Education 331 



to coutinue likewise to pay fees to the private school- 

 master they can do so, but it is not likely that tliey 

 will. Parents neglecting to send tlieir children to 

 school (either public or private) are fined ; and if they 

 persist, or if the children are ill-treated at home, or 

 receive a bad example there, they can be taken away 

 and placed in other families, the parents still being 

 forced to pay for their maintenance. 



The Board Schools, as we may call them, are main- 

 tained by the townships or parishes. And they are 

 governed by a Board, of which the chairman is the 

 pastor of the parish ; or, in the towns, one of the 

 pastors nominated by the bishop. This fact shows 

 how strong is the position which the State Eeligion 

 holds in Norway. A considerable part of the cost of 

 free education is defrayed out of tlie revenue of the 

 Church lands, which were alienated at the time of the 

 Iveformation. The balance of expenditure is made up 

 partly from what may be called rates, partly from State 

 grants, or, in other words, out of taxation. The object 

 of the primary education has been described as ' to com- 

 plete the home education ; to sow the seeds of a true 

 Christian knowledge, and to give the minds of the 

 children such a formation as befits every citizen of the 

 State ; and to impart such elements of knowledge as 

 niav enable the children to continue tlieir education 

 in later life according to their means.' 



The subjects taught at these primary schools are read- 

 ing, religion, Bible history, according to the authorised 

 manuals, reading of the Bible and of the Psalms, reading 

 from some appointed books, which treat principally of 

 physical geography, natural science and history ; writing, 



