VIEWS ON EDUCATION 195 



" Our present elementary school system dates from the passing 

 of the Education Act in the middle of last century. 1 School 

 Boards were then instituted and all primary education was 

 made free. In the writer's opinion this was a fatal move. It 

 was doubtless regarded as a natural asset that every boy and girl 

 should learn to read and write and be acquainted with the elements 

 of arithmetic, but this Act was the first to differentiate between 

 the classes. In those piping days of peace the idea of a national 

 army was far from the thoughts of our statesmen ; yet it would 

 have been well had some return been demanded from those 

 on whom a benefit was being bestowed, and that return might 

 well have been some obligation on everyone receiving education 

 to serve his country. To bestow a privilege without requiring 

 a corresponding service is poor business ; it leads to pauperisation. 



It was not long before ' payment by results ' was introduced ; 

 the remuneration of the teacher depended largely on the number 

 of children who could pass, during certain specified ages, ' stan- 

 dards,' their acquirements being tested by external examiners 

 appointed by the State. 



No worse system could possibly have been adopted. It 

 fettered the originality of the teacher ; it placed before him the 

 almost impossible task of trying to equalise the attainments of 

 children of very different tendencies and capacities, and, developed 

 as it was by the pupil-teacher, it launched on the schools as 

 teachers a set of people moulded in one mould. Doubtless many 

 of these chafed under the rigid restrictions to which their teaching 

 was subjected, but there was no redress ; uniformity was the 

 order of the day. 



Later the system broke down and had to be abandoned. The 

 children were no longer tested by external examiners ; the 

 inspectors were instructed to make general reports dealing with 

 the efficiency of the schools under their charge. This change 



1 The first Elementary Education Act was passed in 1870 and was 

 amended in 1903. 



