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scholar shall not exceed such a number as will, when added to the number of his two-hour attendances during the school year or portion of the year which has elapsed since he became a half-time scholar, exceed three-fourths of the number of the school openings in the corresponding period.

The term "half-time scholar" means a scholar certified by the local authority to be employed in conformity with the by-laws, or, if not subject to the by-laws, in conformity with the elementary education act, 1876, or any other act regulating the education of children employed in labor, and in either case recognized by the board as a half-time scholar.

The term "local authority" means the local education authority acting under the education (London) act, 1903, or under Part III of the education act, 1902, where that act is in operation, and elsewhere the school board or school attendance committee, as the case may be.

44. In making up the minimum time constituting an attendance there may be reckoned

(1) Any time occupied by instruction, according to the approved time-table, given to the scholars elsewhere than at the school, in one of the subjects named in article 4, in drawing, in science, in physical exercises, or in any other subject specially recognized by the board for the purpose of this article.

(2) Any time occupied by visits paid during the school hours, with the sanetion of the inspector, and under arrangements approved by him, to places of educational value or interest, provided that the whole time spent at such place or places be not less than one hour and a half; but not more than twenty attendances made up of such visits shall be reckoned for any one scholar in the same school year.

(3) Any time occupied by a central examination (other than for labor certificates) attended by scholars with the sanction of the inspector, provided that the time allowed for examination be not less than one hour and a half.

(4) Any time occupied in attending at a training college or center for pupil teachers for the purpose of model or criticism lessons.

The minimum time constituting an attendance must include an interval of ten minutes for recreation, and, if the meeting be of three, or, in the case of infants, of two and a half hours' duration, the interval may be fifteen minutes. 45. The school or department must have met not less than 400 times in the school year.

(a) If in consequence of a change of school year the grant is payable for a period other than twelve months, or a school has only been on the annual grant list for a period forming part of a school year, the number of meetings required under this article is to be altered in proportion to the length of the period.

(b) If there has been a closure under medical authority, or for any other unavoidable cause, the number of meetings required is proportionately decreased. (c) In making up the required number of meetings there may be included, if necessary, the number of meetings which would ordinarily have been made during times when the school premises were temporarily used, under section 6 of the ballot act, 1872, for an election, or under any other statutory power.

In the case of Greenwich Hospital School and marine schools this article will not be applied.

46. The "average attendance" of any section of a school or department for which a separate return is necessary, for a school year or any other period for which a grant is payable, is the quotient of the total number of attendances made during that period, divided by the number of meetings during such period, a fraction of a unit being ignored or reckoned as an additional unit according as it is or is not less than one-half.

TRINCIPAL DATES IN THE HISTORY CF THE SYSTEM OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION, ENGLAND. 1833. First grant (£20,000) made by Parliament for elementary education in England and Wales to be administered by the national and British foreign school societies (annually renewed).

1838. Committee of House of Commons appointed to investigate the education of the poorer classes.

1839. Committee of council on education established; annual grant increased to £30,000. 1846. Minutes issued by council on education recognizing definitely denominational schools and denominational training colleges for teachers; pupil-teacher system recognized.

1847. Commission of inquiry into education in Wales.

1858-1861. Duke of Newcastle's commission on state of popular education.

1861. Code (Lowe's) issued establishing system of payment by results (1. e., of examination of individual pupils).

1870. Elementary education act (Forster's) passed.

1876. Amending act passed establishing the compulsory principle and creating school attendance committees for its enforcement in districts having no school board. 1880. Law obliging local educational authorities to make by-laws for the enforcement of compulsory school attendance.

1891. Law providing for an extra grant for schools remitting tuition fees. 1893. (1) Law making 11 years the minimum age for exemption from school attendance, and requiring an examination in a grade not lower than the fourth for every child seeking exemption from school attendance; (2) law authorizing school boards to make special provision for the elementary instruction of blind children and of deaf and dumb children.

1897. Law providing a special grant for the benefit of "voluntary" (chiefly denominational) schools at the rate of 5s. per capita of average attendance; also authoriz ing the federation of voluntary schools and the allotment of the grant at the discretion of the governing bodies of the federations.

1899. (1) Law (defective and epileptic children's act) empowering local educational authorities, at their discretion, to establish special schools or classes for mentally or physically defective children and special boarding institutions for juvenile epileptics;" (2) law raising the minimum age for exemption from school attendance from 11 to 12 years; (3) creating a board of education to replace "the education department and the science and art department, providing also for the transfer to the new board of certain powers exercised by the charity commissioners with respect to educational trusts and endowments, and for the transfer to the board of the educational functions of the board of agriculture." Further, the law authorizes "a consultative committee, to be constituted by an order in council, consisting of persons qualified to represent the views of universities and other bodies interested in education for the purpose of framing, with the approval of the board of education, a register of teachers and of advising the board of education on any matter referred to them by the board." The law also authorizes the board "to inspect any school supplying secondary education and desiring to be so inspected."

1900. Law authorizing local authorities to extend the upper limit of compulsory attendance from the thirteenth to the fourteenth year of age.

1902. Law reorganizing the national system of education, abolishing elected school boards, and transferring their duties to county and municipal councils. (London excepted.)

1903. Law reorganizing system of education in London on the lines of law of 1902. Auxiliary legislation.-1889-1891: Technical instruction laws authorizing county councils to levy a tax not exceeding a penny in the pound for the support of technical schools. 1890: Local taxation, customs, and excise law, placing the surplus of the liquor duties at the disposal of county councils, with the privilege of applying the same to technical instruction.

Principal measures relative to curriculum of elementary schools as determined by the specified codes (the code is a body of regulations annually issued, and as it receives the sanction of Parliament it has the same force as the laws).

1882. The policy of payment upon results modified by introduction of a merit grant at the rate of 1s. to 3s. per capita on the basis of average attendance. 1893. Evening schools recognized as continuation schools and a wide choice of subjects permitted.

1895. For the system of annual formal examinations the substitution of two annual visits

by the inspector, to be made without notice; average attendance recognized as the basis for the distribution of nearly the whole Government grant for elementary schools.

1903. Code greatly simplified and the curriculum unified and strengthened.

SYSTEM OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN SCOTLAND.

Brief conspectus of the system.-The system of education in Scotland was organized by a law of 1872 on a basis similar to that of the English system as regards support from the public treasury and the Government inspection of

schools.

Scotland had, however, a system of public schools dating from a law of 1696, which required that a school be established in every parish. The country was thus prepared for a system of universal schoo! boards as provided for by the law of 1872. The law differed also from the English law of 1870 in that, following the traditions of the old parish system, it made provision for both elementary and secondary schools. The latter did not share in the treasury grant, but by subsequent laws were allowed support from local taxes. Whereas compulsion has been gradually introduced into the English system, the Scotch law made education compulsory for all children between the ages of 5 and 13 (raised to 14 in 1883), or until a certificate of exemption should be secured. The standard or grade for exemption was made the fifth (law of 1878); the age for exemption is 12 (law of July, 1899).

A law of 1901 strengthened the compulsory measures without, however, changing the age limits.

Religious instruction in the schools of Scotland was left to local authorities, with the simple restriction of a conscience clause making the attendance of children at the religious exercises optional with the parents. A grant in lieu of fees (law of 1889) has had the effect of making the schools practically free schools.

By the regulations for 1899-1900 a standard of attainment-that of the merit certificate—was fixed, which was regarded as the satisfactory outcome of an elementary school course. The merit certificate-called also the leaving certificateof the elementary school entitled the holder to exemption from further attendance upon school. Under these circumstances it was found desirable to increase the requirements for the certificate, and in 1903 a supplementary course was arranged, which candidates for the merit certificate were obliged to pursue at least one year. At the same time the requirements for transfer to a secondary school were arranged on a somewhat different basis. The supplementary course must provide for the instruction of the pupils according to a well-graduated scheme in the following subjects: English (including history and geography), mathematics (including arithmetic), at least one language other than English, and science and drawing, according to a scheme approved for the leaving-certificate examination in these subjects.

In 1885 the Scotch education department arranged for the inspection of endowed and other secondary schools applying for the service. In 1888 the department established a leaving certificate for students who, on the completion of a course of secondary study, pass the certificate examination.

The number of secondary schools inviting inspection in 1903 was 94, of which 32 were higher class public schools, 24 endowed schools, and 38 private schools. The number of candidates for the leaving certificate in 1888 was 972; in 1903 it was 19,509.

A large number of university and professional authorities accept the certificate in lieu of such preliminary examinations as are held under their direction. Through the service of inspection and examination the secondary schools of Scotland have been brought into close relation with the education department. Under the local taxation (customs and excise) act of 1890, and other acts providing for the application of public funds to secondary and technical education, the local authorities expended for these purposes in 1901-2 the sum of £58,407 ($292,035).

March 27, 1904, a bill to amend the education laws of Scotland was introduced into the House of Commons. Like the English law of 1902, it pertained chiefly to the local control of schools; in particular the bill proposed to make the county or county district the unit of local administration in place of the parish. The bill was, however, withdrawn at the close of the session.

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a Termed King's scholars in training colleges since the accession of Edward VII.
b Termed King's students since the accession of Edward VII.

e For day schools only.

1,360

1,385

110

132

193

$4,122,879

$7,436,752

89,063, 215

$9,609, 970

EDUCATION IN IRELAND.

System of national education (elementary).-The system of national education in Ireland dates from 1831, when a board of commissioners for education was created by the Government. In 1845 the board was incorporated by royal charter, and in 1861 a supplemental charter was granted, under which 10 members must be Roman Catholics and 10 Protestants. The board is composed always of representative men, who adhere to the policy of strict impartiality in religious matters. One member of the board of commissioners, the resident commissioner, is a salaried officer. He is the official head of the education department, with offices at Dublin. Upon him rests the responsibility for carrying out the details of the system of national education and also the administration of the Government appropriations for the same. The schools under the supervision and fostering care of the board are supported by State and local funds. They may be denominational schools (i. e., Roman Catholic or Protestant) or mixed in respect to religion, but the rights of parents in the matter are strictly guarded by a conscience clause in the school regulations, which provides that no child be allowed to attend a religious exercise of a denomination other than his own, except upon the written request of the parent.

Grants to aid in building schoolhouses are allowed by the commissioners, but must be proportioned to the amount raised locally. The State pays also the larger proportion of the salaries of teachers, requiring a minimum annual

augmentation from local funds of £12 ($60). Altogether the State bears about 94 per cent of the annual expenditure for the schools.

To avoid religious complications the State provides the text-books for secular branches, which are issued at a small cost to the pupils.

For purposes of Government supervision the country is divided into 60 districts, which are grouped in 6 divisions, each in charge of a head inspector. Under these are 29 district inspectors, 7 unassigned inspectors, and 10 inspectors' assistants. Inspectors and their assistants are appointed upon examination testing their scholastic and professional qualifications.

Local civil authorities have no control over the schools. The local managers of schools, who are generally clergymen, come into direct relations with the board of commissioners. They appoint and dismiss teachers and arrange the details of the school work. Of a total of 2,936 managers in 1902, 2,363 were clerical.

The commissioners have direct control of a special class of schools called "model schools," for which they provide the buildings. "These schools, as their name indicates, are intended to afford models of the best methods of instruction and organization, and to serve as practice schools for students in training colleges or normal schools." They numbered 30 in 1902, with an enrollment of 8,969 day pupils, included in the enrollment given in the table below.

A compulsory school law was passed in 1892, but it has been imperfectly enforced, and Ireland still stands below the other divisions of the United Kingdom in respect to school attendance, as is shown by the most recent statistics. These give the following rates of attendance to enrollment:

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Convent and monastery schools afford a large part of the provision for elementary education, and receive, under certain conditions, aid from the Government. The number of such schools fulfilling the conditions for aid reported in 1902 was 373, with an enrollment of 110,769.

The schools of the Christian Brothers form a large part of the provision for elementary education, especially in the cities, where their schools are both numerous and flourishing. Their system of education has taken deep hold upon the people, and they number among their former pupils the most influential men in every city and large town of Ireland.

For the training of teachers for the national schools there are one national and six denominational normal schools, which receive grants in aid from the Government. They report 1,090 students in training in 1903. Of the 13,144 teachers employed in the national schools in 1903, 57.2 per cent had received professional training.

Provision for agricultural instruction is an important feature of the national system. Instruction in the theory of agriculture is compulsory in all rural schools for boys in the fourth, fifth, and sixth classes, and optional for girls. Complaint is made that the instruction in this branch has been altogether too bookish; recent efforts are directed to putting it on a practical basis.

The commissioners maintain also two model agricultural schools, and in 1897 they reported 38 school farms in connection with elementary schools and 116 schools having school gardens attached.

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