With the lower _primary_ school (_ecole primaire elementaire_), which covers the period of from six to thirteen years of age, begins compulsory education. The s.e.xes are always taught separately except in villages of less than five hundred inhabitants. The pupils all dress in the same garb. The school is in session five days in the week, Thursdays being free. There is no religious instruction in the schools. A peculiar and very important factor is a book of registration for each child, in which specimens of work in each subject are entered once a month for the whole school course. This book is kept at the school, and furnishes an accurate indication of progress to parents or inspectors.[176]
Following the _lower primary_ school is the _higher primary_ (_ecole primaire superieure_), which has two courses, one for pupils who wish to review their elementary work and add some subjects, with the view of better preparing for the ordinary walks of life; and the high school course for those who wish to prepare for academic life. The former is indefinite in length; the latter requires five years, thus being completed at the eighteenth year. Here appears another superiority over the German system, in which, it will be remembered, there is no connection between the common and the high school.
These high schools prepare for the normal school and for the university.
There are also many other kinds of schools under State support,--such as technical schools, apprentice schools, schools of mines, etc. In the advantages offered to young men for perfecting themselves in a trade or calling, France surpa.s.ses all other countries.
Finally there are the State universities, fifteen in number, the professors of which are appointed by the State. While the State pays all salaries, the maintenance of the buildings depends upon fees, endowments, and such local support as is obtainable. These inst.i.tutions are open to students from the higher primary schools, thus making a complete system from the lowest school to the highest, and offering remarkable advantages to all. All degrees are given by the State, thereby securing perfect uniformity.
=Support of Schools.=--All of the schools above mentioned, from the _mother_ school to the university, are free. The expenses are distributed as follows: (1) The State pays the salaries of all teachers, administrators, and inspectors, and all the expenses of the normal schools. Thus it will be seen that the bulk of the expense of education is borne by the State in general. (2) The _departements_ erect the normal school and furnish the apparatus and supplies for the same. (3) The _communes_ pay for the needed supplies, for the janitor, and for other local necessities of the elementary schools. They may also tax themselves to increase the salaries of teachers beyond the State allowance. Each community thus has the power to decide whether it will be content with an average school, merely fulfilling the State requirements, or whether it will have a superior school taught by the best teachers obtainable.
=The Teachers.=--There are two cla.s.ses of normal schools in France, the elementary, of which there are eighty-seven for men and eighty-five for women,--practically one for each s.e.x in each of the departments,--and the higher, of which there is one for men, one for women, and one for kindergartners. Nearly all teachers are graduates of normal schools, and as no candidates for positions are considered unless they hold a normal certificate, in the near future all the teachers of France will be professionally trained.
Candidates for admission to the normal school must be at least sixteen years of age, of good moral character, and of fair abilities. They must pledge themselves to teach for not less than ten years.[177] The elementary course covers three years. After graduation, the young teacher is appointed provisionally until he has taken a final examination, which must be within ten years. If he has been successful in the schoolroom, as well as in this second examination, he becomes a permanent teacher, and can be removed only for immorality.
The course in the advanced normal school takes three or more years, depending upon the preparation with which the candidate enters. Only those between eighteen and twenty-five can be admitted. These schools train princ.i.p.als, superintendents, inspectors, and teachers for the elementary normal schools. They are the model schools of France, and shape the educational practice of the republic. Graduates from the elementary normal schools are not debarred from entering the higher normal schools; thus ambitious teachers are encouraged to prepare themselves for higher work.
No other country in the world does so much as France to a.s.sist young teachers in their preparation. In all of the normal schools mentioned, tuition, board, room, and books are free. And when the young teacher has been graduated, the State recognizes its own work by giving him the preference in appointments.
There are five cla.s.ses of teachers in the elementary schools, the lowest being the fifth. The young graduate teacher begins in the lowest cla.s.s and works his way up. The annual salaries for the different cla.s.ses are indicated by the following table:--
--------------------+-------------+----------- CLa.s.sES OF TEACHERS | MEN | WOMEN --------------------+-------------+----------- Fifth Cla.s.s | $200.00 | $200.00 Fourth Cla.s.s | 240.00 | 240.00 Third Cla.s.s | 300.00 | 280.00 Second Cla.s.s | 360.00 | 300.00 First Cla.s.s | 400.00 | 320.00 --------------------+-------------+-----------
Additional allowances are made in large schools, and the _communes_ often supplement the above amounts.
The annual salaries of princ.i.p.als are as follows:--
-------------+------------+------------------- | HIGHER | | PRIMARY | NORMAL SCHOOLS PRINc.i.p.aLS |------------+---------+--------- | Both s.e.xes | Men | Women -------------+------------+---------+--------- Fifth Cla.s.s | $360.00 | $700.00 | $600.00 Fourth Cla.s.s | 400.00 | 800.00 | 700.00 Third Cla.s.s | 450.00 | 900.00 | 800.00 Second Cla.s.s | 500.00 | 1000.00 | 900.00 First Cla.s.s | 560.00 | 1100.00 | 1000.00 -------------+------------+---------+---------
The a.s.sistants in these schools receive:--
-------------+------------+------------------- | HIGHER | | PRIMARY | NORMAL SCHOOLS a.s.sISTANTS |------------+---------+--------- | Both s.e.xes | Men | Women -------------+------------+---------+--------- Fifth Cla.s.s | $240.00 | $500.00 | $440.00 Fourth Cla.s.s | 280.00 | 540.00 | 480.00 Third Cla.s.s | 320.00 | 580.00 | 520.00 Second Cla.s.s | 380.00 | 620.00 | 560.00 First Cla.s.s | 440.00 | 680.00 | 600.00 -------------+------------+---------+---------
In addition to these amounts there is also a small allowance for rent.
After thirty-five years of service, the teacher may retire upon three fourths of his salary as a pension.
Without doubt France has outstripped all other nations in educational progress during the last twenty-five years,--the period in which her school system has been constructed. The three great signs of advance in French education are _the establishment of free schools_ (1881); _compulsory education and the secularization of the schools_ (1882); and _the restriction of teachers to lay persons_ (1886).[178] The strong features of the French school system may be stated as follows:--
1. _Completeness and harmony of the system_, covering the period from early childhood till the prescribed education is finished.
2. _Thoroughly trained teachers._
3. _Two kinds of normal schools_ to meet the various educational requirements of teachers.
4. _Liberal support_ of schools of all kinds.
5. _Admirable administration_ of the schools.
FOOTNOTES:
[176] See Parsons, "French Schools through American Eyes," p. 82.
[177] This is no hardship, as they fully expect to devote their lives to teaching.
[178] Previous to this the members of religious orders could teach in the public schools.
NOTE.--In 1902 the government still further restricted the teaching by religious orders. It is now proposed not only to forbid all teaching by these orders, but also to sequestrate the property of such congregations as exist solely for teaching purposes. This will close about 3500 schools of the Christian Brothers which have existed for a long time, and necessitate the organization by the government of corresponding school facilities to supply their place. Five years are allowed to effect the change..
CHAPTER XLIV
THE SCHOOL SYSTEM OF ENGLAND
=Literature=.--_Sharpless_, English Education; _Craik_, Education and the State; _Barnard_, English Pedagogy; _Clark_, The State and Education; _Gill_, Systems of Education; _Balfour_, Educational Systems of Great Britain and Ireland; United States Commissioner"s Reports for 1889 to 1902.
Nearly a thousand years ago Alfred the Great encouraged education of the higher cla.s.ses to the exclusion of the ma.s.ses--a principle that has governed education in England until within recent times. Statistics taken in 1845 showed that only one in six of the inhabitants could read, one in four write, and one in fifty cipher as far as the Rule of Three.
Since 1870 important changes have been made, and the number of children in the elementary schools of England has increased from 1,500,000 in 1870 to nearly 6,000,000 in 1902.[179]
"The princ.i.p.al features of the law of 1870 were (1) the obligation a.s.sumed by the government to secure school provision for all children of ages 5 to 14; (2) the recognition or creation of local agencies (private or church managers or elected boards) for the execution of this purpose; (3) provision for securing efficient instruction by means of an annual grant from the treasury to be distributed to the local managers upon the results of examination and inspection by government inspectors; (4) the creation of a central agency to carry out the provisions on the part of the government and of new local agencies or school boards which every school district must elect except upon satisfactory evidence that schools efficient and adequate to the needs of the district were otherwise provided; (5) the admission of private and public elementary schools to a share in the government grant upon the same conditions; (6) the requirements that board schools should be strictly non-sectarian and the children of private schools protected from enforced sectarian instruction by a conscience clause."[180]
The most important modifications of this law are the laws of 1899 and 1903. The law of 1899 has reference to the general administration of education in England and Wales, while that of 1903 entirely changes the local management of schools and extends the sphere of public education to secondary as well as elementary schools.
=Administration.= 1. _General._--Under the provisions of the law of 1899 the general administration of educational affairs is committed to a board of education consisting of a president, appointed by the crown, lord president of the council, the princ.i.p.al secretaries of state, the first commissioner of the treasury, and the chancellor of the exchequer--not less than five nor more than fifteen members. By means of a sufficient number of royal inspectors who are trained educators, whose duty it is to visit the schools and report thereon, the board of education is able to reach every school in the kingdom. There is also a consultation committee, two-thirds of whom are "persons representing universities and bodies interested in education," whose office is to advise the board of education.
2. _Counties and County Boroughs._--By the terms of the law of 1903 the council of every county and of every county borough are const.i.tuted a "local education authority," which controls secular instruction in all elementary schools within its district, and performs the duties of former school boards and school attendance committees. They may also establish high schools. In boroughs of over 10,000 and cities of over 20,000 inhabitants a special board or "local education authority" is allowed.
3. _Local Managers._--All public undenominational (board) schools have a body of six managers, four of whom are appointed by the "local education authority" and two by the minor local authority. All public denominational (voluntary) schools shall also have six managers, four of whom are foundation managers and two are appointed by state authority. A greater number of local managers may be chosen, but the above proportion of members must hold.
=School Attendance.=--The school age is from five to fourteen, and the local authorities are required to compel attendance for that period excepting in case where the pupil has obtained the educational certificate of exemption, which cannot be given before the child is twelve years of age. The average attendance in 1902 reached nearly 83 per cent of the enrollment. England has stringent laws in regard to the employment of children in factories, mines, etc., which are well enforced.
=The Schools.=--We have already mentioned the _board_ and the _voluntary_ schools which supply the princ.i.p.al means of elementary education. The voluntary schools are under the fostering care of the Church, and their enrollment includes more than half of the children.
Secondary education is carried on chiefly in private schools, though the law of 1903 permits the establishment of high schools to follow elementary education. The private secondary schools are of two general cla.s.ses, "grammar" and "public" schools. The former are intended for the middle cla.s.ses, their main purpose being to prepare for civil service, while the latter are the great endowed schools like Rugby, Eton, etc.
=Support of Schools.=--The expense of the elementary schools is met by parliamentary grants, by local taxes, and by endowments. Parliamentary grants cover about 62 per cent of the total, and the balance is made up from the other sources. Formerly both denominational and undenominational schools partic.i.p.ated alike in the government grants, but the former were compelled to make up the balance needed by private subscriptions, school pence, etc., while the latter were allowed to levy a local tax for this purpose. Under the law of 1903 both may share alike in the local tax, thereby removing the necessity for private subscriptions.
=The Teachers.=--The training of teachers is as peculiar as the other features of the English system. Lancaster and Bell introduced the monitorial system, by which one teacher could take charge of a large school, the older pupils teaching the younger ones. This idea has been perpetuated in the "pupil teacher" scheme. Children fifteen years old are apprenticed to a school to a.s.sist in the work, and in return receive instruction and a small stipend. At eighteen or nineteen they enter the teachers" college for a two years" course. They may instead at this time take an examination for the teachers" certificate, and if successful, they are known as "a.s.sistant teachers." That the "pupil teacher" idea has lost its force is shown by the following facts: From 1876 to 1893 the increase of graduate teachers was 114 per cent, the increase of "a.s.sistant teachers" 691 per cent, while there was a decrease of 15 per cent in the number of "pupil teachers." This would seem to indicate that England is demanding better prepared teachers. The 131 teachers"
colleges graduate about 1900 students each year, which is about two thirds of the number of teachers needed.
Teachers" positions are practically permanent, and the salaries are good, being in 1901 an average for certificate teachers of $644 a year for men and $432 for women.
Each teacher is ent.i.tled to a pension at the age of 65. This amounts to at least $330 for men who have been in the service from their twenty-first year, and $225 for women. If obliged to retire earlier on account of breakdown, the amount of pension will be proportionate to the length of service. Men teachers contribute three pounds annually and women two pounds to this fund, while the State appropriates the balance needed.
When one considers the traditions that have controlled English education for centuries, and recalls the conservatism that rules English life, one can only marvel at the tremendous strides taken by England during the last third of a century. Victor Hugo says: "The English patrician order is patrician in the absolute sense of the word. No feudal system was ever more ill.u.s.trious, more terrible, and more tenacious of life."
England has had to overcome her patrician ideas in regard to education, and her growth in the last thirty years has been more rapid and more effectual than for a thousand years before. Although she still has many problems to solve, her recent educational enterprise places her in the front rank among the nations of the world in school matters. The law of 1903 consisted of many compromises which satisfy neither party. It will doubtless be followed by still further changes in the near future.
FOOTNOTES: