The Act applies to Midleton and Lismore since 1899, and I give similar returns for the largest National schools in each of these places:

The Intro

"The population in the rural parts continues to decrease, and, while two years ago there were fifty-three assistants, there are now only thirty-eight, so many as fifteen schools losing in such a short time the services of assistants, owing to insufficient average attendance."

THE REVISED PROGRAMME.

The work done during the year consisted mainly of reorganisation, duction of the adjustment of syllabus for each school, drafting of new Time Tables, Revised 110- and trials of new methods; and consequently a report on the

gramme.

present efficiency of the schools is resolved into a statement of the progress made towards the adoption of the new scheme.

The Revised Programme not merely prescribes certain new subjects and excludes some old ones; but also involves some radical changes in the methods of instruction. It allows to managers and teachers a certain amount of freedom of action not permitted by the old pro

National

Mr. E.

gramme, and this calls for the exercise of some local initiative for Reports on which there was previously no demand. The manager and teacher the State of have now to determine the number of divisions which it is desirable Education. to make of the school for convenience of instruction. They have to select the subjects to be immediately introduced, in addition to English and Arithmetic, which are the only ones absolutely obliga- Downing. tory. In the case of some subjects they have to select or frame a The introducsuitable syllabus for each. Some of the new subjects the teachers tion of the had to learn, and provision had to be made for their instruction. I Programme.

shall endeavour to describe what has been done.

Under the head of English, increased attention is given to Reading, and particularly with regard to distinctness of articulation. In the junior classes the pupils are required to give their answers to questions on the matter of these Reading lessons in complete sentences, and this, with the oral composition pretty generally introduced in Third Standard, prepares the way for Written Composition now commenced in Fourth Class. Word Building has been introduced to some extent, and Analysis of Sentences pretty generally.

Under the head of Arithmetic, the children in the early standards are required to deal rationally with concrete numbers, and derive a practical knowledge of the measures of length from the use of a graduated rule or tape. Some schools are supplied with a pair of scales and the ordinary weights, and in these cases the pupils are made familiar with the use of these weights. The teachers have commenced pretty generally to introduce the pupils to a knowledge of decimals by means of a rule divided into tenths of an inch; and several have provided themselves with a metre scale, and made use of it to explain decimals to a second and third place. In some instances nicdels of the measures of capacity have been procured. Mental Arithmetic is receiving increased attention, and is taught on more rational lines than formerly. In many schools the various processes of Arithmetic are now introduced and explained rationally by means of easy mental examples. The course of Arithmetic is, however, considerably curtailed, to which considerable objection on the part of parents has been expressed.

In Kindergarten methods and Manual Instruction but little progress can be recorded. A good many teachers have been trained in the subject, and many more are undergoing training in it, but for want of the necessary apparatus and materials very little has as yet been done in the schools.

Drawing has been commenced in many schools in which it was not formerly taught. The progress made is as yet, of course, insignificant. A proper method of collective instruction is not, as a rule, as yet adopted.

Object Lessons in the junior classes receive more attention than formerly, and are conducted somewhat more efficiently. In regard to them, however, there is but little progress to be noted; whilst, as regards Elementary Science, practically nothing has as yet been done in the schools.

Some teachers have been trained in this subject, but, except in a few cases, the necessary apparatus is not, so far, provided. A course of instruction suitable for the rural schools has yet to be devised, and also a course suitable for girls.

Singing has been introduced into many schools in which it was not previously taught. A large number of teachers have received instruction in the Tonic Sol-fa method, and much enthusiasm is evinced in regard to the very satisfactory promotion of this subject.

Revised

Reports on
the State of
National
Education.

Mr. E. Downing. The introduc

tion of the Revised Programme.

Physical Drill has been very generally taken up, and with fair success. No provision was made for instruction of the teachers in this branch, but they organised classes themselves and engaged competent instructors. A special programme for girls seems necessary.

Somewhat increased attention is given to the cultivation of good manners and good habits on the part of the pupils, but there is not much progress to record under this head. There is as yet little sign of method in this kind of training.

A considerable number of female teachers have received practical instruction in Cookery and Laundry, but here again the want of funds for the purchase of the necessary utensils and materials has prevented the introduction of these subjects into the schools except in a few

cases.

Some progress has been made towards the introduction into the schools of collective and systematic instruction in Needlework, instead of the desultory hints formerly given to individual pupils.

There is to be noted a marked increase of instruction in the Irish Language which is now taught, not as formerly, merely to the senior classes, but in all grades. Songs in the Gaelic tongue are now frequently heard in National schools.

The teachers, on the whole, have evinced an earnest desire to carry into effect the programme set before them, and, although at first, for a time, bewildered with the novelty of it, they seem to have proved equal to the trying occasion.

It should be borne in mind that formerly very little freedom of action was allowed to the teachers, and therefore a large display of originality is not to be expected at once. At the same time it seems to me that they have not got sufficient credit in the past for the abilities and power of initiative of which they are giving proof.

The following extracts from the General Reports will explain the views of the Senior Inspectors on the above topics: :

Mr. STRONGE:

The teachers have not hesitated as to their duty. They have exerted themselves loyally in introducing the New Programme. They have drawn up new Time Tables, have reorganised their schools, and have entered upon the teaching of the new subjects, even though many of them show that their knowledge of these subjects is such as to be an absolute bar to the giving of useful instruction in them. Indeed, the anxiety of some of them with regard to the new programme is almost feverish. It is this anxiety that is the best guarantee of the success of the New Programme, and the teacher deserve every credit for their courage and promptness in entering at once upon the new path.

"The Convent schools have so far been more successful than other schools in bringing the New Programme into full operation. Their teaching power is not so circumscribed as in ordinary schools; they have larger staffs as a rule, and while one member of the community is an expert in singing, another is an expert in drawing, and a third is a competent instructor in kindergarten-the foundation of hand and eye training.

"Their school buildings, too, consist of many rooms, an advantage which enables them to teach the various subjects without derangement of the school routine, and spares them the labour-only partially effective of teaching different subjects or classes in the same room. Their schools, too. are better equipped in regard to furniture and school appliances."

Dr. ALEXANDER :

Reports on the State of

Thirty-four teachers from this circuit attended the course of Hand National and Eye Training given by Mr. Bevis, Head Organiser, in Dublin. Education. I find from inquiry that, owing to the lack of materials, very few of these teachers have been able to introduce this branch into their schools with any degree of completeness.

66

The want of funds will, I fear, prevent the introduction of Cookery and Laundry work into the great majority of schools, unless the Commissioners can see their way to make an equipment grant" to each

school. Fifteen teachers attended the first course of lessons in these

branches given in this city. They returned to their schools in November. Since that date instruction in Cookery has been actually commenced in only one school, and that only on a very limited scale, owing to the want of a sufficient supply of materials. In two others preparations for making a beginning are in a forward state, and in five others it is hoped that some assistance may be obtained from local sources. In the remaining seven schools, Cookery and Laundry instruction are not at all likely to be introduced unless grants be made by the Board towards the cost of stoves and utensils.

"It is my pleasing duty to report that, so far as my experience has gone, the teachers show an entire readiness to meet the responsibilities laid upon them by the New Programme, and that many of them have not spared either money or effort to prepare themselves for the efficient discharge of their new duties.

"The intelligent carrying out of the New Programme involves such a complete departure from the time-honoured methods followed under the Results system, that many teachers may find it difficult, if left unaided, to adapt themselves to its requirements."

Mr. DEWAR:—

The teachers are earnest, energetic, and painstaking, and attend to their schools with commendable fidelity. They work before school hours and after school hours, and if their work does not prove effective, as sometimes happens, the fault cannot be attributed to inattention or neglect. Even those who fail work hard.

"Failure is primarily due to want of method in the management of a school-want of skill in teaching a school as opposed to teaching a class. The ability to teach two or even three classes well is often joined to an inability to arrange work for four or more classes, and it is not unusual to see in a school several classes receiving suitable and effective instruction, while other classes are idle, or virtually so, and for these classes which lie outside or beyond the powers of the teacher, their idleness is convertible into loss of progress and proficiency. I am well aware the effective administration of a school is not an easy task, but it is one which has to be faced every day by every teacher who regards the inculcation of habits of industry and application as an important part of his office, and as an essential to

success.

"But failure in proficiency is also due to want of method or skill in teaching a class. This want resolves itself into individual tuition as contrasted with class instruction, whereby the time of the teacher is wasted in continual iteration of the same matter, and the interest

Mr. E.
Downing.
The introduc-
tion of the

Revised
Programme.

Reports on

the State of National Education.

of the pupils is not sustained; or in defective preparation of the best means of "imparting lucidity to the subject, and of easing the necessary intellectual labour of comprehension." The introduction of the syllabus of the work to be done by each class for each week, has proved helpful in securing a proper sub-division of the work for a year, and in fixing attention upon the definite portion specified for The introduc- the week. It limited the extent of the matter for each lesson, and tion of the enabled the teacher to test if his instruction was understood. Revised Programme.

Mr. E Downing.

The interval which has elapsed since the promulgation of the New Programme is rather short to enable one to determine, with any degree of accuracy, the merit of the work already done, but it is pleas ing to record the alacrity which the teachers have shown in making preparations for the inauguration of the scheme.

Explanation of words and phrases is, on the whole, fair.

There is a growing tendency to give this branch an undue share of the time devoted to the Reading lesson. At one time Explanation was ignored, and now the swing of the pendulum has gone too far in the opposite direction. In some schools Explanation has been quietly thrusting Reading aside. The pupils read one line, sometimes less, when they are stopped by the teacher to be questioned on some word or words. Explanation is, no doubt, important, and ought to get adequate attention, but when it monopolises most of the half hour devoted to a Reading lesson, and crushes the teaching of Reading proper into a few minutes, it is assuming an importance to which it has no claim.

"Grammar is fair in the junior classes and rather poor in the senior. Lessons on this branch are given with regularity, but they scarcely ever deal with a special, definite portion of the course. At each lesson every word and passage, taken apparently at random from the reading-book, is parsed, and an indiscriminate sort of conversation takes place on every part of speech. The work done at one lesson is too wide and varied, and the lesson fails through want of concentration and impressiveness. The written tests are often poor, and yet the knowledge of the pupils is much better than the written test would indicate. I have found pupils, when questioned orally on their written work, not only able to correct blunders, but give reasons in support of their corrections. There is little doubt that the desultory kind of tuition adopted in this subject has led to a desultory kind of thinking and answering.

The exercises which form part of the programme for Infants receive considerable attention, and have been the means of casting a ray of brightness into a day which was formerly devoted to reading and repeating long lines of meaningless tables.

"The Object lessons have not always proved successful. The plan of the lesson had not been carefully arranged, and the questions did not spring naturally from one to another, while the language of the teacher was often beyond the comprehension of his pupils.

"Some branches have not yet been attempted, such as Hand-andEye Training and Elementary Science, but other branches have been taught, and of these Drill is the most common. The pupils evince a keen interest in the movements, and execute them with fair precision and dexterity. Tonic Sol-fa music has also been attempted.

"A beginning has also been made in Drawing, but there is a tendency to avoid class instruction, and to resort to the old method of individual tuition."