PRACTICAL TRAINING IN ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOLS.

In Ontario provision for agricultural training is made in departments connected with continuation and high schools, of which 27 are now in operation. The teachers in charge of these departments are also county representatives of the Department of Agriculture, with many duties associated with field work. This prevents their devoting as much time to the school work as is desired, although in some respects it increases the practical value of their instruction. Measures, however, have been adopted looking to a supply of teachers who shall be competent to take charge of both the science and agricultural courses in the high schools. In order to encourage candidates to pursue the course leading to the diploma in agriculture, the Government proposes to offer a scholarship of $100 at the end of each of the two years, to be taken at the agricultural college, for every candidate who passes the final examination and is recommended by the president of the college.

The director of elementary agricultural education reports decided progress during the year. The grants allowed for school gardens have naturally increased interest in the work, and all the gardens are now conducted under teachers trained at the agricultural college. Up to February 1, 1913, 99 schools had qualified for work done in 1912 and were entitled to grants amounting to $4,370. The director observes that, if this rate of increase could be maintained, in a few years all the rural schools in the Province would be engaged in this work.

The instruction in manual arts and household science, representing one division of the work originally contemplated by the Macdonald fund, is given at "centers" which draw classes from surrounding schools. The number of manual-training centers reported for 1912 was 66, of which 14 were in the city of Ottawa, 28 in Toronto, 5 at Hamilton, and the remainder situated in smaller towns or in rural communities.

The number of household-science centers reported was 51, of which Toronto provided 20, Ottawa 2, Hamilton 6, London 7; the remainder were in smaller towns or rural centers.

The following statement by the superintendent of public instruction for Quebec covers the chief educational activities in that Province for the current year:

In the year 1906 the department and the Protestant committee of the council of public instruction organized a campaign in the interest of the Protestant rural schools of the Province. Meetings were held in suitable centers, which were addressed by leading educationists.

The chief subjects discussed were those of better salaries for the teachers, the value of training for teachers, and consolidation. Some good results were visible in time from this campaign, but more particularly as the Government grants largely and steadily increased during the succeeding years. In 1912 another campaign was held at the instance of the Protestant committee, and although, owing to weather condi

tions, the attendance at the meetings was considerably less than in 1906, the results were more striking and rapid. This was doubtless due to the fact that in the meantime there had been much public discussion, and a greater readiness to advance had been developed. The aid to the rural schools was also by this time much more substantial, and the school boards were therefore in a better position to take progressive action. Salaries have greatly improved and a good deal of partial consolidation has been effected.

At the time of writing a campaign is being organized for the autumn of 1913. This work is also supplemented by annual educational exhibits at the Sherbrooke Exhibition, which is practically a provincial institution.

Similar work is being carried on in the form of "Regional Conferences" for the Roman Catholic schools by the department of public instruction. Members of school boards from one or more counties are gathered at a central point and addressed upon the questions affecting their schools. Here, too, admirable results are reported.

The response of the rural school boards, Roman Catholic and Protestant, to the demand for better salaries for the teachers has been greatly helped by the minimumsalary grants. In the year 1908 the sum of $50,000 was expended for this purpose in the rural municipalities of the Province. In 1909 the amount was $75,000; in 1910, $100,000; in 1911, $125,000; and in 1912, $225,000. These grants are being continued. Any board falling below a certain minimum fails to receive any portion of the grant. The minimum is not compulsory, but the great majority of the school boards are now realizing that it is to their interest to meet the requirements for the grants.

Another development of recent years is the holding of summer schools for teachers in the subjects of oral French, drawing, and physical exercises. The summer school in oral French is of large importance and is conducted on behalf of the Protestant teachers. About 15 academies now receive special grants for engaging a specialist qualified to give the instruction. The specialist is required to supervise the oral French in all the grades of the academy. Facility in both languages is very important for the English-speaking people of the Province.

In his report for the year 1911-12 the superintendent notes also that the work of school gardens has made marked progress, 18 schools in 45 counties reporting very excellent results in this respect. The teachers are said to be full of enthusiasm over the subject, and the parents equally so, the latter because they see in this movement a means of attaching their sons and daughters to their native localities. At the close of the last year the names of 5,945 pupils were reported as deserving reward for their industry and success in the cultivation. of their garden plots.

The Council of Arts and Manufactures of the Province of Quebec is a private body which maintains classes in arts and trade in the chief centers of industry. This purpose is aided by a provincial grant, which amounted in 1912 to $16,000, and also by substantial appropriations from boards of trade, chambers of commerce, and various trade associations. During the current year 51 classes were maintained, with an enrollment of 2,633 pupils. These classes have been of great benefit to young artisans and commercial clerks, and there is a very general demand that the council should be more liberally aided in its benevolent work.

The current report of the superintendent of education for New Brunswick gives detailed accounts of four consolidated schools, which embody the salient features of the plan originally suggested by Dr. Robertson. In each of these schools special equipment is provided for manual-training and domestic-science departments.

In Nova Scotia the stress of effort with respect to the promotion of practical training relates to the technical industries connected with mining. The training is organized under the immediate supervision of a director who is also principal of the Nova Scotia Technical College. In addition to the secondary technical schools, which are accomplishing important results, an experiment has been recently made in the conduct of mining science courses for boys in the three upper grades of the public schools. It is reported that

The boys show much more interest in mechanical drawing of common parts of colliery machinery than they did in the freehand drawing of the regular publicschool course. Elementary mechanics seems more vital to them than botany. The chemistry of colliery explosions and of combustion appeals to them to a far greater degree than the dry formal statements of the atomic theory, the laws of chemical combination, etc. The mining science course is keeping the boy in school for a greater length of time than formerly, because he feels that the course in the public school contains some instruction which aims to prepare him somewhat for his life struggle in the industry which is the greatest single center of interest in a mining town.

The evening technical schools, which are maintained by the cooperation of the local school boards and the provincial government, were in operation in five towns and cities during the current year. The provision in the evening technical schools of classes in needlework for young women, which was announced at the opening of the current session, excited large response, and in the case of Halifax many applicants for admission had to be turned away. These classes do not attempt to teach trades, but are intended to instruct young women in the simpler forms of sewing required in every household.

The Macdonald consolidated school at Hillsborough, Prince Edward Island, was discontinued in June, 1912, although at the time its reopening was anticipated by the educational authorities. The plan has since been abandoned. This school, which was opened originally in May, 1905, was a model in all respects and the hope was entertained that it might lead to the uplift of rural education throughout the island. During the first three years of its existence the school was maintained at the expense of the Macdonald fund, but in 1908 the six districts for which the school provided were requested to increase their taxes from 11 to 40 cents on every $100 worth of assessed property to meet the expenditure for this institution, and since that time opposition to the enterprise has been increasing, and finally four of the districts withdrew from its support. Presumably

the failure of this school, which was due entirely to local and personal causes, will interfere for a long time with attempts at consolidation. It is noticeable, however, that two school districts have since united without any outside intervention to maintain a two-room school, replacing two 1-room schools; this example may be followed by other districts.

The provincial government has increased its appropriation for the schools of the island by a fund which adds approximately 20 per cent increase in salary to all teachers, with provision for the monthly payment of salaries instead of quarterly, as heretofore.

The consolidated school has not been adopted to any great extent in the eastern Provinces of Canada, but is making progress in the west, particularly in Manitoba. The movement in this Province seems to have been spontaneous with the taxpayers, and therefore it commands that popular support which is wanting in the east. Two consolidated schools were established in 1906; they numbered 40 in 1912, and plans for additional schools for 1913 were reported. Interest in the system has been fostered by an illustrated bulletin issued by the department of education. This publication sets forth in graphic form the advantages of the system and excites emulation by vivid pictures, contrasting the old-style district schoolhouse with the fine substantial buildings by which they are replaced in the centers of consolidation.1

British Columbia reports the first experiment at consolidation for the fall term of 1912. Four district schools were closed and children were conveyed from these to the central graded school. seems to be every prospect of success from this change.

So far there

During the school year ending June 30 there were 18 manual training centers in operation in this Province, and by reason of increased appropriation from the Government 14 new centers were opened in the fall term. This brings the total to 32 centers, with a staff of 30 instructors. The instructors of manual training note that a decided improvement has been shown in the ordinary work of the schools, and the boys in the manual training centers have made models which have been of great use in the drawing lessons in the regular course of instruction.

THE STRATHCONA TRUST.

Lord Strathcona, who held the office of High Commissioner for the Dominion of Canada from 1896 to 1911, recently donated a sum of money for promoting physical training and drill in the schools of the Dominion. This fund has been placed at the disposal of a committee called the Strathcona Trust, and the interest on the invested money is to be annually divided between the Provinces in

1 See Manitoba Department of Education. Consolidation of Rural Schools, 1912.

proportion to the respective population. The general regulations governing the trust provide that 50 per cent of the whole amount for each Province shall be given for physical training in the schools under the department of education, 35 per cent for military drill, and 15 per cent for rifle shooting.

The minister of education from Ontario reports that of the $10,900 allotted to Ontario $2,180 has been apportioned to the high schools and $4,360 for physical training in the elementary schools. Specific instructions have been issued by the department with respect to the conduct of this training. Similar action has been taken by the other Provinces.

CURRENT STATISTICS.

In respect to particulars given in the appended tables, there is little change from year to year excepting in the newer Provinces, in which the population is rapidly increasing. From the high ratio of enrollment to population (Table 2) it will be seen that a large proportion of children and youth were under instruction during the year, but much irregular attendance is indicated by the ratio of average attendance to enrollment, which does not exceed 75 per cent in any one of the Provinces. The apparently excessive expenditures for education in the newer Provinces is due in great measure to the necessity of providing at once all the material conditions of a school system.

TABLE 1.-Population, school enrollment, and average attendance.

1 Provisional figures, census of 1911.

2 Not including high schools and collegiate institutes, which enrolled 32,227 pupils.