TABLE 2.-Statistics of higher schools, England and Wales, in receipt of grant from board of education. TABLE 3.- University colleges and universities in receipt of Government grants in England and Wales, 1911-12. The progress toward a national system of education in England has been marked by the foundation of provincial universities thoroughly imbued with the modern spirit, extending their provision without restriction to all classes of men and women, and drawing their support largely from municipal funds and treasury grants. Oxford and Cambridge have not remained outside this movement, and are being drawn within the supervisory province of the Government through the acceptance of public grants for specific purposes; for the current year Oxford received for the department of engineering science a grant amounting to about $1,500, and additional sums for rural economy and forestry. Cambridge receives a grant for forestry amounting to $2,500 a year for three years, and from the Government's Development Fund an additional $15,000 for buildings required for research and teaching in the school of rural economy. The trade-union and other associations of working men have lately demanded that the resources of Oxford and Cambridge should be turned more fully to the service of the mass of the people; but the proposition for a royal commission on the two universities has not been favorably received by the Government. Important reforms, however, are being accomplished in the universities by their own action. On the purely scholastic side special interest attaches to the abolition of religious tests, which formerly made the diplomas and the honors of these two foundations the exclusive privilege of members of the established church. The last vestige of such tests was swept away at Cambridge by the favorable action taken in February, 1913, upon the proposal to abolish religious tests in the case of candidates for divinity degrees. Similar action was initiated at Oxford by the theologic professors themselves. The statutes to this effect proposed: (1) To abolish the requirement that examiners in the school of theology must be priests in the Church of England; (2) that the degrees of B. D. and D. D. should be open to any master of arts who has "shown a good general acquaintance with Christian theology." The statutes were carried in congregation by large majorities, but were rejected in convocation. The report of the royal commission on the University of London, which was completed during the current year, is encyclopædic in scope and detail, and irrespective of its effect upon London, will long remain the source of information respecting modern university problems. It is interesting to note that the appointment committee, which was constituted at Oxford in 1892, has recently secured special recognition, and a similar board has been constituted at Cambridge. These boards are now placing over 300 men a year from each university. The modern universities of England from their foundation gave great emphasis to applied science, and have had large development in respect to laboratory equipment and funds for research and instruction relating to the industries of their respective regions; for instance, the University of Manchester has specialized in study and research in textile subjects, and the University of Leeds in those pertaining to the leather industries. Among the measures by which the older universities are meeting the demands for larger public service are the tutorial classes conducted under the combined auspices of the universities and the Workers' Educational Association. This work has proved so 826cessful that the University of Oxford, at which the idea criginated. has just voted funds from the university chest for its maintenance. The enlarged plans for promoting relations between the older universities and those of the colonial Provinces are an outcome of the imperial spirit, which was signally manifested by the congress of British universities held at London in 1912. Prominent among the subjects of discussion during the year is that of university provision for women. It is recalled that nearly half a century has elapsed since the Schools Inquiry Commission issued its report recommending among other reforms that of extending university facilities to women. These recommendations gave an immense impetus to the cause, which had already excited wide attention. The outcome is seen in the establishment of special colleges for women at Oxford and Cambridge and the opening of all the recent university foundations to women on the same terms with men. The latest illustration of the vigor of the separate colleges for women was the opening on July 4 of the new buildings of Bedford College of the University of London. This institution dates from 1849 and is the oldest university college for women in England. The inauguration of the new buildings was attended with impressive ceremonies, and was graced by the presence of Queen Mary and a large company of representative men and women. SCOTLAND. CURRENT EDUCATIONAL MOVEMENTS. The year has been marked in Scotland by progress in respect to the new duties placed upon the local authorities by the education act of 1908. These duties include the means of prolonging the training of children who must early enter upon industrial pursuits, the assistance of such pupils in the choice of employment, and provision for continuing their training after they begin work. Along with this extension of educational efforts, important welfare duties have been placed upon the school boards by the act of 1908. The purpose to bring every child under instruction is indicated by the arrangements for conveying children in isolated districts to the nearest school, and in cases where the distances are extreme and the roads very bad, for lodging children in the neighborhood of an accessible school. The expenditure by school boards for this purpose has increased as follows: In 1910 it amounted to £874 ($4,370); in 1911, to £1,324 ($6,620), and in 1912 to £2,202 ($11,010). Provision for extending the period of elementary education is made by supplementary and continuation classes, which are treated quite fully in the present chapter. With regard to measures for assisting parents and children in the choice of employment for the latter, the school boards as a rule report that progress is slow. The welfare activities are in the main comprised under the general head of medical inspection, which is also considered in extenso in this chapter. SUPPLEMENTARY CLASSES. PURPOSE. The supplementary classes in the elementary schools, and the continuation classes with which they are linked up, have been created to meet the needs of pupils of more than average ability, but who from the pressure of circumstances or their own inclinations are not likely to go on to secondary schools. In this provision the Scotch authorities have endeavored to guard the unity of their school system and to prevent the evils of too early specialization; consequently their policy in this respect is attracting very wide attention. The superintendent of education for Nova Scotia in his current report declares that the provision of supplementary classes after the Scotch model is eminently desirable for his own Province. He explains the purpose and method of this provision as follows: One of the most practical changes that could be carried out in the present commonschool program would be that which has been in successful operation in Scotland for a number of years. This modification of the classes in the Grades VII and VIII is designated as the "supplementary classes." The aim is to take the large proportion of boys and girls who will leave the public schools at the age of 14 and to thoroughly ground them in the rudiments of the common branches of knowledge that are necessary for every intelligent independent citizen. Besides this, the boys are given a lot of handwork in iron and wood in order to make them more proficient when they enter the apprenticeship period, and the girls are given a good deal of domestic economy so that they will learn the rudiments of efficient home making. The procedure in connection with these classes is exceedingly simple. At the age of 12 the pupils are classified. The parents are consulted as to the future of the boys and girls, and the great majority who are sure that they will not attend after the age of 14 are put in the above-mentioned classes. There is no attempt here at social stratification, no desire on the part of the educational authorities to keep the children of the poor in the occupations of poor parents, but merely a common-sense effort to make the children of more immediate practical value when they first start industrial life at the age of 14. It is believed by the Scotch authorities that by the time pupils are 12 years of age it is possible to forecast their future course sufficiently to justify the transfer of a certain class of pupils into the supplementary classes, and another class into secondary schools, while the remaining pupils keep on to the end of the elementary school course. The endeavor is made to so correlate the work of the different grades of schools as not to preclude a subsequent change of course for those who have made the first break at 12 years of age. SCOPE. The official regulations comprise the following schedule of subjects common to all supplementary classes:1 A-The study of English. The main object of this study shall be to create a taste for good literature. The chief means of carrying on this study should be: B. (1) Systematic home reading, with properly directed choice of books. (2) An efficient system of reviewing, explaining, and testing in school the reading done at home. (3) The committing to memory, after discussion and explanation, of suitable pieces of verse and of prose. (4) Systematic teaching and practice of English composition. Certain studies bearing upon matters which it is of concern that all the pupils should know, whatever their occupations in after life are to be. Under this heading may be specified: (1) The Laws of Health. (2) Money Matters-Thrift, Investment, Insurance. (3) The Conditions of Trade and Employment. (4) The Institutions of Government under which we live. (5) The Empire-its history, growth, and trade; our Colonies and the openings for enterprise which they afford. (6) Nature Study, Drill, and Singing. Reference is made to their lordships' circular letter No. 374 of February 16, 1903, for an explanation of the spirit in which they desire these studies to be pursued, and for certain suggestions as to method. At this stage of study it is highly desirable that full use should be made of the ordnance survey map of the district in which the school is situated, both in connection with nature study and also for the purposes of specific lessons in geography. As stated in the circular, it is not considered imperative that all the topics mentioned under Head B (with the exception of (1) The Laws of Health) should be taken up with the same set of pupils. Specimen schedules are also offered for the specialized courses, which are as follows: Commercial, industrial, course for rural schools, household management (for girls), and navigation. STATISTICS. From the latest official report it appears that during the year ended August 31, 62,117 candidates were approved by the inspectors for enrollment in supplementary courses or in higher-grade departments, and during the same period the average attendance on which grant was claimed in 2,056 primary schools was 49,497, the latter number representing the scholars who have received instruction in supplementary course work, and on whose account grants have been allowed at advanced rates.2 The merit certificate was instituted in 1899 to encourage attendance. at school up to 12 years of age. According to regulations adopted in 1903, candidates for this certificate must have pursued a supplementary course for at least one year. The total number of merit certificates awarded in 1912 was 18,489. 1 Education Department, Scotland, Code of Regulations for Day Schools, 1913. |