528 



NA TURE 



[^April 2J, 1876 



tribute of respect that the Academy could pay to Wilde's 

 memory would be to complete this work. Few know the 

 hours that were stolen from professional woik, from the 

 enjoyment of social life, and from much-needed rest, 

 during the years that were engaged in this work. Despite 

 the criticisms of some who knew little of what they criti- 

 cised, this catalogue will always remain as a testimony to 

 the authors energy and ability ; already has it proclaimed 

 far and wide what a storehouse of treasure exists under 

 the Academy's roof. Sir William Wilde's many good 

 qualities will keep his memory alive in the hearts of those 

 who knew him, and when these are dead and gone it will 

 still and for ever hover around the collection of the anti- 

 quities of the Royal Irish Academy. 



MIDDLE-CLASS EDUCATION IN HOLLAND 

 ''pHE following article on this subject, " from a Corre- 

 -»■ spondent," appeared in the limes of Tuesday : — 



It is not unfrequently the case that great nations search 

 laboriously for the solution of problems which smaller 

 peoples have completely solved, as one may say, v/ithout 

 effort. We old-fashioned English are at present devoting 

 much pains to discover a good system of education for 

 our middle classes, and yet we have only to cross the 

 Channel in order to see in actual work one altogether satis- 

 factory in a country whose manners, traditions, and laws 

 are almost those of our own. 



According to the constitution of Holland there are three 

 degrees of education — Primary, Middle, and Superior. 

 As the Primary Education comprehends all schools in- 

 tended for children from six to twelve years of age, and 

 as the Universities, the Gymnasia, and other establish- 

 ments where the study of the ancient languages occupies 

 the first place, are considered as belonging to the Supe- 

 rior class, it follows that all educational establishments 

 not included in one or other of these categories are re- 

 garded as establishments for middle-class education. 



It appears that until the year 1862 the Dutch were 

 no further advanced in respect of this kind of education 

 than we are now. Wishing to put an end to this state of 

 things, the Minister of the Interior (the Home Secretary) 

 of the time, M. Thorbecke, formerly Professor in Leyden 

 University, presented to Parliament a bill, which was 

 passed into law at the beginning of the following year. 

 From the discussions which preceded the adoption of 

 this law, we learn that its object is to insure a suitable 

 education to young people who are not obliged to learn a 

 business before the age of from fourteen to seventeen 

 years, and for whom, although they are not intended to 

 take up University studies, a deeper and wider instruction 

 is necessary than that which can be obtained at the primary 

 school. 



Setting out from the principle that youths who quit 

 the primary schools may be divided into two classes 

 — those who are able to devote only two years, and 

 those who can afford to give five years to further study, 

 it was decided that there should be two kinds of middle- 

 class schools, the one to have a two years' course, and 

 the other a course of five years. 



The programme of study in the establishments in which 

 the course is one of two years, and which are called Lower 

 Middle- Class Schools, includes, in the first place, the 

 elements of Mathematics, Mechanics, Physics, Chemistry, 

 Natural History, Geography, History, and the Dutch 

 Language, and in addition, Drawing, Gymnastics, and 

 seme idea of Political Economy and of Technology for 

 tov.ns, and of Agriculture for the country. The teachers in 

 these establishments are moreover required to devote the 

 evenings to courses for young artisans or agriculturalists 

 who are prevented from taking the courses which are 

 given during the day. 



As to the number of these schools, the law requires 

 that each commune whose population exceeds 10,000 shall 



establish at its own expense at least one Lower Middle- 

 Class School. 



The programme for those schools in which the course 

 is one of five years, and which wc may designate Upper 

 Middle Class Schools is of course more extensive. ' It 

 embraces first the branches included in the Lower 

 Schools, but, as might be expected, this education in the 

 Upper Schools goes much deeper. Then come tht-e^ 

 foreign languages — French, EngUsh, and German. The 

 law requires, moreover, that the pupils should receive 

 some notion of the political institutions of the country and 

 of its statistics, including those of the Colonies. Needless 

 to add, that in a country like Holland the tenure of land 

 must form an integral part of education. ^ \ 



The Higher Schools are naturally those from which the 

 most important results are to be expected, atid whithi 

 from the English point of view, are best worth careful 

 study. It is simply the truth to say that I have been 

 amazed at what I have seen. It is a very remarkable 

 thing that although no commune is obliged to establish a 

 Higher School— only the State is obliged to maintain 

 five — yet at the present time there is no town having a 

 population of above 15,000 which has not its Higher 

 School in full work. A still niore irehiarkdble thing i3» 

 that nowhere do the School feds exceed 5/. a year. As an 

 Englishman, \ waS very curious to learn how they were 

 able to give at the rate of 5/. a year an education 

 which, in our happier England, can scarcely be ob-. 

 tained at all. This is what I learned. The expenses 

 of a Higher School (not including the maintenance of 

 the building) amount to about 1,750/. per annum. S,up» 

 posing the school tob5 attended by 100 pupils (a rriediilrii 

 estimate), the receipts, under the head of school fees, 

 do tiot exceed 500/. There thus remains a deficit of 

 1,250/. ; but the State generally provides a subsidy of 

 7,000 florins (about 583/.), and the town has therefore 

 only to make up the difference by contributing 667/. We 

 have supposed the school to be attended by 100 pupils, 

 it is evident that when this riumbef is exceeded, the 

 receipts rise in proportion. This, however, is not always 

 to the advantage of the Communal budget, for it should 

 be known that in Holland a class is not allowed to con- 

 tain more than thirty pupils, the result being that a greater 

 number necessitates the creation of a double class, and this 

 may require an increase in the number of teachers. Let 

 us note, also, in passing, that the communes which are 

 not able to bear the expense of a complete Higher School 

 are authorised to estabhsh schools of three classes cor- 

 responding to the three lower classes of a complete 

 school. 



The Communal Councils (town councils) may appoint 

 such teachers as appear to them efficient. It is only 

 necessary that these present certificates of competency 

 and character, and that they have consequently passed 

 the examinations required by the law. There are ex- 

 empted from these examinations the bearers of cer- 

 tain academic degrees ; thus for the mathematical and 

 physical sciences the greater part of the candidates 

 are former students of the Universities. These are 

 generally young doctors of science who have taken a 

 high place. Holland is not slow in showing her grati- 

 tude to them. 



I have said that in the Higher Schools the school fees, 

 although the law has not fixed a maximum, do not exceed 

 5/. For the Lower Schools the maximum is i/, per an- 

 num, but this figure is rarely reached. 



It is evident from the above that when a boy of twelve 

 years of age leaves the Primary School and is not imme- 

 diately obliged to earn money, his father, called in to 

 decide whether or not he shall be sent to a Middle School, 

 has no obstacle to face in the matter of school fees, h, 

 foreman or superior workman in a position to keep his 

 son till he is fourteen years of age, can easily pay a shilling 

 a month for school fees ; 5/. would be an almost insuper- 



