556 THE CANADIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM. 



later passed a I'uhlic Schools Act, which is the Ijasis of its 

 present system of education. The control lies with a Board of 

 Education, consisting of Members of the Executive Council, the 

 Superintendent of Education, and the Princii^al of the Prince 

 of Wales College and Normal School. For the purjDOses of 

 administration of the Schools Act the province is di^■ided into 

 school districts, which consist of the whole town in urban cen- 

 tres, and for rural communities of areas alxjut four miles square. 

 The local management for each school is in the hands of three 

 trustees, with the exception od two t(;wn>, which have seven 

 trustees, four cf which are appointetl l)y the Board of Educa- 

 tion and three by the City Council. The schools are divided 

 into three grades — primary, advanced and first-class schools. In 

 each district an annual school meeting is held, at which a budget 

 is submitted and moneys are voted for all school purposes. The 

 amount required for the year is made up of a government grant, 

 and the remainder is obtained from a local rate levied by assess- 

 ment on property. Should the ratepayers at the annual meeting 

 so decide, they may also levy a poll-tax not exceeding one dollar. 

 The annual revenue, according to the latest return available, was 

 £43,600, of which £31.300 was received as grant and £12.300 as 

 local assessment. 



Nova Scotia. — In this province the problem is a little more 

 complex. It entered the Dominion at the time of union, carry- 

 ing with it a system of education which had only recently been 

 adopted. The control of education is vested in a Council, which 

 is identical with the Executi\-e Council, the Superintendent of 

 Education being the Secretary of the body. The Premier, as 

 Financial Secretary, is practically the Minister for Education, 

 and the Superintendent of Education becomes virtually his 

 deputy. An Advisory Board of Education, consisting of seven 

 members, five appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Covmcil. 

 and two elected by the teachers at the convention of the Provin- 

 cial Educational Association, advises the Coimcil of Public In- 

 struction and the Superintendent respecting text-books, c|uali- 

 fications and examination of teachers, courses of study, and 

 other educational matters. District Boards, each consisting of 

 not less than 7 commissioners ajipointed by the Council of Edu- 

 cation, exercise a limited jurisdiction over 33 areas, each averag- 

 ing half a county. They have the i)ower to condemn school 

 l)uildings, api)oint school trustees, and order levies of money to 

 keep schools open in cases where the ratepayers fail in respect 

 of these duties. The local management of schools is entrusted 

 to a Board of Trustees elected by the ratepayers in the school 

 sections into which the province is divided, l3ut in the towns the 

 Board consists of three members of the Town Council and two 

 api^ointed by the (government. The annual meeting acts simi- 

 larly to that of Prince lulwai-d Island, and at the same time has 

 the ])ower of determining whether compulsory attendance clauses 

 shall be effective. 



The school re\'etuie is (>btained from a (H)\ernment Grant. 



