92 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
This suffices at present to indicate the remarkably centralized 
and unique character of the French educational system. It is theo- 
retically possible for the most radical changes in any part of public 
instruction to be immediately brought about by a stroke of the pen 
on the part of the Minister of Public Instruction. 
In the recuperation of the French nation during the past 40 years, 
gigantic strides have been made in all departments of education; scores 
of handsome and spacious new buildings have been erected, new chairs 
have been endowed, new laboratories established and equipped—while 
in connection with special schools all over the country, scholarships 
and prizes call forth and reward the best effort of the nation’s youth. 
Forty years ago the state spent 32 million francs for education. The 
1909 budget of the Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts called 
for 293 millions—nearly two-thirds of this amount being allotted to 
Primary Instruction. 
Primary and superior instruction are free in France and over five 
million children are now annually in attendance at the public primary 
schools. Broadly speaking there are three classes of these schools 
which give strictly elementary education :— 
A.—Ecoles Maternelles. A sort of kindergarten for children of 
both sexes from 2 to 5 or 6 years old. 
B.—Ecoles Primaires Elémentaires for pupils 7 to 13 years of 
age. The course is divided as follows:— 

Ière Année 
Ile 
Cours Moyen Prk be arate ise FEE FEO Ière 
Ile 

Cours Supérieur Ière 



On completion of the cours moyen the pupil receives a certificat 
d’études primaires élémentaires. This certificate or its equivalent 
is required of every child in France. A very small proportion of those 
receiving it take up further work in the cours supérieur, in the lycées or 
in 
C.—Ecoles Primaires Supérieures. These are for children of the 
labouring class who do not aspire to a classical education, but who 
