more efficient teaching the extension and modification of Normal.School training is in accord with what is being done in other countries and will meet satisfactorily the conditions in Ontario. The addition of four new Normal Schools to the three already in existence will, it is believed, provide for the present the necessary number of teachers. The additional Normal Schools will be so situated as to serve conveniently the various parts of the Province, and also to provide the required practice-teaching in public schools. of a successful character. Agreements have been made with the trustee boards of Hamilton, Stratford, Peterborough and North Bay for the use of public school classes under their respective jurisdictions. The erection of buildings for Normal Schools in these places will be at once proceeded with. The municipal authorities of Stratford, Peterborough and North Bay have generously presented to the Province the sites for these schools. Another departure in professional training which also places Ontario abreast of what is being done abroad, is the creation of a faculty of education in the state university of the Province to carry on the work hitherto conducted in the Normal College, but on lines more thorough and complete than any institution without the resources of a well-equipped university could be expected to develop. The appointment of a Professor of Education has been made by the Governors of the University, and pending the creation by the University of model, high and public schools under university control, the use of city schools for practice and observation purposes will be sought and I trust secured. THE ADVISORY COUNCIL. The recent choice of members to form the first elective Advisory Council of Education marks another step in the reorganization of the system. By this a body representative of the various classes of educationists has been called into existence. The creation of the Advisory Council has long been discussed as a practical method for bringing the Minister of Education in close touch with the teaching profession and enabling nim, whenever he desires, to seek in a regular and systematic manner the counsel and opinions. of the various ranks of educationists. The Council is elected triennially and upon it are represented the Universities, the High Schools, the public schools and the separate schools and the inspectors, while two of its members are school trustees. In creating this body, the Legislature has carefully guarded the responsibility of the Minister, who is not to divide or evade his duties to the Legislature or the public, but is to continue responsible, as before, for the legislation and administration pertaining to education. The Council will be consulted from time to time on matters concerning which I feel that the advice of professional educationists will be helpful to the public advantage. My representative upon the Council, and the medium f official communications, is the Superintendent of Education. Concerning this office and its present occupant a word should be said. The appointment of a Superintendent, authorized by the Act of last session, is in harmony with the principle which underlies the present reconstruction of the educational system and is intended to afford the Department the constant assistance of professional experience and knowledge dissociated from the full administrative control which remains in the hands of the responsible Minister. The functions of the office of Superintendent being advisory and not executive, are exercised primarily with a view to the educational bearing of all questions submitted to him. The abstract merits of all educational problems thus receive due consideration, and I am glad to have, in this im portant work, the aid of Dr. John Seath, whose long connection with our school system and whose labors in behalf of education amply qualify him for the position of Superintendent. His report upon the educational questions now engaging the attention of the Department will be presented in due course. CHANGES IN THE STAFF. There have been, during the year, a number of other changes in the personnel of the staff of the Department. The appointment of a Superintendent and the resignation of Mr. J. E. Hodgson, M.A., left vacant both the High School Inspectorships. The decision to promote continuation work called for the selection of an inspector to give the whole of his time and thought to that branch. The resignation, through ill-health, of the registrar occasioned a vacancy in that office. The Minister, therefore, finds himself surrounded by several new officials, who have been selected on the ground for their fitness and qualifications, and whose services he is glad to have at this juncture in educational affairs. For the High School inspectorships Mr. James E. Wetherell, B.A., Principal of the Strathroy Collegiate Institute, who has made his mark both in school management and in literary work, and Mr. H. B. Spotton, M.A., Principal of the Harbord Street Toronto Collegiate Institute, whose experience as principal and as a teacher in science are well known, were chosen. The appointment of Mr. R. H. Cowley, B.A., Inspector of Public Schools in the County of Carleton, as Inspector of Continuation Classes, was due to his special familiarity with this branch of work and to his record as a teacher and inspector. The Department loses an excellent official in the retirement of Mr. W. H. Jenkins, B.A., who has felt himself compelled, on account of ill-health, I regret to say, to relinquish the onerous duties of a sedentary occupation. His restoration to health will be hailed with satisfaction by his fellow-teachers throughout the Province. His successor, Mr. J. A. Houston, M.A., possesses both in respect to scholastic training and knowledge, the qualifications required in discharging the duties connected with the examination branch of the Department. THE UNIVERSITY ACT. The year will also be memorable for the passage of the University Act, based on the report of a Royal Commission appointed the previous year. Of this Commission Mr. Joseph W. Flavelle was chairman, among the other members being Mr. Goldwin Smith, Sir William Meredith, Mr. Byron E. Walker, Rev. Canon Cody and Rev. D. Bruce Macdonald. The report of the Commission, which sat for several months and personally investigated the workings of the University constitutions of the United States, was accompanied by a draft bill. This, with certain modifications, was accepted as the basis of the legislation and was adopted unanimously by the Legislature. It vested the supreme control of the State University in a board of twenty governors nominated by the Crown, assigned to the institution an annual income equal to half the revenue received by the Province from succession dues, increased the powers of the President of the University, who becomes ex-officio a member of the governing board, and made such changes in the executive machinery as will, it is believed, greatly conduce to the welfare and efficiency of this great state institution. The measure also transferred the control of the School of Practical Science from the Department of Edu cation to the Board of Governors of the University, thus severing a connection which had lasted for more than thirty years. In heartily approving of this important change I did so with the conviction that the incorporation of the School in the University, of which it is University, of which it is now the Faculty of Applied Science, would greatly conduce to the welfare of both institutions. As a sharer in the enhanced income conferred upon the University by the Legislature, the School will be better able to perform those services for technical education now so earnestly desired by the people of Ontario. In the recommendations of the Commission on this head I concur, since the development of technical instruction in the schools of the Province calls for an effort not hitherto put forth if we are to keep pace, as an industrial community, with the training supplied to the youths of other countries. THE COST OF TEXT BOOKS. The appointment of a Commission consisting of Mr. T. W. Crothers, of St. Thomas, and Mr. John A. Cooper, of Toronto, to enquire into the prices of school text-books, touches a subject of much concern to the parents and taxpayers of the Province. The Commission has held open sittings, and with some of the evidence collected the public are already familiar through the reports in the press. The whole of the testimony was carefully recorded by stenographic reporters and constitutes a valuable body of information respecting the best methods of publishing text-books. The report of the Commission is being completed and will be presented to Your Honor at an early date. Action consistent with the information thus gained will be taken with a view to relieving the parent of unnecessarily high prices for text-books and with the aim of providing better books. TRAINING OF THE BLIND AND DEAF. The two institutions under the control of this Department, namely the Ontario Institute for the Deaf and Dumb, at Belleville, and the Institution for the Education of the Blind, at Brantford, have had a prosperous year. The reports of the Principals of the two institutions are appended to this volume of my report. At the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb the health of the pupils has been good and the attendance of a larger number of new pupils is recorded. In the Principal's report are incorporated, from the writings of Dr. Love, the well-known aurist, who visited Belleville last year, and from other sources, some historical data respecting the progress in the training of deaf-mutes by reason of the scientific effort and philanthropic zeal shown in all civilized countries for the welfare of this class of the population. Mr. Mathison, who has retired from the Principalship of the Institute after many years of efficient service, carries with him the good will of all the teachers and pupils with whom he has been associated. His successor, Dr. C. B. Coughlin, brings to the work professional talents of a high order and a temperament well suited to promote the interests and happiness of those entrusted to his care. Mr. H. F. Gardiner, Principal of the Brantford Institution, makes a favorable report of the year's work, and presents an interesting account of the methods employed to train blind pupils for a useful place in life. A summary is also given of the proceedings of the Edinburgh Conference on the Blind last year at which practical addresses were delivered reflecting the latest views of competent authorities upon the instruction of the blind. CONFERENCE OF DISTRICT INSPECTORS. During the year, the conditions and requirements of the schools in the northern districts have been under the consideration of the Department. The Deputy Minister and the Superintendent of Education visited one portion of New Ontario for the purpose of personally inspecting the circumstances under which primary education is maintained there, and having reported in favor of a conference of all the district inspectors, such a conference was held in the month of November. The educational conditions in Northern Ontario are exceptional. The schools in many places are conducted under difficulties owing to the nature of settlement and the scarcity of teachers. As there is a rapid increase of population in certain areas, especially along the line of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway, it is manifestly the duty of the Legislature to encourage in every way possible the efforts of the people in those districts to provide schools for their children. It may be necessary to treat the educational problem in all our newer districts on lines somewhat different from those found to be suitably adapted to older Ontario. There is already a commendable zeal amongst the people themselves, and the Department is ready to second their efforts. There are now, according to the statistics just supplied by the Inspectors, 826 district schools, both public and separate. Of these, 85 are bi-lingual schools, which are divided into 55 public schools and 30 separate schools. STATISTICS OF EDUCATION. The statistical information to be found appended to this report contains. many details which illustrate educational conditions and mark educational progress. It has been thought well to present certain information not embodied in previous reports'; such, for example, as separate statements respecting rural schools as distinct from urban schools; the qualifications of teachers in the several counties and districts; fuller statistics relative to kindergartens; the number of schoolrooms in each inspectorate; and comparative statistics of the United States and Ontario. A summary of the statistics for 1905 shows that there were in Ontario in that year 5,793 public schools, 428 separate schools, and 140 high schools and collegiate institutes. The number of pupils was, respectively, 397.170, 49,324, and 28.661. The expenditures were: On public schools, $5,524,102; on separate schools, $637,134: on high schools, $1,004,498. The total expenditures were. therefore, $7.165,734. The number of teachers in the three classes of schools was 10,338. The salaries paid to teachers in rural schools show a tendency to increase, the average salary paid to male teachers in those schools having risen from $385 in 1904 to $402 in 1905, and the average paid to female teachers from $294 in 1904 to $311 in 1905. Education Department, Toronto, January, 1907. R. A. PYNE, SUMMARY OF STATISTICS. 1. ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. a. Public Schools. Number of Public Schools in 1905 5,793 Increase for the year 35 Number of enrolled pupils of all ages in the Public Schools during the year 397,170 Increase for the year 356 Number of persons employed as teachers (exclusive of Kin- .... Number of teachers who attended Normal School Number of teachers with a University degree Average annual salary for male teachers. Average annual salary of female teachers Increase for the year Average experience of male teachers Amount expended for Public School houses (sites and Average experience of female teachers buildings) $715,761 Amount expended for School houses (sites and buildings) |