PROGRESS OF EDUCATION.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1321, 24 June 1897, Page 36

PROGRESS OF EDUCATION.

ENGLAND

it has been said that in the educational -world the nineteenth century has gathered within its embrace the fruits of all the labours, struggles and sufferings of the past. The field of knowledge has not only been widened, but it has been brought within the reach of the masses. Mighty forces of nature have been brought into subjection to the will of man and are made obedient servants in the cause of progress, while reason has asserted its right in society and State, in science and art. The first recognition by the English State of its paramount duty in aiding the work of national education took place in 1832, when the sum of .£20,000 was placed on the estimates for public education. The next step was taken when the annual vote was increased to .£30,000, and by 1843 it had risen to .£40,000; but the recognition of the further and far more extensive work of supplementing by State aid or by State agency all deficiencies in the supply of schools at Home dates back only to 1870 when the Education Bill was passed. This'work of educating the rising genera- . tion when Her Mijfcsty first came to the 'throne was left in the hands of the Church, whoso authority was almost co-extensive with the State, and the wrenching of the power and government of schools from the Church began in 1839, when a special committee of the Privy Council was set up, who engaged a special stall of school inspectors! About this period a German teacher, Eroebel, had brought about a change in the earliest methods of instruction, which was beginning to be talked about in Germany, although it was many years before it became general in England. We allude to the Kindergarten system of teaching—a system which, in the words of Froebeh was one in which he converted " children's activities, energies, amusements, occupations, all that goes by the name of play, into instruments for my purpose and I therefore transform play

into work." Proebel died in 1852, but his work and the principles he taught remain. In England popular education has made less progress then in any other Protestant country of Europe. The explanation of this fact is perhaps to be found in the conservative character of the people and the aristocratic organisation of society. It is only of recent years that the masses have become prominent. The movement towards popular education, however, received a noteworthy impulse from the educational conference held in London in 1857, under the presidency of the Prince Consort. In 1858 a commission was appointed by Parliament to report upon the state of popular education. The interest thus manifested by the Government in popular education culminated in the Education Act of 1870, of which we have already spoken, and which ordered " That there shall be provided in every school district a sufficient amount of accommodation in public elementary schools available for all'children resident in such district for whose elementary education efficient and suitable provision is not otherwise made." This was the foundation of the present British system of education—a system which, with slight amendments, has been carried out in every English-speaking colony. At Home, School Boards elected by the taxpayers were established to carry out the provisions of this law, and they were further invested with authority to compel parents to send their children to school between the ages of five and thirteen. The new law, with its subsequent amendments, especially that which was passed this year, has been highly successful. A high percentage of attendance has been obtained, and an able body of teachers provided, and England is rapidly making ur> her backwardness in the past by giving*promise of a future progress that will compare favourably witn any other European country.

THE COLONIES. In the colonies education has been the reverse of backward. Our public and secondary schools compare favourably with those of almost any other country, while our iuniversities are making strides, and are being recognised by the seats of learning at Home. But the educational systems of the various parts of Australasia are as different from each other as in the separate provinces of the Dominion of Canada. The colonies are jealous of their individual success, and the rivalry which is prominent in the affairs of the commercial world is not without a place in the regulations which affect the schools. In all the colonies giant strides have been made in State education. In every one of the colonies the State system of education has become compulsory and, in nearly all, secular. Western Australia grants assistance to private denominational schools. Public instruction is free in Victoria, Queensland and New Zealand, but fees are charged in the other colonies, although they are partially or wholly remitted where parents are unable to pay. The educational record of New South Wales has been onward and upward, but the system which is now prevalent was begun in 1880, when all moneys and properties vested in the Council of Education, which previously directed all educational matters, reverted to the Crown, and a sound State system was substituted. The basis of the State educational system of Victorians that secular instruction shall be promoted without payment for children whose parents may be willing to accept it, but that, whether accepted or not,_ all children must be educated up to a given standard. This all came into operation in 1873, and has worked ever since with satisfactory results, The education of the people received legislative attention very early in the history of South Australia, the first Act being passed in 1847. It 1875 a Council of Education was established, with a paid president and power to dedicate land for educational purposes, erect model and training schools and appoint boards of advice. It is a notable circumstance that a large percentage of scholars matriculate every year from the lower schools of South Australia.

Western Australia has been backward, owing, no doubt, to its sparse population. According to the Act of 1871 a school only meant a place where elementary education was carried on and the fees were not more than Is weekly. Educational affairs have, however, made rapid progress in the last few years, and Western Australia will soon rival her sister colonies.

The tone of the Queensland primary schools is very high, since they are — unlike the national schools of the Old Country, with the solitary exception of some parts of Scotland —attended by the children of every class of the community. Since her separation from New South Wales the progress of. Queensland in educational matters has been fast. Education holds a high place in Tasmania, and so excellent has been the progress that at the present day not a few of the sons of wealthy Australians are sent to Tasmania to be educated.

New Zealand legislators easily recognised the wisdom of the policy of endowing her schools with plenty of land, and to this X>robably, as much as to a benevolent Legislature, she owes the present position of her schools. New Zealand has more than kept pace with the Mother Country. From small beginnings education has spread _ to every out-of-the-way bush and mining township, and the percentage of persons unable to read and right is smaller than in almost any other country.

OTHER BRITISH POSSESSIONS. In Cape Colony, the bi-lingual difficulty, and mixing of the English and natives, has somewhat kept back school progress. An aided schooi 6 system was begun in 18-11, and in 1859 local co-operation was introduced, established schools were discontinued, and a system of grants-in-aid was extended, which has since been adhered to.

In 1854, the education of the whole of the people of India was accepted as a State duty by the Government, suitable teachers began to be provided, and pecuniary assistance on the grant-in-aid system was given. In 18S2 a Commission of Enquiry recommended further improvements, which have since been given effect to, and the result is that the education of the native peoplo of India has been such as to enable them to render real and material service to their fatherland. In 1824, not one-fourth of the entire population of the Dominion of Canada could read, and not one tenth could write. Consequently, in that year, an Act called the "Act Fabrique" was passed providing for the establishment, by the cure and churchwardens of each parish, of a school for every 100 families. This formed the basis of the present school system, though some violent changes have been made recently. Before School Boards were established in England, Canada had a wellorganised system of public or common schools in operation. At the present day, these schools are absolutely free. In addition, there are grammar schools in all parts of the country, at which pupils receive a good classical and modern education. Above these are the high schools, collegiate institutes, and universities —the latter liberally endowed with scholarships —where the cost of the attendance is so small as to place the facilities for education within the reach of all.