EDUCATION AND ILLITERACY. 



229 



ment neglected to provide sufficient accommo- 

 dation for the school population. Many of the 

 poorer communes did little or nothing for pop- 

 ular education, and it was left largely to the 

 religions congregations. Government aid to 

 primary education in 1860 amounted to 5,424,- 

 035 francs; in 1870, under the empire, it was 

 9,817,513 francs; in 1877 it had risen to 22,- 

 035,760, and in 1882 the government assistance 

 to the communes, to enable them to fulfill the 

 requirements of the new primary education 

 law, amounted to about 50,000,000 francs. In 

 addition to this the departments spent about 

 25,000,000 francs, and the communes 60,000,000, 

 for primary education alone. The statistics of 

 illiteracy have been reduced to a very notable 

 extent, and promise practically to disappear 

 under the effect of the compulsory education 

 act. 



IN BELGIUM AND OTHER COUNTRIES. State 

 aid to education in Belgium has risen from 

 6,425,000 francs in 1870 to 20,400,000 in 

 1882. While attendance is still optional, every 

 effort is made to place the rudiments of edu- 

 cation within the reach of all. In Italy, also, 

 a great advance has been made. The number 

 of public elementary schools increased from 

 32,782 in 1870 to 41,108 in 1879, and the gov- 

 ernment grant for their support has risen from 

 $3,000,000 in 1873 to $6,200,000 in 1882. The 

 law makes attendance obligatory, and ener- 

 getic efforts have been made of late to provide 

 for its full enforcement. In addition to the 

 action of the Government, local and private 

 efforts have been greatly stimulated. In Prus- 

 sia and some other German countries there are 

 many endowed schools, but the government 

 expenditure in that kingdom for the year 1882 

 was $11,458,856, chiefly for the establishment 

 of new institutions. Austria adopted a com- 

 pulsory school law in 1868, at which time the 

 bulk of the agricultural population of the 

 country was illiterate. The government ex- 

 penditure in aid of local effort to provide pri- 

 mary education under the law increased from 

 $2,300,000 in 1870 to $6,500,000 in 1881. 

 Russia, with a population of 78,500,000, of 

 which 15,000,000 are of school age, has only 

 28,357 elementary schools, attended by 1,213,- 

 325 children. Of the government grant of 

 $9,000,000 to schools of all grades, less than 

 half a million is devoted to elementary edu- 

 cation. 



EDUCATION IN GREAT BRITAIN. Prior to the 

 passage of the Elementary Education Act in 

 1870, Great Britain was accustomed to make 

 parliamentary grants in aid of elementary 

 schools. These amounted in 1868 to 680,- 

 425 for England and Wales. In 1882 they had 

 risen to 2,749,863. The number of schools 

 increased from 10,751 in 1872 to 17,614 in 

 1880, and the number of pupils from 2,397,745 

 to 4,240,753 in the same period. In Scotland 

 the number of schools increased from 1,962 in 

 1872 to 3,056 in 1880, and the number of chil- 

 dren in attendance from 206,090 to 404,618. 



The parliamentary grants for Scottish schools 

 for 1882-'83 amounted to 468,512. The num- 

 ber of elementary schools in Ireland is 7,522, 

 pupils 1,031,995, parliamentary aid 729,868. 

 The public schools established in England under 

 the act of 1870 are known as " board-schools," 

 to distinguish them from the great endowed 

 institutions which have long been known as 

 "public schools," and from the "national" 

 schools, which are attached to the Established 

 Church. 



BOARD-SCHOOLS. The board-schools are not 

 absolutely free, but small weekly fees, varying 

 from two to ten cents per week, are paid by 

 the pupils. The bulk of their support comes 

 from local taxes or rates, but there is a gov- 

 ernment grant amounting to $3.50 to $4 a 

 year for each pupil. Attendance upon the 

 board-schools where they have been estab- 

 lished is compulsory, unless the parent elects 

 to send his child to some other, and the de- 

 nominational schools are, for distinction's sake, 

 known as voluntary. It is said that though 

 the accommodations and instruction in the 

 board-schools are generally superior to those 

 in the voluntary schools, the latter are, as a 

 rule, preferred by people of means and social 

 pretensions. The voluntary schools are al- 

 lowed to share in the government aid, on con- 

 dition that they do not carry religious instruc- 

 tion beyond a certain limit ; that they follow 

 the government schedule of study and submit 

 to government inspection, and do not make 

 their own charges exceed eighteen cents per 

 week for each pupil. The total cost of board- 

 school education in England and Wales, in- 

 cluding London, is $20.40 per year for each 

 pupil, and in London alone it is $28. This in- 

 cludes an allowance for invested capital. Leav- 

 ing out the original cost of buildings, it is 

 $14.58 per year for each pupil in the whole 

 country, and about $20 in London. Each school- 

 building contains three separate schools or de- 

 partments : one for infants of both sexes, one 

 for boys, and one for girls, each with a head 

 teacher. Children are admitted to the infant 

 department at three years of age, and few re- 

 main in the school after fourteen. The course 

 of instruction above the infant department is 

 divided into seven grades prescribed by the 

 Government, each occupying a year. The 

 schools open with religious exercises, but the 

 pupils are not required to be present at these. 

 The salaries of head-masters of boys' depart- 

 ments are $1,000 to $1,200 per year; those of 

 mistresses of girls' departments, about $600 ; 

 of male assistants, $550 ; of female assistants, 

 $400. Members of the school boards are 

 elected for a term of three years, and receive 

 no compensation. The London School Board 

 consists of 53 members, divided among ten 

 districts, the largest having eight and the small- 

 est four. The London Board is contemplating 

 the establishment of schools for " higher ele- 

 mentary education." 



A new education code has been adopted for 



