarian.

Country. Attendance, ■whether compulsory or not. Admittance free or on payment of fees. Supported partly by local rates. England [reland Not compulsory Not compulsory Not free ... Not free ... No No Denominational. Vested schools, unsectarian; non-vested, denominational. Denominational. Denominational. Unsectarian. Scotland France Solland Belgium Prussia Austria Baden Not compulsory Not compulsory Not compulsory Not compulsory Compulsory ... Compulsory ... Compulsory ... Compulsory ... Compulsory ... Compulsory ... Compulsory ... Compulsory ... Compulsory ... Compulsory ... Compulsory ... Compulsory ... Compulsory ... Not free ... Not free ... Not free ... No Yes ... Yes ... Not free ... Unknown... Not free ... Not free ... Not free ... Not free ... Not free ... Not free ... Not free ... Free Not free ... Free Free Yes Yes Yes ... Yes ... Denominational. Denominational. Unseetariau. Etanover ... ECesse Cassel SVurtemberg Unsectarian. Denominational. Denominational. Denominational. Denominational. Denominational. Denominational. Unknown. Unsectarian in some cantons. denominational in others. Denominational. Denominational. Denominational. Denominational. Unsectarian.~"| ? Unseetarian. Unsectarian. | 'if. Unseetarian. [-■a | Unsectarian. i, § Unsectarian. ~ " Unsectarian.J £ Unsectarian. Denominational. Saxony Mecklenburg Schwerin ... Mecklenburg Strelitz Sweden Norway Denmark ... Switzerland Yes Yes Yes ... Yes ... Yes Yes Unknown Yes [taly Cm-key Spain Portugal ... Massachusetts Connecticut Rhode Island Dhio PJew York ... Illinois California ... Canada, Upper Canada, Lower Compulsory ... Compulsory ... Compulsory ... Compulsory ... Compulsory ... Compulsory ... Permissive ... Not compulsory Not compulsory Not compulsory Not compulsory Not compulsory Not compulsory Free Unknown ... Unknown... Unknown ... Free Permissive Permissive Free Permissive Free Free Not free ... Not free ... Yes ... Unknown Unknown Unknown Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ... Yes ... Yes Yes ...

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Part 11. PROPOSED EXTENSION OF COMPULSORY EDUCATION AND STATE OF PUBLIC OPINION IN ENGLAND. Some years since (in 1858), a Royal Commission was appointed to inquire into the state of popular education in England. The report of this Commission was laid before Parliament in 1861, and consists of accounts of the state of primary education in Scotland, Germany, and other countries, and general recommendations of the Commissioners. The conclusion at which they arrived in respect to the subject of this report is, that " the difficulties and evils of any general measure of compulsion would outweigh any good results which could be expected from it in the present state of things." The last report of the Committee of Council docs not express any positive opinion on this question of attendance, but directs attention to the opinions of the Inspectors in the following terms : — " The Inspectors who refer to the question of compulsory education express themselves, without exception, as favourable to the principle of it." They refer to the remarks of Mr. Tregarthen, p. 256 ; Dv Port, p. 82; Routlcdge, p. 184; Sandford, p. 207; Mitchell, p. 140; French, p. 97; Howard, p. 119; Waddington, p. 297; and Steele, p. 228. • The following extracts are taken from the reports alluded to: — " Rev. G. French, M.A., Inspector of Schools, says : —' The proper education of the farm labourer is a problem most difficult of solution. The introduction of machinery in agricultural operations seems to call for intelligence and education in addition to mere physical strength. No half-time Act could work satisfactorily in an agricultural district unless it were that boys should work three days and attend school three days. The greatest difficulty is in the apathy and carelessness of the parents. If the children arc to be educated at all costs, and if the difficulties I have noticed can be overcome, I see no other remedy than some sort of compulsory attendance at schools up to a certain age.'" "The Rev. W. Howard, Inspector of Schools, says that ' some legislative measure is needed which shall compel the attendance of children, that they may benefit by the education offered.' " " Rev. M. Mitchell, M.A., Inspector of Schools, denies the necessity of any general compulsory Act, but proceeds to say that ' an Act which only applies to the base will be disapproved of only by the base, the number of whom the Act will tend continually to diminish.'" In view of fresh legislation on this subject, two large societies have been recently organized in England, viz., the National Education League and the National Education Union. The principles for which the former of these two bodies is agitating are, that education should bo gratuitous, compulsory, and unsectarian. The latter, whilst recognizing the inadequacy of the present system, considers that it would be sufficient to supplement the denominational system by unsectarian schools; that education should not be free except to the children of paupers; and that the only form in which compulsion can be advantageously applied is by an extension of the half-time Acts. The following extract from the report of their first meeting, held at Manchester, will show the views entertained by the leading members of the Union:— "The Rev. Dr. Rigg, Principal of the Wesleyan Training College, Westminster, said: 'The Manchester Union assumes the principle of compulsory education. The educational legislation of the last quarter of a century has adopted it as a postulate. But I do not believe that it is practicable to pass into law, or to apply and enforce, an honest and thorough, an important and equitable measure of direct compulsory education.'" " Mr. Buxton, M.P., thought that it would be sufficient to give the local authorities power to deal with vagabond children in the streets, and forbid the employment of any child under thirteen without a certificate of education." " The following additional legislation is, in the opinion of the National Education Union, required:— "1. In agricultural districts compulsory attendance at school should be required on alternate days or weeks or for a given number of days in the year; a certificate of attendance to be a condition of work under thirteen years of age. "2. Denison's Act to be made compulsory. " 3. No children of the age of thirteen or older to be allowed to work full time without a certificate of having attended school and of having passed a satisfactory examination in reading, writing, and arithmetic." Since the Manchester Congress, however, the policy of the Union seems to have become more liberal and have more nearly approached that advocated by the League, which will be presently described. The Times of January 11, 1870, contains an outline of two Bills drawn up by a committee of the Union in order to give a definite form to their opinions. One provides for establishing national unsectarian schools, to be partly supported by local rates in places -where voluntary effort does not satisfy the educational needs of the district. The

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object of the other Bill is to enforce attendance at school. The following are its chief .provisions :— " 1. Children between six and thirteen are to attend school at least thirty weeks annually. A week's attendance to consist of eight attendances of at least two hours; but children over eleven who pass the 6th standard arc to be exempt. Inspectors arc to hold two examinations in the year, and give certificates gratis to those who pass. "2. Schoolmasters are to send every Monday to the local committee a list of absentees. " 3. The officer of the school committee finding children idling in the streets is to visit and caution the parents. " 4. The penalty (which cannot be inflicted without a previous visit) is not to exceed ss. for the first offence, and 20s. for any subsequent one. " 5. No penalty is to be inflicted unless the absentee live within a mile and a half of a school where he can be educated free. "6. Habitual truants arc to be dealt with under the Industrial Schools Act." The following extracts from speeches delivered at the first general meeting of the National Education League will show the views of this association in respect to compulsory education : — " The Rev. Rowland Williams proposed that field or stable labour should be forbidden to children under ten, and that between ten and twelve children should not be employed without producing a certificate of instruction." " Alderman Romney quoted Mr. Redgrave, Factory Inspector, to the effect that no child under sixteen should be employed without a certificate of attainments, mere attendance at school not being sufficient." " Mr. Dixon, M.P., said ' attendance should be enforced by having a register of the children of each town kept, and opposite each name the school most convenient for the child to attend; that a list of the children who ought to attend each school in the town should be sent to the committees, and that the power of enforcing attendance should be given these committees.'" "Mr. Mundclla, M.P., said ' First, what arc the subjects of this association?— The establishment of a system which shall secure the education of every child in England and Wales. How do we propose to effect it ?—The means are, first, by making provision for education, and then compelling attendance at the schools provided.' " " Mr. Paget, an employer of agricultural labour, stated that he found that employing boys alternate days, and sending them to school the other days, paid, and that the boys who had schooling every other day quite equalled in knowledge those who professedly attended constantly." The following is a sketch of the main provisions of the Bill promised by the League :— " 1. The country is to be divided into districts, each of which is to be under the control of a school board, to be elected by ratepayers. " 2. The duties of these boards arc — " (1.) To provide schools. " (2.) To levy the necessary rates. " (3.) To enforce attendance. "3. One-third of the expenses of the school board is to be paid by rates; the remainder by Government, subject to the inspectors' reports. "4. Each board is to appoint a visitor, who is to sec that all the children attend school, either as whole or as half timers. Parents neglecting to send their children are first to be summoned before the board, and cautioned; for the second offence they are to be brought before a J.P., who may caution or fine them; for the third offence they are to be fined from Is. to 55.; and ss. additional for each subsequent conviction, up to 20s. "5. Admission to these schools is to be free, and no creed or catechism is to be taught, but Scripture may be read before or after school hours." At the meeting of the Society for the Promotion of Social Science, in 1868, the subject of compulsory education was discussed. Mr. Sandford, Inspector, Mr. Jesse Collins, and Dr. Hawkslcy, among others, supported it. Mr. Bremmer, Secretary to the Manchester Education Society, said that, " the attempt to remove the evils of ignorance by voluntary efforts had signally failed in Manchester, the cause being the apathy and carelessness of the parents, and not their poverty." Canon Kingsley, in inaugurating the discussions on education at the last meeting of this Society, advocated in forcible language the necessity of secular and compulsory education. Referring to the inadequacy of the voluntary system, he said, " The only way of making them (the poorer classes) understand that educating their children is an indefeasible duty, is for them to be taxed by the State itself, and for the State to say, ' There is your moneys worth in the school. We ask no more of you; but your children shall go to school or you shall go to gaol.'" In a debate in the House of Commons, 12th March, 1869, Mr. Molly drew attention to the number of children growing up in the large towns without education. He referred to the statement of the Manchester and Birmingham Education Societies, as showing that many children did not attend school, not from the poverty, but from the carelessness of their parents, and advocated making attendance compulsory. Mr Dixon, Professor Fawcett, and Mr. Mundella spoke to the same effect—Mr. Mundclla quoting a return made by the Secretary of Legation at Berne, in which the universal ability of the people to read and write was attributed to education 5

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EXTRACT FROM EIGHTH REPORT OF THE

being enforced by law. Mr. Forster said that the time had not yet come for expressing an opinion on the questions of gratuitous and compulsory education, but he admitted that the argument that compulsory education would be un-English was an absurd one, especially looking at the Factory Acts. Mr. Melly again, in a letter to the Times 02th January), advocates direct compulsion, especially in the case of towns like Liverpool, where there are very few children who would come within the provisions of the Factory Act. Mr. Bright, in a speech at Birmingham, spoke hopefully of the gradual disappearance of the " religious difficulty," which he thought would become less and less in progortion to the earnestness of the wish of working men for education. Canon Norris, late Inspector of Schools, though opposed to direct compulsion, recommends the extension of indirect coercion to agricultural districts; and Canon Melville writes to the same effect. On the other hand, the Central Chamber of Agriculture, at a meeting held on the 18th June, 1867, condemned as impracticable a Bill which Mr. Fawcett was at that time bringing forward, to extend to agricultural labourers the provisions of the Factory Acts. The British Quarterly Review, speaking on behalf of the Nonconformists, says, " If we had to construct a scheme of national education for the country, we should prefer a system of secular education, administered by local boards, and maintained by local rates, supplemented bygrants from the national exchequer, and under the inspection of a national board." In reference to the extension of the factory laws, the same article says, " Every extension of the principle of our factory legislation renders a direct and general compulsory law more urgent and imperative. Our true wisdom," it proceeds to state, " is to develop the principle already established in our Factory Acts ; but when we have travelled as far as we can on the lines already laid down, the country will recognize the extreme absurdity of refusing to go further; it will insist upon protecting the right of every child to be taught, as it insists on the right of every child to be fed." Speaking of the temper of the people, the same review says : " Working men have an inordinate faith in the power of legislation to promote social reform, and they are amongst the most enthusiastic supporters of the theory of compulsory education." The same review, in an article in its January number, shows the impossibility of much extending indirect compulsion, and prefers the system proposed by the League, though accusing that body of committing a grave error in advocating gratuitous instruction. The London Quarterly, as the representative of the Wcsleyan body, makes a strong protest against the substitution of secular for denominational teaching, and of local rates for voluntary subscriptons. As a quotation has already been made from a report by Mr. Arnold, where he seems to consider coercion applied to education either ineffectual or unnecessary, an extract is now given from a later work, in which he appears to have rather modified his former views. In the preface to Schools and Universities of the Continent, 1868, be writes :—"The opponents of compulsory education quote Mr. Pattison to show that, in Germany, compulsory attendance is a matter which produces little practical result. They quote a report of mine to show that, in French Switzerland, ' the making education compulsory by law has not added one iota to its prosperity.' But yet the example of the Continent proves, and nothing which Mr. Pattison or I have said disproves, that, in general, where education is most prosperous, there it is also compulsory." And, again, Mr. Arnold says—" Ido not think the experience of Prussia and Switzerland is an insignificant thing; and I believe that, if ever our zeal for the cause mounts high enough in England to make our popular education ' bear favourable comparison' with the popular education of Prussia and Switzerland, the same zeal will also make it compulsory." On the other hand, Mr. Arnold reminds the advocates of compulsory education that " on the Continent instruction is obligatory for lower, middle, and upper classes alike;" and he proceeds-—" I assure them (the upper classes) most emphatically—and if they study the experience of the Continent they will convince themselves of the truth of what I say—that only on these conditions, of its equal and universal application, is any law of compulsory education possible." On the 17th February, Mr. Foster, Vice-President of the Privy Council, moved the first reading of the new Education Bill, brought forward by the Government. In a speech of considerable length he described the main provisions of the measure, which arc given below. The House will not go into Committee on the Bill till after Easter, so that some time will elapse before its ultimate fate will be known here. Omitting such features as relate merely to the existing English system, the main principles for securing school provision and attendance are— 1. That there shall be sufficient school provision throughout the country. 2. That there shall be compulsory provision of schools where they are proved to be wanting, and not elsewhere. 3. That children shall be compelled to attend the schools thus provided. The provisions for effecting these objects arc — 1." The country is to be divided into school districts, namely, the boroughs and parishes where they exist. 2. The educational condition of each district is to be ascertained. In doing this all schools, public or private, that will receive inspectors, are to be taken into account.

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BOARD OE EDUCATION OE VICTORIA.

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3. Where more school provision is needed, a year is to be allowed for voluntary effort to supply it. If at the end of the year the need still exists, the want is to be supplied by a body called the school board. 4. The school board of each district is to be a body of not less than three and not more than twelve members, to be elected by the town council or vestry. 5. These boards are to have power to levy a rate. If, however, it exceed threepence in the pound, the Government gives extra aid. In general the schools are to be maintained in equal proportions by the rate, the fees, and Government aid. 6. The school boards will have power to assist existing schools, or to establish fresh ones, of which they become managers. 7. The amount of religious instruction in the new schools is to be left to the school boards, subject to the conscience clause, and to a sufficient amount of secular instruction being given. 8. All schools receiving Government aid are to conform to the " conscience clause" (a new one), to give sufficient secular instruction (as reported by the inspectors), and to receive undenominational inspection. 9. School boards are to have power to frame by-laws for enforcing attendance at the schools of all children in the district between the ages of five and twelve, subject to the condition that they may impose no penalty where absence is caused by sickness, or the child is receiving education elsewhere, or is more than a mile distant from a public elementary school. These by-laws cannot come into force until approved by Government, and laid on the table of the House for forty days without dissent. 10. School boards are to have power to grant free tickets to destitute children, and, in special cases, to establish free schools. 11. They have also power to establish local industrial schools. Mr. Forster, in reference to the provisions with regard to fees, said he could not agree with some honorable Members that education should be free, for three reasons : —l. The enormous additional expense to the national exchequer ; 2. The needlessncss of such a measure ; 3. The injustice of it to the upper classes. He thought that if elementary schools were free, all schools would shortly be so, as in America. In reference to the provisions for compulsory education, Mr. Forster said that he was a recent convert to "direct compulsion." The arguments he relied on were —1. The injustice of indirect compulsion alone, which compelled children who worked to go to school, but left alone those who were idle. 2. The inadequacy of indirect compulsion, which only affected a class, and the result of which was frequently to leave even the children of that class uneducated until they began to work. 3. The army of inspectors that indirect compulsion on an extended scale would require. 4. The injustice of requiring large towns to go to great expense in providing schools which might not be attended. 5. The experience of other countries, which showed that even where coercion was not rigorously applied, the moral force of a law of compulsion was most beneficial. He however hoped that the Home Secretary would find time to bring in measures to more effectually enforce and extend the education of children engaged in earning their living. In conclusion, Mr. Forster asked for the earnest attention of Parliament to his measure, for the following reasons, which are given in his own words : —" Upon the speedy provision of elementary instruction depends our industrial prosperity. It is of no use giving technical instruction to our artisans without elementary education ; and many of our labourers arc extremely uneducated, and, for the most part, unskilled. If we leave them any longer unskilled, notwithstanding their strong sinews and determined energy, they will be overmatched in the competition of the world. Upon this most speedy provision depends also, I fully believe, the safe working of our constitutional system. Now that we have given the people political power, we must no longer delay to give them education. There are questions demanding answers and problems awaiting solution; and can ignorant constituencies answer and solve them ? Upon the speedy provision of education depends also our national power. . . . We all know, from unhappy experience, that knowledge is not virtue, much less is elementary education; but though knowledge is not virtue, want of education is weakness, and weakness generally means misfortune, and misfortune often leads to vice. Let us all think of the villages in which we live, and the towns it is our lot to visit, and which of us does not know child after child growing up to probable crime, and still more probable misery, caused by its being untaught, or taught amiss ?" Mr. Forster's speech was well received; Mr. Dixon, Mr. Mundella, Mr. Melly, Professor Fawcett, Sir J. Pakington, and others cordially agreeing with its chief features, though objecting to particular details, such as the constitution of the school boards, the regulations in respect to fees, &c. The Times and Saturday Revieiv speak in very favourable terms of the measure, though the former journal doubts the ability of the school boards to frame the necessary by-laws in respect to religious instruction and attendance ; and the latter speaks of the measure of compulsion being timid and tentative. On the whole, it seems more probable that a more extensive power of enforcing attendance will be given than that the present provisions of the Bill on this subjected will be restricted.

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EXTRACT PROM VICTORIAN EDUCATION REPORT.

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Opinions of the Working Classes. . The report of the London Diocesan Board states that " a growing feeling among the working classes is manifested in favour of some legal compulsion (in education) being exercised." Messrs. Applegarth and Green, as representatives of the working men at the meeting of the League, said that compulsory education would meet with no opposition from the class for whom they spoke. At a meeting of the Trades Union Congress in Birmingham, last August, the following resolution was passed : —" That this Congress believes that nothing short of national, unsectarian, and compulsory education will satisfy the requirements of the people of the United Kingdom."

Part 111. GENERAL REMARKS. Having thus passed in review the regulations as to the attendance of children at the State schools, adopted in the chief countries of Europe and America, and the proposed legislation in England, it remains to determine whether any general principles can be drawn on this subject. The following appear worthy of attention : — 1. Compulsory education need not necessarily be gratuitous ; for it is not so in Prussia, Saxony, some Cantons in Switzerland, &c. 2. Compulsory education does not necessarily imply a denominational system, for it exists in sonic of the States of America, in Baden, Hesse Casscl, and Switzerland, connected with non-sectarian schools. 3. On the other hand, it docs not demand an exclusively^ secular system. In North Germany and Austria it is in full vigour, though the schools arc almost entirely denominational. 4. The penalties for non-attendance, where such arc imposed, should be recovered by the local authorities. This is the case in all the countries where attendance is compulsory. 5. Where attendance is compulsory, a considerable portion of the school fund should be raised by local taxes or contributions. This is the case in America, Switzerland, and throughout Germany. It gives the local authorities a greater interest in seeing that proper use is made of the money they are compelled to contribute. 6. Where compulsory attendance is enforced, every township or district provides a school. The question as to whether it is within the province of a Government to impose education on its people (without reference to the practical difficulties involved) is well treated by A. Smith, Fichte, and J. S. Mill, who support the affirmative, and by Wilhelm Yon Humboldt, 11. Spencer, Guizot, and Bastiat, wb.6 take the negative. The arguments are too long for quotation. A few remarks on compulsory education arc offered in conclusion. The question between direct and indirect compulsion can scarcely arise here for many years to come. The small number and small size of the manufactories in the towns would make the results of any Factory Act imperceptible; while any law forbidding the hiring of children in agricultural districts until they exhibit certain attainments would be equally nugatory, as each settler gencrallyr employs his own sons to do the farm labour; and even where this is not the case, there are no farms so extensive as to employ any considerable number of boys. The only form, therefore, in which compulsion could be employed so as to make any considerable increase in the attendance at schools appears to be the registration system which prevails iv Germany and Switzerland. If this plan were adopted it would be necessary to throw a part of the burden of maintaining the schools on the township or municipality, otherwise there would most probably be a great increase in the number of free children, as poverty would always be pleaded as an excuse for nonattendance, and the school committee would have little inducement to inquire strictly into the truth of the pica as long as they were not pecuniarily affected. But if they knew that each additional free child produced a higher rate, and so took money out of their own pockets, a more lively sense of their own responsibility would be felt, and a more careful discharge of their duty might be expected. The following suggestion is offered on the subject of obtaining precise information as to the educational condition of the colony : — Especial care should be taken at the forthcoming census to ascertain accurately the number of children receiving, and of those not receiving education; the nature of the education received, whether in the public grammar, the common, or in private schools, or at home ; and in the case of those receiving no education, where such children are mostly to be found, e.g., in country districts or in the dense population of the larger towns. Such information is absolutely necessary in order effectually to meet the difficulty of drawing them into the schools. Education Office, Melbourne, May, 1870.