As regards the number of scholars attending the schools and courses, available statistics show that on January 1, 1912, there were 16,137 students attending 253 agricultural institutions, as against 10,237 attending 185 schools in 1909 and 5,992 attending 133 schools in 1899. During 1911 there was an average of 63 students for each school, as against 55 in 1909, an increase which has, beyond doubt, resulted in reducing the annual cost of educating each student. Notwithstanding the great increase in the number of those attending the agricultural schools, a demand for a substantial increase in the number of schools is still great, as is strikingly shown by the number of would-be students who could not gain admission. In 1909, 6,303 persons requested admission to the schools; of this number, however, only 2,925 were taken--that is, 49 per cent. In 1911 the number of petitions for entrance to the schools was 15,929, of which only 6,150 were granted; in other words, hardly 39 per cent. In this respect the following figures will be of interest:

Entrance to agricultural schools-Petitions presented and accepted.

In recent years there has arisen a great demand for men with a middle-grade agricultural education, and this has had the effect of increasing the number of those desirous of entering the middle-grade schools. This class of school is now making every effort to accommodate as many students as possible; its endeavors in this direction resulted in an average of 195 pupils accommodated by each middle-grade school during 1911, whereas in 1909 the average number of students getting instruction at these schools was 145.

During 1911, 1,918 students graduated from the agricultural schools. In the year ending January 1, 1912, the number of peasant children at the schools increased by 9 per cent; they represented 62 per cent of the total number of students, as against 53 per cent in 1909. For the most part this increase affected the lower-grade schools.

As to the present activities of former pupils, the agricultural department was able to obtain particulars in regard to 76 per cent of the graduates. The following figures will show how these latter at present are employed:

From the above it will be seen that 54 per cent are employed in agricultural pursuits and 6 per cent have taken to teaching, for the most part in the low-grade agricultural schools. If it is assumed that half of the 24 per cent of the graduates of whom no statistics are available are engaged in farming, that half of the 4 per cent continuing their studies are doing so at agricultural schools, and that half of the 2 per cent serving with the colors will eventually adopt agriculture as their profession, we find that 70 per cent of the graduates from all the agricultural schools in Russia are engaged on the land.

CHAPTER XL.

MODERN EDUCATION IN ASIA AND AFRICA.

CONTENTS.

Asia: Japan-Primary education; secondary and higher education; students in foreign countries; expenditure for public education.-Siam.-Modern education in China; order of the minister of education relating to technical schools; order of the minister of education relating to the unification of the spoken language; education in the Province of Kwangtung; education in the Province of Amoy.-India-The new Government policy; changing attitude of the Mohammedans; revivals in literature and art; statistical summary.

Africa: The French colonies. The Italian and German possessions. Liberia. Egypt. South AfricaEducation for the Europeans; present problems; education of the colored and native children; expenditure; higher education.

ASIA.

The movement of modern education in Asia presents three phases of great interest. In Japan, China, and Siam it is a movement of internal origin; in India it is the outcome of foreign dominion; while elsewhere in this vast continent modern schools have been established by missionary effort or are the outcome of commercial and imperial advance.

The following statements comprise information respecting modern education in the different divisions of Asia, which has been received at this office since the publication of the Commissioner's Report for

1912.

JAPAN.

The establishment of a system of modern education in Japan is one of the most notable achievements of the nineteenth century. The endeavor was of native origin, and although fostered at the beginning by foreign experts whose assistance was sought by the Government, it soon passed almost completely under native direction; hence, the new order of education was assimilated without violent disturbance of old ideas and institutions, and derived support from the principles of patriotism and reverential regard for imperial authority which the old education had imparted. For the reason also that modern education in Japan is essentially scientific, there was no clash between it and the traditional ethical or religious teachings; nor has there been any attempt to substitute European classics for the oriental in the higher schools; so that modern education appears as an offshoot from the old root, an indigenous growth rather than an exotic.

The system of public education is as thoroughly organized as the French system, and is more completely unified than the latter, since

not only all institutions for general education, but also industrial and technical schools are included in the province of the ministry of public instruction.

PRIMARY EDUCATION.

As regards primary education, the salient features of the system are the completeness of the school census, the efficient inspection service, and the large provision for the training of teachers. From these conditions it follows that year by year close watch is kept over the movement of the school population; close relations are established between individual schools and the central authority; and the teachers have a recognized professional standing.

Statistics for 1910-11, the latest published, show that 98 per cent of all the children of school age (6 to 14) had followed or were following the prescribed course of instruction. The compulsory law provides that all children must attend school six years of the eight covered by the legal school period. As kindergartens are specially recognized in the system of Japan, a large part of the children are also under supervision from the ages of 3 to 6 years.

The elementary schools are classified as ordinary and higher, the former covering the six years of compulsory school attendance; supplementary classes may be maintained in connection with schools of either division for pupils who for any reason have been unable to complete the course of study in regular grade. The following table comprises salient particulars respecting the elementary schools: Number of Government, public, and private elementary schools, and of teachers, pupils, etc., for 1910-11.

Every city, town, or village is obliged to establish and maintain elementary schools with sufficient accommodations for the children of school age within their respective areas. Teachers are appointed by local authorities from candidates who have submitted to the required tests and secured a license. These tests are conducted according to two methods, viz, without examination and by examination. The tests by examination are held at least once in each year, while the tests without examination are held at any time, as occasion may require.

The license is granted by the governors of Fu or Ken (Provinces) to those who have been successful in the test for elementary-school teachers, or to graduates of schools approved by the minister of state for education, or graduates of normal schools. The validity of this license is restricted to the Fu or Ken where they have been granted.

The governors of the Fu or Ken, who are appointed by the Emperor, are responsible for the educational affairs of their jurisdictions, but in each of these divisions and also in the subdivisions (guns) the minister of education is represented by inspectors selected by examination. These officials report directly to the central authority.

The support of elementary schools is derived largely from local revenues, but the contributions from the State have been recently increased.

As regards the course of study and the internal conduct of the schools, the local authorities are guided by official instructions; these are chiefly advisory, but in respect to a few matters are mandatory. Thus the textbooks and charts for elementary schools, which relate to morals, the Japanese language, arithmetic, Japanese history, geography, science, and drawing, must be publications the copyright of which is held by the department. As to other textbooks, they may be works either copyrighted by the department of education, or examined and approved by the minister, and the local governors have the right of choosing from among them.

Special stress is placed upon school hygiene, and medical inspection is maintained over all schools under the immediate control of the department of education and over the public schools of the Provinces. The report for 1911-12 states that:

In all Fu and Ken they began to take pains as to measures for school hygiene and to pay attention to gymnastics, exercise, sport, etc., of children and pupils. At the same time meetings of school physicians were called, that they might discuss and investigate all matters relating to school hygiene-or give lectures on health to the parents and relatives of pupils and children, and, in union with the efforts of the parents and relatives in the homes, they expected to produce good, substantial effects. As regards educational societies, educational exhibitions, etc., subjects relating to school hygiene and materials of hygiene were gradually increasing. Especially close attention was paid to trachoma and other contagious diseases, and if a case broke out no time was lost for its prevention and disinfection, so that

ase might