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Revised Programme.

of Results

52. We publish in this Report no statistics concerning Results Abolition Examinations, as these Examinations were abolished from the Programme 1st April, 1900, and although a considerable number of the teachers continued to give instruction in the old programme during the past financial year we made no specific assessment of the value of the answering of the pupils in the various subjects. Nor are we in a position to give precise information regarding Revised the introduction of the Revised Programme into our schools. Programme In future years we shall be able to give ample information on the subject, as we have devised special forms of reports for our Inspectors, which will give us full details as to the various subjects taught, the number of children under instruction, the proficiency of the various standards or classes, the efficiency of the Teaching Staffs, and, generally, a clear idea as to the operation of our Schools, and our revised methods of instruction as educational factors.

We have also prepared a form of report which we invite School Managers to use. We expect that, if the Managers co-operate with us by furnishing the information asked for in the new form of report, the efficiency of the schools will be materially benefited thereby.

The Revised Programme is in many respects radically different from the Results Programme, and in connection with its introduction we have allowed Managers and teachers a freedom of organization which was not possible under the old Results Programme. In this Programme we have given special prominence to the essentials of education required in the case of children attending Primary Schools. A knowledge of Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic on rational principles is the foundation of the Programme, while Manual Instruction, Drawing, School Discipline and Physical Drill, and Vocal Music come next in importance. The following table, compiled from Returns obtained from Managers, shows the extent to which the Revised Programme had been adopted in our schools on the 31st December last.

[TABLE.

TABLE showing by Provinces and Counties the extent of the progress
Schools in Ireland on

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towards the adoption of the Revised Programme of Instruction in National 31st December, 1900.

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It is gratifying to observe from the above table that in nearly 90 per cent. of our schools some attempt has been made by the teachers to co-operate with us in introducing this great educational reform.

When we published our Revised Programme it was received by the public Press of all shades of opinion, almost without exception, with approval, and it is gratifying to learn from the Reports of our Inspectors that the Programme is being worked with earnestness by the vast majority of our teachers so far as it is possible to do so in the absence of proper training in the special subjects on the part of the great body of the teachers and without appliances for the efficient instruction in the case of others.

To provide a remedy for the defective training of teachers in Hand-and-Eye work, Drawing, Elementary Science and Object Lessons, Cookery and Laundry work, and Vocal Music, we have appointed, with the sanction of the Treasury, a special staff of Organizers and Sub-organizers to form classes of teachers in various parts of the country, and with the co-operation of the local Managers of schools, to spread a knowledge of these branches. There are, at present, over fifty classes of teachers in training under Mr. Bevis, the Head Organizer of Manual Instruction and Drawing, and his Assistants, and these classes are attended by about 2,700 teachers. In addition to this number Mr. Bevis held a special class for the training of teachers at the Central Model Schools last July, at which 366 teachers attended.

Owing to the necessity of providing properly fitted up laboratories, the training in Elementary Science has been comparatively slow. Fifty teachers went through a course of instruction under Mr. Heller, the Head Organizer in this subject, at the Central Model Schools in Dublin, and arrangements are in progress for the holding of similar courses by Mr. Heller and his Assistants in Belfast, Cork, Derry, Waterford, and other important centres.

In Cookery and Laundry work there are operation, attended by over 250 teachers. under the care of Miss Fitzgerald, Head Assistants.

sixteen classes in These classes are Organizer, and her

Our Inspector of Music, Mr. Goodman, and his Assistants, have ten classes learning Vocal Music in operation, attended by over 500 teachers.

We have also appointed four Assistants to the Directress of Needlework, Miss Prendergast, and these ladies, acting under her instruction, have been actively employed during the year visiting schools in which female teachers are employed, for the purpose of

giving demonstration lessons in Needlework. They also hold conferences of female teachers on Saturdays with a view to training them in the best methods of teaching sewing.

With the sanction of the Irish Government and the Treasury, we have resolved to assist local Managers by making grants for the provision of suitable equipment for Hand-and-Eye instruction, and for apparatus and equipment in the case of Elementary Science instruction. We regret that the amount of the funds placed at our disposal for these purposes is very limited, but we trust that the grants we shall be enabled to make will prove of material assistance in the development of instruction in these subjects.

Industrial

53. In 31 National Schools, pupils of Industrial Schools (certified Pupils of under the Industrial Schools Act) were found in attendance. Schools The number of these pupils on the rolls on the last day of the (under year was 365 boys and 1,500 girls-total, 1,865; and the the Act). average daily attendance was for pupils of all ages, 1,731, and for those of 3 to 15 years of age, 1,624. The Industrial pupils attending school are instructed in the same manner as the ordinary day pupils; but payment for their instruction is not made by us, but by the Industrial Schools Department,

Books and Requisites.

54. The list now includes 39 sets of Readers, comprising 294 Books and books. The several classes in our schools are thus provided with a requisites. variety of general reading books, as well as with reading books in Irish and English History, Geography, Domestic Economy, and Animal Life. Upwards of 180 varieties of copy-books with headlines, &c., and over 220 diagrams and books for Object Lessons are also among the articles available for selection by Managers and Teachers. Arrangements are also made by which Managers and Teachers can obtain a large and varied assortment of Kindergarten goods and appliances for hand and eye training.

55. The number of requisitions for the purchase of books, &c., was 24,629, amounting in value to £33,341 5s. 5d., on which we allowed the cost of the remittances to the extent of £182 2s. 6d.

During 1900-1901 there were 167 grants of Free Stock, amounting in value to £643 12s. 4d., made in the case of new schools, and of schools in which extensive structural improvements had been carried out by private contributions. In addition, there were 95 Free Grants to Model Schools, &c., which amounted in value to £107 13s. 7d., and all school account books were given gratuitously. The amount paid during the year for goods purchased for the stores was £28,908 88.

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