EDUCATION 



The Common School System 



Bjornstjerne Bjornson has said that the Danish peasantry are 

 the most enlightened in the world ; by their cultivated intelligence 

 they have organised an agricultural industry which is the admiration 

 of all. 



The Commission, while mainly concerned with agricultural 

 tuition, were not neglectful of the elementary, continuation and 

 other schools in which the basis of general education is laid. 

 As regards its common public school system Denmark has nothing 

 striking or novel for Scottish eyes. Attendance is compulsory 

 between the ages of seven and fourteen, but most of the children 

 begin the school period at six. The schools are plain, substantial, 

 and fairly well equipped. We were assured that, "Nothing can 

 be too good for the children," but as taxes are heavy the burden 

 of providing the essentials is enough. In Copenhagen, to meet the 

 difficulty of insufficient accommodation, it is common to work the 

 schools in two shifts, one set of children attending from 8 a.m. to 

 1 P.M., and another set from 1 to 6 p.m. This thrifty plan is 

 characteristic of a thrifty people. No teacher works more than 

 six hours a day, but these hours may be distributed over the two 

 periods. In country schools it is usual for the older children 

 during summer to attend school two days a week, and to help at 

 home for four, whilst the younger attend school for four days a 

 week and stay at home for two. During winter the proportion of 

 time is reversed. The opinion, however, is growing in favour of 

 full school attendance. 



In the elementary schools the subjects of instruction are similar 

 to those in our own country, and the advancement of the pupils at 

 the various ages is not greater than in Scotland. Nature study is 

 taken up much in the same way as in Scotland. There is, 

 however, much more out-of-doors instruction, and the children are 

 carried freely on the State railways to the country, where lessons 

 are given direct from Nature, and history is taught in the scenes 

 where national events took place. In connexion with a school 

 recently erected in Copenhagen a garden has been provided for 

 growing specimens useful in teaching. It was planted only two 

 months before our visit, and arrangements were in progress to 

 use a part as a nursery for elementary instruction in forestry. 



In the towns a foreign language, usually German, is taught 

 between the ages of twelve and fourteen. The number of Danes 

 who speak good English points to efficient teaching of modern 

 languages at a later stage. 



In Copenhagen there is an officially organised system of 

 B " 



