The Press. THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 1906. THE ENGLISH EDUCATION BILL.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12477, 12 April 1906, Page 6

The Press. THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 1906. THE ENGLISH EDUCATION BILL.

Mr Augustine Bfrrell has made what appears to be an .honest and well-con-sidered attempt to draft an Education Bill, which should'prove aooeptaible to moderate people as a solution of a very difficult problem; but, as we a-nsticipaied would be tlhe case, he has to some extent managed to displease both parties; and it is evident there wild "be a fierce struggle, and possibly several amendments, before tiho measure becomes iww. In order to understand the position, iit way te well briefly to explain the main provisions in the present Act. The local education authority is ."tfiie . County Council, or . the Borough Cbuncii in tihe case of county boroughs and the larger towns. Theoast is defrayed out of the general rate, or poor-Tate, levied over Che local district. Parliaanentairy epnante in aid, however, are given to tho extent of £2,160,000. The elementary eohobJe are of two classes—the provided echoole, wttidh are paid for by the local authority, and the non-provided or voluntary schools. The latter aro the schools paid for by various retigions bodies, chiefly, however, by the Church of England, in wfhich denominational education was given in> addition to the secular instruction, and Bible-readling, which in England was given even in the provided 'schools. The two classes, in short, are tlhe Board schools, and the vrihirttßTy schools of the old system. In the case of the provided edhocGe all the managers are elected by the local authority, biib in the case of the nonprovided or voluntary schools there were six managers, four being foundation managers, and two provided by the local authority. Tbie concession was made in oonsideratiion of the foot thai

the religious body supplied the use of tihe school buildings free of charge, kept them in repair, and made reasonable alliterations and improvements if required. It was further enacted, that in these schools religious inebruotion was' to be given, in accordance with the prb- ! visions of the trust deed, if any, end , was to be under the control oT the sdhool managers. In* order to. understand tho position dearly, it must be borne in mind that more than half or the schools in England are non-provided schools, and that in many country villages the cfouroh school is the only one available for the education of the children. It ie estimated that tho total value of the voluntary schools is no less than £22,000,000, which, allowing only 3i per cent, per annum on the capital, represents a rental value of £715,000 per annum. Naturally it was the provisions relating to the non-provided schools to which the Nonoonformiets objected. They were bitterly opposed to their children being brought up in an- Anglican atmosphere, end complained that owing to the control exercised by tlhe denominational managers, who were in the majority, it was impossible for Nonconformist teaohere to get employment, either as head masters or in the voluntary schools—that is to cay, in more than half the schools of the country. They showed tihetfr hostility in » very practical and effective way by the poftoy of "passive resistance"—that is to say, they refused to pay the education rate, and .not only allowed their goods to be sold in default, but in many cases actually went to prison. Mr Birrcll has given in to their chief coo-

tention by the provision in the new Act that from the beginning of 1908 all elementary schools shall become provided echoole, public control to be complete. Moreover, there •Tβ to be no religious tests'for teachers. The ordinary etaff is to give simple Bible teaching from 9 a-m. to 9.45 a.m., bat no catechism or distinctive formularies are to be given, and attendance is not to be compulsory till 9.45 a.m. To meet €he equity of the case as regards the denominational of schools, the local authority is empowered to arrange with these for the use of the ecboolhouses and for the upkeep of the buildings. This is estimated to cost about £260,000 per annum, which seems a very low estimate, considering the capital value of the buildings already quoted) unless, as is probably the case, it is assumed that §11 will not be taken over under the new Acb. The owners are to retain the use of the buildings for the evenings* and also for Saturdays and Sundays. Religious instruction may be given on two. mornings of the week if this ie made a condition of the transfer of the voluntary schools. f J uch instruction, is to be given by a special instructor,' and is not to be paid for bj the local authority. A further clause—the one which has excited most opposition' on the part of the Nonconformists —is to the effect that the authorities in urban areas are

empowered in the case of a transferred voluntary school to permit the ordinary teachers at a denomination's expense to giro special religious instruction daily, if the parents of four-fifths of the children attending the school desire it, and if there is accommodation, in other clare schools of the district for children whose parents do not desire such denominational instruction. A further Imperial grant of one million in addition to the £2,160,000 already paid is to be made to the schools, and it is pointed out that the actual cost that will be thrown on the local authority will depend on the spirit of mutual concession that is exhibited. In any case, where it is not found possible to rent the non-provided eohool, the Iocs) authority, we take it, will have,to furnish a school of its own to provide the required accommodation.

The chief conflict over the Bill will, as in the past, take place between the Anglicans and the Nonconformiste. Although there ere Wcsleyan, Roman Catholic and undenominational voluntary schools in England, out of 20,264 schools receiving grants in 1905 no fewer than 11,713 were Church of England schools, and 6011 Board or Council Schools. Those belonging-to the Roman Catholics numbered 1062, and to the "Wesleyans 448. The vast majority of English people being in favour of religious instruction in the State schools, it seems a great opportunity for the display of Christian forbearance and oooperation on both sides. Churchmen should remember the dying message of Archbishop Temple, who, it will be recalled, fell back, fainting, when, speaking in the House of Lords on the Education. Bill in 1902, and being taken home died three weeks afterwards. From his dying bed he cent by Bishop Davidson (the present Archbishop) a message to the House of .Lords to the effect that he desired, had not physical weakness prevented him, to conclude bis speech by an appeal "on behalf of those "who, while not belonging to our " Church, are as much entitled to their "religious convictions as any of our"eelves, any of your Lordships, any of " those who are sending their children "to a Church school being themselves "Churchmen; and I beg that every pas"sible /endeavour might be made by us "who are responsible in those schools, " for removing difficulties whenever that "can possibly be done." If* a similar spirit ie shown by the Nonconformists in dealing with this question, it ought to be possible to arrive at a. satisfactory settlement which shall remove this troublesome dispute from the arena of English politics for many years to come.