190 REPORT — 1873. 



where parents and society are indifferent to the education of children, and would 

 otherwise systematically neglect it. Its educational value has been overrated. 

 Reporting on this district in 1870, Mr. School-Inspector Wilde justly remarks that 

 its advantage is the regular attendance which it ensures where work is regular ; 

 but he observes : — " The disadvantage of the system is that parents, knowing their 

 children will be obliged to attend school when they begin to work, do not send 

 them while young, on the plea that when they go to the mill they will get their 

 schooling." 3. The character of the education imparted in the elementary schools 

 would be most clearly shown if we could know how lon^ the children remain at 

 school, and what progress they make in their studies. We want to know what 

 proportion of the 12,028 are presented for examination, what they are examined in, 

 what they know of each subject, and what is the mental culture effected. The 

 atithor cannot give exact information on these points. The inspector for the district, 

 Mr. Baily, has kindly supplied the following facts : — In the forty schools he in- 

 spected between September 1872 and March 1873 iu Bradford the average attend- 

 ance was 10,333 ; the number qualified for examination 7601 ; actually presented 

 for examination 6319; number of passes, in reading 5092, in writing 5270, in 

 arithmetic 3859, in one special subject 169, a second special subject 87. Thus out 

 of the ten thousand in average attendance, only 3859 pass in arithmetic in all the 

 standards. The inspector is unable to give the numbers in each standard. As 

 a substitute for such specific information, it may assist us to an approximate con- 

 clusion if we assume that the Bradford elementary schools are equal to the average 

 of such schools throughout the country. Applying to the statistics of the Bradford 

 schools the proportions that we find exemplified in the last report of the department 

 for the whole of the inspected schools of England and Wales, we should nave the 

 following results. Out of the average attendance in our fifty elementary schools of 

 12,028, there would be :— 



Qualified for examination , 8334 



Actually presented for examination 7000 



Presented in the first three standards, I. to III 5608 



or 82 per cent. 



Presented m the upper three standards, TV. to VI 1243 



or 18 per cent. 



That is, out of 19,434 on the registers, and 12,028 in average attendance, only 1243 

 would be presented in Standards IV., V., and VI., while 5698 are presented in the 

 earlier standards. Further, as to those that would pass without failure in any sub- 

 ject. According to the same proportions, the Bradford schools would pass in 

 Standards I. to III., 3528, and in Standards IV. to VI., 690; that is, out of 19,434 

 on the registers, and 12,028 in average attendance, only short of 700 would be 

 insti-ucted sufficiently to be able to pass without failure in the higher standards. 

 Now, when we remember that the highest standard only requires in arithmetic a 

 knowledge of proportion, fractions, and decimals, and a corresponding proficiency 

 in reading and writing, these facts indubitably show what a miserable state our 

 system of education is in. 4. In trying to form a judgment of the character of the 

 education supplied in the public elementary schools in this town, there is one other 

 feature of the general system that must just be mentioned, although its workings 

 cannot be brought out here. The author refers to the inherent tendency of fostering 

 mechanical teaching, mere memoriter knowledge and cramming, rather than the 

 acquisition of accurate knowledge, the unfolding of the faculties, and the framing 

 of these to right habits of thought. It would be interesting to know what is the 

 cost of the agencies which achieve these meagi-e results. This cannot be given 

 exactly. Out of the fifty elementary schools now in existence, thirty-eight gained 

 Government grants last year ; the rest are seeking for these gi-ants. These thirty- 

 eight schools got £6883 17s. lOf^. from the Imperial fund last year, and for the 

 operations of the yeai- the fifty schools will obtain from £8000 to £9000 of the 

 parliamentary vote. This large amount of public money is spent in Bradford on 

 what are called " efficient " schools. No teachers, however competent, can secure 

 a really good education without a regular, continuous attendance for a series of years 

 on the part of the children, Oiu* system fails because it wants the condition las 



