EDUCATION. 



323 



drew all aid from Denominational Schools, greatly reduced the fees pay- 

 able by pupils, made education compulsory, and created a Government 

 Department charged with the duty of carrying out the provisions of the 

 Public Instruction Act. 



Up to the year 1880 the teachers were paid ])art]y by fixed sjiliiry and 

 partly by the foes of the pupils, the fee payable being one sliilHng u 

 week per child, with a stated reduction where more than one child 

 attended from the same family ; people who wanted a school had to 

 furnish some portion of the cost of erecting a building, and, in the case of 

 Denominational Schools, the whole cost. Under the present Act build- 

 ings arc put up and kept in repair entirely by the expenditure of public 

 money; the teacher is paid wholly by the Department, and the fees, 

 now reduced to threepence a week, are paid into the consolidated 

 revenue. All children between the ages of 6 and 14 must attend at 

 least seventy days in each half year, unless they are otherwise receiving 

 instruction, live more than 2 miles from the nearest school, are pre- 

 vented by some cause which the Minister deems sufficient, or hold a 

 certificate stating that they are educated up to a fixed standard. 'J'ho 

 instruction is secular, but this is defined so as to include lessons on 

 moral subjects and the bare facts of Scripture history, the text-book.s 

 being the Scripture lessons of the Irish National Board, Old and New 

 Testament, Numbers I and II. 



Classification of Primanj Srhooh. 



Public Schools are divided into ten classes, according to the attend- 

 ance. The 



First comprises all schools whose quarterly average does not fall Ijelow 600 



Second ., „ ,, ,, 400 



Third „ „ „ „ 300 



Fourth ,, ,, „ ,, 200 



Fifth „ „ „ „ 100 



Sixth „ „ ,, „ 50 



Seventh ,, ,, ,, >j 40 



Eighth „ „ „ „ 30 



Ninth ,, ,, ,, „ 20 



Any Public School which fails to maintain an average of 20 is reduced 

 to the rank of tenth class. 



In localities where the average will probably not i-eaeh 20, schools 

 are established called Provisional. In these, if the average is 18, the 

 school ranks as first-class Provisional ; if between 18 and 15 as 

 second-class, if between 15 and 12 as third-class. Any of these Pro- 

 visional Schools may be declared Public Schools if the average for a 

 quarter rises to 20 "or more. 



Still smaller groups of children arc provided for by Half-time 

 Schools, and House-to-house teachers. It must be difficult, as will 

 readily be seen, for any children to escape being enclosed in an educa- 

 tional drag net so comprehensive as that just described. 



Public Schools of the first, second, or third class are divided into 

 three departments : one for boys, presided over by the head master, 

 who is aided by a staff of assistants and pupil teachers ; one for girls, 

 with a head mistress and staff; one for infants, with an infant 

 mistress and staff. A fourth-class school has two departments, one 

 for boys and girls and one for infants. In the case of schools divided 

 into departments, the head master has a general supervision, but does 



