236 



NATURE 



[April 21, 1910 



moted from one stage to the next, and the amount of 

 work set for the form to master has to be small enough 

 to be done by some of the more stupid boys in the given 

 time. The inevitable result is that the ablest boys mark 

 time from first to last throughout their school career. 

 They have a year to do work which they could do in half 

 the time, so that their powers are never developed by 

 sustained or strenuous effort. 



Individual excellence is sacrificed in yet another way, 

 according to the second guiding principle of secondary 

 education stated above. Since all subjects are done in 

 form, a particular aptitude for a special subject is never 

 developed at school. Our best boys in any given . subject 

 attain a far higher standard before they leave school than 

 is possible in Germany. Yet by preventing the possibilitv 

 of specialisation at school the German system ensures for 

 every boy a sound general education. Every boy is com- 

 pelled to take all subjects prescribed by the syllabus of 

 his school. Only recently, and in isolated cases, has this 

 rule been remitted in the highest forms by way of experi- 

 ment. 



At the university all this is changed. There is no pre- 

 scribed course of studies of any kind, and no compulsory 

 attendance. The German student enjoys almost complete 

 liberty, both as regards his studies and his behaviour. Yet 

 in the majority of cases he makes good, use of his time, 

 partly because his allowance will not admit of anv vast 

 extravagance, partly because his position in life frequently 

 depends upon his passing the final examination, but chiefly, 

 I think, because those Germans who go to the universitier? 

 do so, for the most part, because they have pronounced 

 and genuine intellectual interests. The freedom which 

 they are allowed in the choice of their subjects, and the 

 general lack of supervision and of interim examinations, 

 react favourably upon the results of their work. They 

 carry into life an active interest in some branch of know- 

 ledge, which they frequently pursue as long as they live. 



The German Government is convinced that education 

 will be the determining factor in the future of the nation. 

 In 1908 the Prussian Minister of Education framed a 

 whole new scheme of regulations intended to prevent 

 mechanical learning and routine work, to foster self- 

 reliance and personal initiative in the pupils of the 

 elementary schools. Observation is to be encouraged in 

 open-air lessons and expeditions, and the children are to 

 learn something of the working of commerce in modern 

 times, of the means of transport, and of Germany's 

 colonial activity ; and in continuation schools commercial 

 education is being put within the reach of an ever- 

 increasing number of students. In 1907 there were, morp- 

 over, 1600 industrial continuation schools for bovs, and 

 50,000 students were working at rural continuation' schools 

 as compared with 8000 twenty years before. The State 

 contribution for industrial continuation schools has been 

 increased 100 per cent, since 1901. 



Besides all this there has been a remarkable increase in 

 Realschulen and Hohere Burgerschulen with a six ye.ars' 

 course, of which Prof. Sadler has given such a flatterini^ 

 account in special reports. In the technical colleges of 

 university rank the increase in the number of students is 

 almost as striking. Mention should also be made of the 

 National Chemical Laboratory, for which . a fund of a 

 million marks is to be raised. The Prussian Government 

 has offered a site for the building free of cost, and the 

 results of its erection should be of world-wide importance. 

 New academies of commerce have sprung uo at Cologne. 

 Frankfort, and elsewhere, and the Hamburg Colonial 

 Institute is to be made into an establishment of univ«rsitv 

 standard for those who intend to give their lives to colonial 

 ent<=rprise. 



On turning to France we find, in a minor degree, two 

 of the prominent characteristics which we noted in German 

 education, first, a profound sense of the unique importance 

 of education, and a serious effort in recent years to improve 

 the pxistinj? system ; secondly, that genuine intellectual 

 interest which is imparted to pupils in the secondary 

 schools. 



-As in pre-Reformation da\s, France is chi'^flv dis- 

 tinguished for its secondary and university education. 

 Primarv edttrnfion is still in n lam^ntabl'^ condition, f-^r 

 the law of 1882, which m.-'d'^ it compulsory, is practically 



XO. 21 12, VOL. 83] 



a dead letter. Of four and a half million pupils, nearl 

 one million were recently found not to be in attendanc 

 on a given day. The percentage of illiterates is even no^ 

 increasing. M. Steeg, the chairman of the Budget Conr 

 mittee, in ' submitting the estimates for 1909, said :- 

 " While in Germany and Switzerland there is not on 

 illiterate in 200 inhabitants, in France, out of every hundre 

 young men, four or five cannot read, and out of ever 

 hundred young women si.x or seven are absolutel 

 illiterate." -As a matter of fact (according to the Hanc 

 worterbuch fiir Staatswissenschaften of 1908), the numbe 

 of illiterates in Germany was two in every ten thousan 

 recruits, in France 400, while in England 300 out c 

 every 10,000 people married were unable to sign th 

 register. The alarm caused by the increasing illiteracy i 

 France has led to severe criticism of the methods and scop 

 of the instruction in primary schools. The main fau 

 found with the official course of instruction is that it i 

 too ambitious. The higher primary schools, intended fc 

 children between the ages of twelve and fifteen, are moi 

 satisfactory in their results, but they are few in numbei 

 There are also practical schools of commerce and industn 

 of which there were sixty in 1907, but they interfere wit 

 the general education of the children by taking them fc 

 practical training at the early age of twelve. . Privai 

 enterprise has in recent years provided continuation school; 

 at which there were in 1907 half a million adult attendant 

 and these are at the present moment under the consider; 

 tion of the French Government. The so-called .universiti 

 populaires, for the spread of political and social theorie 

 are on the decline. 



Secondary education comprises the Lyc^es established 1: 

 the State in conjunction with the municipalities, and tV 

 Colleges established by the communities. Following 

 preparatory course of two years, the Lyc^e course propi 

 is divided into two cycles; the lower cycle covers foi 

 years, and comprises a classical course and a non-classic: 

 course; the upper cycle comprises three years. The pn 

 fjramme for the first two of the three years is arranged ' 

 four parallel courses, as follows: — (a) classical coursf 

 (h) Latin and modern languages ; (c) Latin and science; 

 (d) sciences and modern languages. Following these t%< 

 years is the class of philosophy and mathematics, each si( 

 comprising a classical and a non-classical section. 11 

 bachelor's diploma is awarded to students who comple 

 either of the full secondary courses of instruction and pa 

 the degree examination. 



As regards universities in France, that of Paris stan^ 

 out with great prominence. It is richly endowed, ai 

 receives from the State nearly five million francs p 

 annum. It is a vast and excellent institution for tenchii 

 and research. Its library consists of about 580,0' 

 volumes, and the most eminent scholars of the country a 

 among its professors. In January of last year there we 

 16,935 students attending this great University, while t 

 fourteen provincial universities were attended by on 

 18,000 students, and their income proper amounted to n 

 more than two and a half million francs, besid'^s t^ 

 million francs from loans ; but it is to be expected that t 

 provincial universities in France will have a prospero 

 future before them, since the energy displayed in the 

 and the work done by professors and students are of 

 hifh order. 



Besides the universities, France possesses several spec 

 schools of university rank, all of which enjoy a '^"^ 

 reputation, among them the College de France, th" Ec<j 

 Pratique des Hautes Etudes, the tcole Nationale 

 Chartes, and the School for Oriental Languages. 



Impartial judgment of the French system of educat; 

 reveals a great deal that is excellent, especially in seconds 

 schools and at the universities. The progress made sir 

 1872 is very considerable, though much yet remains to 

 done. 



If the studv of educational systems prevailing abroad 

 of special interest to us at the present time, it is becai 

 England's attention has been attracted by the commerc 

 and industrial succpss of other nations which have lo 

 since held the conviction expressed by Signor Luzzatti 

 the scientific congress at Padua in September last in th( 

 words : — " The fatp of nations is nowadays decided in th 

 secondary schools." The belief that there may be 



