The following information is derived from the thirty-fifth report of the science and art department, whose operations embrace the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The department fosters instruction in science and art by grants to elementary schools and to training colleges upon the results of examinations in the subjects specified, by grants for buildings and apparatus for science schools, and by provision for local exbibitions and scholarships. The department also has charge of special schools of science and art and musenas of science and art. SCIENCE DIVISION. Elementary Science.-In 1887 the department examined 1,684 elementary schools in which science instruction was given according to the requirements. These schools were located as follows: In England and Wales, 1,223; in Scotland, 227; in Ireland, 234. The number of pupils in them receiving science instruction was 103,088, and the num ber who came up for examination was 62,275, which, with 5,345 self-taught students, made a total of 67,620 examined. Of this number 51,248 were successful in passing in one or more subjects. Advanced Scientific Instruction.-The total number of students under instruction in the various divisions of the Normal School of Science and Royal School of Mines was 27. As in former years, summer courses for country teachers, which last about three weeks, and are a most important part of the work of the school, were given in chemistry, light, botany, machine construction and drawing, and agriculture and agricultural chemistry. These courses, which consisted of lectures and laboratory practice specially adapted to the particular class of students, were attended by 182 teachers. Courses of lectures in biology, chemistry, and mechanics were also given to working men. The number of tickets sold at sixpence each being, for the three courses, 295, 455, and 357, respectively. The number of students attending the Royal College of Science, Dublin, was eighty, A course of fifteen voluntary lectures on element cry chemistry given during the first half of the year was attended by twenty-seven students and a similar course of seventeen lectures on mechanics was attended by eight students. The growing appreciation of science instruction in the Kingdom is indicated by the steady increase in the number of students pursuing the same and in the market inprovement in results. As compared with 77 the number of students receiving instruction in elementary science in 1887 showed an increase of 81 per cent.; the number presenting themselves for examination, increase of 96 per cent.; and the number passing. increase of 97 per cent. ART DIVISION. Drawing in Elementary Schools.—In 1987 drawing was taught in 3.979 elementary schools; of these 516 were situated in Scotland and under the inspection of the Scotch education department, by whom the grants were paid. The number of pupils and pupil teachers examined for results in drawing in these schools was 6×4,308. Examinations were also held in fifty-one training colleges in the five subjects of the drawing certificate. These subjects, with the number of students examined and passing in each, were as follows: Art Schools and Art Classes.-The total number of students receiving instruction in schools of art and art classes aided by the department was 74,701, in addition to which 122 schools unaided by the department were examined. In the National Art Training School, South Kensington, 590 students were under instruction. The system of having short courses of instruction at South Kensington for teachers of provincial schools during the summer vacations, which had been found so advantageous for science teachers, was extended to those in art in the summer of 1887. The experiment was successful in every way. Expenditure of Department.-The expenditure of the department for the financial year 1887-88 amounted to $2,093,771, which was apportioned as follows: Expenses of administration, including central staff office, $137,109; direct payments, prizes, etc., to encourage instruction in science, $493,269; direct payments, prizes, etc., to encourage instruction in art, $473,077; services common to both science and art instruction, $283,994; institutions supported or aided by the state through the department of science and art, $275,611, and the South Kensington and Bethnal Green Museums, including the expenses of circulation of science and art objects to country institutions, $125,712, OPERATIONS OF THE TECHNICAL EDUCATION ACT, SCOTLAND. With respect to the act of 1887 providing for technical education in Scotland the committee of council on education say: "The technical schools act (Scotland) has opened to school boards a new field of operations in regard to a branch of education to which public attention has of late been very closely directed, and which greatly affects the future of secondary schools. In view of the fact that the act came into force after the recent elections of school boards, we thought it right to issue a circular letter on the subject in anticipation of those elections, pointing out the character of the operations possible, and inviting the attention of the constituencies to the new powers which would be vested in their representatives, and to the various systems of technical education already established elsewhere. "It is a matter of regret that the subject does not appear to have been very prominently brought forward during the electio is, and that school boards, perhaps, as a consequence, show some hesitation in starting upon any new operations. We have now received three hundred and eighty-one replies to our inquiry which was addressed to nine hundred and eighty-one school boards, and only a very small number of these indicate any intention of taking action under the act. We are not disposed to infer from this that the subject is disregarded, and, on the contrary, we believe that it is attracting that attention which its importance and urgency demand, and that discussion is now doing much to define the proper aims and methods of such instruction. School boards naturally feel hesitation about launching upon new expenditure, and are, perhaps, disposed to watch the results of experiments elsewhere. We i el confident that they will be ready to follow the example of those who are bold enough to enter rpon the work, and, in once more drawing attention to the vital importance of the question, we can assure the local authorities of our zealous co operation in any efforts which they may make. We have already referred to certain branches of technical education which come within the sphere of the elementary schools, partica arly to drawing, agriculture, and the industrial instruction of girls; and we are ready ta consider any proposals by which these may be developed, and by which they may be carried on in secondary and evening schools. Technical instruction is already very considerably developed in several of the higher schools." "In a private school of well-esblished position we have found a commercial department very thoroughly developed, and we shall watch with interest this experiment of giving instruction in the details of office work. In any project for the advancement of technical education we would again impress upon school boards the importase listing the co-operation and sympathy of those who represent the manuftara dustrial interests of each district; and we would, in reference to the difficulty action which has been felt by some boards, point out the powers of combinationecka, different boards which are given by the act. We are convinced that it is only by any co-operation and combination that a system of education which may undoubtedy quire considerable expenditare, but which justifies that expenditure by the imp influence it may have upon national prosperity, can be successfully established." INSPECTION OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SCOTLAND. In 1885-86 the Scotch education department undertook the inspection of secti schools. Their report of this work for the current year (i. e., 1887-88) contains many observato of general interest. As was expected the immediate result of the inspection was the posure of defects in the schools. With respect to this particular the committee say "We found the schools in many cases working under adverse conditions, with in? cient resources and staff, and with a curriculum inadequate to modern demands. Welc no common standard, and a very wide divergence between the range and achievemen schools nominally of the same class. There was much earnestness shown by the g eral body of the teaching staff, and, generally, there was a desire on the part of man to increase the efficiency of the school under their charge, but there seemed to bec siderable doubt and difference of opinion as to the proper aims and organization (5secondary school." The beneficial results of the inspection are already noticeable. "The number of sch under inspection has increased from thirty-eight to forty-seven, twenty-two being high class public schools, seventeen endowed schools, and eight schools under voluntary S agers who have invited the inspection of the department. * "In one or two cases renewed inspection has shown the adverse conditiers be almost insuperable, and has led managers seriously to consider the organization of t school on a new basis. In other cases a school is found to fail from causes which ar evidently accidental and temporary. But as a rule the inspection has given evidenced renewed activity of a curriculum developing so as to meet modern requirements and a more defined aim and improved organization. Special and increased attention is e dently given to the instruction in science, although in some cases the inspectors have found that it was more developed on what may be called the bookish than the practic side. Modern languages are taught in some cases with very considerable success, but a difficulty evidently arises which will occur to most of those interested in these language as a branch of education, as to the different aims for which they may be studied-forthe sake of the training of the mental faculties by careful grammatical accuracy, on the ot hand, and for the sake of developing the imitative and conversational faculty, on the ground of its practical value, on the other. The reconcilement, as far as possible, at these two aims is a question which most urgently demands the attention of those wh are best qualified to guide public opinion on the subject. In English we have foun evidence of much sound work, although there appears to be some disposition, which we regret, to lay aside the study of history and geography in the more advanced classes, where it is especially valuable in training the judgment and widening the interests of the scholars, and to confine the instruction in these subjects to the elementary facts, learned by rote in the earlier classes. "In what are commonly called the university subjects, Latin, Greek, and mathematics the instruction is evidently, on the whole, sound and thorough, and in the last-named the Scotch higher schools are remarkably well advanced. * * 66 In connection with the inspection of higher schools the department has this year carried out the plan of a leaving-certificate examination. This was under taken after careful consultation with the universities and with the authorities of secondary or higher class schools. granted by the department, in lieu of the preliminary examination required from those "Various professional bodies have announced their readiness to accept the certificate entering upon a course of professional study. The examination will thus contribute materially to concentration of work in the secondary schools, where much inconven ience has been caused by the necessity of preparing pupils for various examinations, of much the same standard, but based, in each case, upon different prescribed books. The certificates have been issued of three grades, honors, first grade, and second grade. The total number of candidates for the same was 972, in six subjects, and out of possible number of 2,925 certificates, 2,334 were issued in the various grades." EDUCATION IN SWITZERLAND. EPORT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE BY THE HON. BOYD WINCHESTER, MINISTER Since the day of Pestalozzi the science of pedagogism has received much attention, and >-day enjoys a high rank in Switzerland. A Switzer will tell you that no boy, no girl xists in the Confederation, save idiots and those under school age, who cannot read and write. The exceptions to this rule are not sufficient to constitute an illiterate class. They ave laid broad and deep the foundations of an admirable system of public instruction. The law declares that the happiness of the people is to be found in good morals and good --nstruction, and that in a free country every citizen should have placed in his reach an education fitting him for his rights and his duties. The primary business of the state in Switzerland may be said to be keeping school. A school is one of the first things present to the eyes of a Swiss child and one of the last things present to the mind of a Swiss man. It comes to him in his cradle and attends him to his grave. On coming to a certain age the right to stay at home and play ceases. He is a member of a commune, and the commune will not suffer him to live and grow up in ignorance. The school seizes him, holds him fast for years and rears him into what he is to be. If a school is fate to a Swiss child, the vision comes to him pleasantly in likeness of a fairy. The fairest edifice a Swiss can see, when he goes out to walk, is his village school, his city school, or his cantonal school. The court-house, jail, town hall may be concealed in some obscure corner, but a school is sure to be in sight, the pride of every village slope and every city square. In travelling over Switzerland last summer there was not one court-house of sufficient architectural dignity to attract attention; a nearly two years' residence in Berne has not discovered that legal forum (which, in every American city, is the most conspicuous structure), but everywhere are to be seen commodious and handsome public school buildings. With the exception of the Federal Hall at Berne, and the Federal Tribunal at Lausanne, the Polytechnic, in Zurich, is the finest edifice in the country. The children are so much accustomed to regard the school-house as the foremost building in a city that it is related that a Swiss, with his child, visiting France, and, being at Versailles, he heard her clap her hands and cry with glee, "Look here, papa; here is the school-house!" den front of that magnificent pile. The school in Switzerland is made to the child, by It was the garpublic and private acts, a centre of happy thoughts and pleasant times. It shares the joys of home and the rewards of church. whom he learns to sing and play, to drill and shoot. The teacher is to him a father. At school a Swiss boy finds his mates with With that teacher he will grow into a man, assisted on his way with care and love, unmixed with either foolish fondness or paternal pride. All bright and pleasant things are grouped about him, and in after-time those class-room days will always seem to him the merriest of his life. Philanthropy and love of home, two very prominent Swiss characteristics, the unfailing and fruitful source of so many virtues, make the people desirous of giving every chance to their children; and they are proud of and cheerfully spend their money on their schools. The school, the pupil, the teacher, are forever in the public eye. The scholars promenade the streets with music, flags, and songs. All men make room for them, salute them, glory in them as the highest product of the state. The Swiss school organization proper may be said to date from 1830, and has for its basis the system of Pestalozzi (originally developed here by that celebrated philosopher and savant, who more than a century ago lived at Yverdun, his school-house being an ancient castle erected by the Count of Zähringer in the twelfth century), a system that has furnished a model for the rest of Europe, and especially for Germany. The depart ment of public instruction is the most important and expensive branch of the cantonal government. The two great items of expense which appear in the budget of a Swiss canton are the roads and public instruction. The sums bestowed on these are immense, relative to the total means of the cantons, standing far ahead of the army, which is a very startling fact in Europe, where the cost of the public forces, in times of absolute peace, is nearly fourteen times that of the public schools. The last report published for 1887 shows that the twenty-two cantons expended for schools about 10,800,000 francs, which is the product of school tax, cantonal and commercial. The amount appropriated for the purpose at this time is known to be very much larger, but cannot be accurately given; yet, as giving an approximate idea of the increase, it may be stated that the amount expended by the canton of Berne in 1877 was 1,692,411 francs, while the budget for this year (1887) sets apart for the same purpose 1,925,581, an increase of 233,000 francs. Article 27 of the federal constitution is as follows: "Cantons will provide for sufficient primary instruction, which shall stand under the 65 ED gratis. The public schools shall be so conducted that they may be attended by the ch dren of all confessions, without their liberty of faith and conscience being entroa, bel upon. Against cantons which neglect to follow these provisions the confederacy si take the necessary steps." It will be observed that primary instruction is thus made obligatory by federal r and in the public schools gratuitous. This gratuity, by special provisions in many the cantons, is made to include books and other school materials, and is extended a children of paupers. The Swiss cantons are jealous of their independence in local a fairs, and a proposal to appoint a federal secretary of education was rejected by a larg majority; but, so far, the cantons have observed in good faith the requirements of the constitution. Each canton has its own school law. The school age usually begins at or seven and continues to fourteen or fifteen. Compulsory education is not regarded any interference with personal liberty. Parents who neglect or refuse to send their children to school are cited before the thorities and fined, and in case of repetition of the offense may be imprisoned. The provision of the constitution guaranteeing freedom of faith and conscience in the pr schools has been complied with by the cantons, in a way suitable to their wants, IŻ no unfair dealing, no proselyting, and no complaint. All the schools have religious struction, and by common consent it partakes of the character of the majority: Cathe lic instruction in Catholic cantons, and Protestant in Protestant cantons. Preacher cannot be officially nominated as inspectors, presidents, or members of the school re gents, but they may take these places by popular election, which frequently occurs i the Protestant cantons. It is yet a disputed question whether persons who belong to religious orders, claiming allegiance paramount to the state, can be teachers in the public schools. The schools may be classified into primary, intermediate, universities, and seminaries, or normal Schools. The organization of the primary schools is under cantonal supervision. Generally each commune has a public primary school adequate to the demands, and graded s to age and progress. These schools are day schools, with annual vacations from ten to twelve weeks, and are supposed to embrace the pupilage for the first five to sit school years. The lessons average from twenty to thirty weekly. The pupils of the upper classes who are old enough to assist at work at home are permitted to attend school one-half of the day during the summer, or to attend what are called supplementary schools, with only six to ten lessons per week. The expenses of these schools are de frayed by the communes with a subvention from the canton, varying much in amount, yet enough so that the public primary schools are free, as required under the costitution. The course of studies in the primary schools embraces: 1. Religion; 2. Nstive language; 3. Ciphering; 4. Writing; 5. Physical and practical geography; 6. H tory of Switzerland; 7. Elements of natural science; 10. Singing; 11. Gymnastics; 12 For girls, manual work of knitting and sewing. Connected with the primary schools in some cantons are what are called Secundärschulen or secondary schools. These are open during the winter months in the evenings and on Sundays, and the course includes book-keeping and business composition, such as letters, bills, contracts, obligations of various kinds appertaining to trade and indus try. In many cantons these supplementary or advanced divisions of the primary schools are both free and obligatory; in others voluntary with an average charge of 5 francs. In the cantons of Lucerne and Zurich the children from the primary schools are given four years of gratuitous tuition in these secondary divisions. At the close of the year 1881 there were reported in attendance at the primary schools 455,498 pupils, under the care of 8,763 teachers. Sixteen cantons provided 437 secondary schools with 2,500 pupils. The intermediate schools present much variety and have only one feature in common, that they represent a higher grade than the primary with an enlarged and more deepened course of study, extending to elements of literature in the mother tongue, composition of advanced kind, reading of classical authors, higher mathematics, and a foreign language; for the German and Italian cantons, French; for the French cantous, German. Geography and history also become much extended. These schools do not have any pretensions beyond what their title of "intermediate" indicates. There are many branches and grades within these intermediate schools. There is what is called the district school and under-gymnasium. In ese still more advanced literary, technical, and artistic instructions are given. The ancient languages, Greek and Latin, Natural History, Physics, Chemistry, etc., are taught. In most of the cantons these schools are free, and where a charge is made it runs from twenty to forty francs for the scholastic year. The bulk of the expense is sustained by the communes; some of the cantonal overnments, as in Berne, pay one-half of the salary of the teachers and stipends of fifty to one hundred francs to meritorious students wishing to pursue their studies in the higher schools. |