EDUCATION IN BELGIUM.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 18, 4 May 1899, Page 31

EDUCATION IN BELGIUM.

The following is from an article which appeared in a recent issue of the Manchester Courier : ' Pending controversies impart a special aperest to a report on commercial education it Belgium lately received at the Foreign Office from the British Legation in Brussels. Prosperous little Belgium forms a striking exception to the statement that Roman Catholic countries are far behind their Protestant neighbours as regards education and educational facilities. This report shows that for sixty years past Belgium has been enjoying the advantages of such commercial schools as are only now being established in this country. What is more, it shows that the movement was led by the Jesuit and Josephite Orders. It was only after the commercial schools established by these confraternities at Antwerp and Melle-lez-Grand had proved .their utility in advancing the commerce and manufactures of Belgium that the Government stepped in, two years ago, and extended the system on a much, wider basis. There are now a dozen institutions of the kind in the little kingdom. Whilst the State Universities grant a special degree in sciences commerciales et consulaires, for which three years' study is requisite, the Catholic University of Louvain gives a complete course of commercial education, and similar facilities are afforded by the University of Brussels, The principal institute at Antwerp receives money grants from both the State and the municipality, but the others throughout the kingdom appear to be entirely dependent on voluntary subscriptions and class fees. As the latter in no case exceed £12 a year, Belgium must be running a close race with Germany in the matter of cheapness of education. No remarks as to the quality of the commercial teaching are made in the report, but the fact that the Government has deemed it expedient to build upon the foundations laid by the Jesuits, etc., seems to suggest a satisfactory answer to that question.'