tape-worm. The head teacher, proud as he well might be of the enthusiasm for education which prompted Hamburg to supply such a collection, enlarged on the prices of the articles. I was not, however, satisfied as to their utility, and when I put the question, "Can the children really learn anything about all these things?" I was fairly satisfied that the head teacher's opinion of their value educationally was not far removed from my own.

In the playground of this school was a space of some twenty yards by six yards marked off as a school garden. The school-keeper tended this, and it was of decided value to enable the children, who wished, to see certain plants growing; but these could not of course be grown in such quantity as to permit specimens of the same plant to be given out all round the class. Arrangements for this had to be made by the teachers themselves. It is noteworthy that the upper class in this school gave three hours a week to science. The school playground was strewn with dirty sand. The only hall here was the Turnhalle (drill hall). There was neither an assembly nor examination hall. Each school contains a library for teachers, including a large number of works on method. One book on general geographical method, written on Herbartian lines, contained a chapter which was headed, "Why England is known as (genannt) the first country in the world." I said to the Rector, "You follow Herbart?" "Yes, to some extent." "You do not follow Froebel?" "Nein; er ist ein kleinkinder Lehrer," was the answer, ("No; he is a teacher for the little ones").

CHAPTER V

THE TEACHERS, THEIR TRAINING,

AND SALARIES

Training and Salaries

1. Prussia.-Probably from 70 per cent. to 80 per cent. of the teachers in elementary schools were originally scholars in primary schools. At the age of fourteen boys may sit for an examination, success in which gives entry to a "preparation school" attached to a training college. At the age of seventeen there is an entrance examination to training colleges. The examination embraces the subjects of instruction in primary schools. Candidates from secondary schools are said to find themselves badly equipped in religion, music, and gymnastics. The standard maintained in this examination is not now very high, I am informed, since the training colleges are not full, and teachers are wanted in Prussia.

The training college course lasts three years, at the end of which there is a leaving examination. The certificate granted specifies the standard of attainment in each subject separately.

The teacher is not yet eligible for a fixed appointment; he must pass a second examination, not less

than two years and not more than five, after leaving training college. The examination embraces all the subjects of instruction in the primary school, with special reference to their pedagogical side. This is only one more instance of the great care and attention given to methods of teaching, especially when we remember that not less than six hours a week have been given to teaching during the last year of the training college course.

The teacher, who has probably, hitherto, been teaching in the country for about £50 per annum, is, if successful, eligible for permanent appointment in a large town. The Municipality which employs him cannot now dismiss him without the sanction of the Ministerium (Board of Education).

Compulsory examinations are thenceforward at an end, but there are two more which are optional. One, which embraces two branches of knowledge only, with the related pedagogy, is a four days' examination, success in which entitles the teacher to teach in a middle school (higher primary). A further two days' examination in the theory and practice of teaching, together with a thesis on a subject chosen by the school superintendent, permits the successful candidates to apply for positions as head teachers. The appointments to these positions seem to depend generally upon the favourable reports of inspectors and superintendents, and the interest attainable by the teacher among the members of the Schul-Deputation (Education Committee). There is danger here that great practical ability may lag behind in the lower posts. I saw several excellent teachers who, I was informed,

would never become rectors, for, it was said, "they cannot pass the examinations."

The rectors or head teachers of the primary schools in Berlin receive 2400 marks a year and "free dwelling," together with an increment which, after thirty-one years' service, amounts to 2400 marks annually. This approximates as a total to £300 a year.

The men teachers are on the following scale :

A teacher commencing service obtains approximately £70 per annum, and, at about fifty years of age, a competent teacher will receive approximately £212 per annum.

The most marked difference between this scale and that, say, of London, is the relatively high pay of the experienced assistant teacher, and the relatively low salary of the head teacher. The low initial salary of the male assistant is in contrast to the recent movement in England, where, almost invariably, initial

salaries have been going up. When the very large size of the schools in Berlin, the great responsibility of the head teacher, and the actual teaching which he has to do, are duly considered, it would certainly seem that, from an English point of view, the head teacher is insufficiently paid.

2. Saxony. In Saxony there are twenty-two training colleges for men and three for women.

Each college has attached to it a preparation school and a practising school. The intending teacher enters the preparation school at the age of fourteen by means of examination, and, after three years' successful work, passes into the training college proper. Here a much larger proportion of time than with us is spent in the giving of lessons and the taking of classes. The studies are especially directed with a view to the subjects which must be taught in all primary schools.

A leaving examination at the end of the third year permits the trained teacher to become an assistant on probation. Not more than three years later he must pass another examination, which is largely pedagogical. On the results of this he receives a certificate, which may be of either of the following classes and divisions :

1, 16, 2a, 2, 26, 3a, 3, 36, 4, 5.

Out of about 500 students examined annually, about fifty or sixty are awarded Class 1 or Class 16, with permission to attend the university.

The first class gives permission to attend the