ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN THE CIVILIZED WORLD.

1. IN EUROPE.

The population of European countries (i. e., Great Britain and Ireland, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Würtemberg, Baden, Austria, Hungary, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, Russia, Roumania, Servia, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal) is found to be 366,044,532, according to census and reliable estimates.

The number of pupils in elementary schools in the same countries is found to be 37,014,708, or 10.11 per cent of the population.

But since the difference between the educational activity of western, northern, and central Europe on the one hand, and southern and eastern Europe on the other, is very marked, it would seem proper te group the countries in the foregoing lists as follows:

Western, Northern, and Central Europe. Great Britain and Ireland, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Würtemberg, Baden, Austria, Hungary, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Population, 202,928,690.

Pupils in elementary schools, 29,354,575, or 14.5 per cent.

Southern and Eastern Europe.

Portugal, Spain, Italy, Grecce, Bulgaria, Servia,
Roumania, and Russia.

Population, 163, 115,842.

Pupils in elementary schools, 7,660,123, or 4.7 per cent.

If we take the percentage (14.5) of the first group as a standard for entire Europe, there ought to be in elementary schools 16,061,749 more children than at present, to-wit: 53,076,457 instead of 37,014,708.

If we apply the percentage found in countries farthest advanced, Germany and Switzerland (to-wit: 18 per cent), to entire Europe, the number of children not in school, who ought to be, is found to be 28,873,295; namely, 65,388,003 in school instead of 37,014,708.

2. IN PAN-AMERICA.

The population of the American continents together is 117,790,641. It is found that there are 16,792,275 pupils in the elementary schools, or 14.3 per cent. But separating, for the sake of comparison, the countries of the two continents into two groups, United States and Canada on the one hand, and all of Spanish America on the other, we get the following results:

1 No school statistics available from Turkey and a few principalities in Germany.

Applying the percentage found in the United States, Pan-America ought to have 9,121,666 pupils in schools more than it has, namely, 25,913,941 instead of 16,792,275. However, the enrollment in the United States and Canada contains many duplicate names of children attending winter and summer schools, hence it would seem proper to regard the percentage found in Germany, where rigid compulsory attendance has been enforced for nearly a century, i. e., 18 per cent to be the true percentage. Applying that to Pan-America (instead of 22 per cent), we find the number of children in school is short only 4,410,042 of what it ought to be.

3. IN AUSTRALIA.

Australia (i. e., New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, West Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand) has a population of 3,809,897 and 715,889 pupils in elementary schools, or 18.8 per cent. Applying the German and Swiss standard of 18 per cent, Australia would have only 685,781 pupils. Applying the United States standard of 22 per cent, Australia ought to have $38,176 pupils in elementary schools.

4. IN AFRICA.

Egypt and the British Possessions in Africa, in the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean have 11,894,522 inhabitants and 519,321 pupils in elementary schools, or 4.4 per cent. Applying the German standard of 18 per cent, we find these countries should have 2,141,013, or 1,621,792 more pupils than there are enrolled in school. If we apply the United States standard of 22 per cent, which we know to be exorbitant, there should be 2,097,473 more pupils than there are attending school.

5. IN ASIA.

India and Japan, the only countries from which we have reliable data, have a population of 327,626,892, and only 3,499,882, or about 1 per cent, attending elementary schools. If we apply the German standard of 18 per cent, we find the discrepancy in the number of pupils to be 54,981,958. Applying the United States standard of 22 per cent, the discrepancy would be 58,589,034.

SUMMARY.

All the countries named have a population of 827,216,484, and report 58,542,073 pupils attending elementary schools, or about 7 per cent. If we apply the German per centage of 18 per cent, the discrepancy in the number of pupils is found to be 90,356,866 (that is, 148,898,959 instead of 58,542,075). If we apply the United States percentage of 22 per cent, the number of pupils withheld from school is found to be 3 per cent greater; namely, 123,445,553.

It may be considered idle speculation to go one step further and compare the number of children in elementary schools found with the entire population of the earth, which Hübner states to be 1,484,253,000. However, having gone so far, we may go to the end of the chapter. Considering, first, that the number enrolled in elementary schools stated to be 58,542,075 is not quite correct, owing to the omission of some principalities of Germany, from which no statistics are available, also of the "Free Cities," with their well organized school systems, and considering further that the countries not mentioned (such as European and Asiatic Turkey, Persia, Siberia, Further India, the Dutch Colonies, Hawaii, and other islands in the Pacific) are not entirely without elementary schools, it is justifiable to assume the number of elementary school children to be about 60,000,000, which is a close estimate. If we in conclusion consider the fact that, though China has not a regularly established and supervised public school system, it has a system of elementary education which for all practical purposes fulfills the functions of a system of schools such as we know, this education, such as it is, brings about 60 per cent of all the inhabitants of China to a knowledge of the rudiments of book learning (which presupposes about 10 per cent of the population in schools); hence it becomes apparent that the aforestated number of children under school influence (60,000,000) must be raised to 100,000,000. (Population of China estimated at 402,680,000.)

One hundred millions then is the estimate of the number of children in elementary schools all over the world. To this should be added 1 or 2 per cent to represent the number in secondary and higher institutions of learning. Now, if 60,000,000 are about 4 per cent of the popu lation, 100,000,000 are 6.7 per cent. If we apply the German standard. of 18 per cent, the number of children in school ought to be 267,170,940, which discloses a discrepancy of 207,000,000; if the United States standard of 22 per cent be applied, the discrepancy is still greater, namely, 266,500,000. Of course, if the other number, which includes. China, is taken as a basis, the discrepancies would be correspondingly smaller.