233 



EDUCATION. 



Education and Agricultural Progress in Denmark 



and Ceylon, 



By Ananda K. Cooiuaraswamy, D.Sc. 

 It is well-known that the progress of agriculture and growth of prosperity 

 in Denmark during the last twenty or thirty years have been remarkable. 

 Without going into details, their enormous export trade to England of breakfast- 

 table commodities such a* butter, eggs, bacon etc., are aloue a proof of this. 

 The immediate cause of this progress appears to be the development of co-opera! ive 

 societies and the high level of intelligence of the peasant classes. The whole of 

 Danish agriculture is controlled by a network of local co-operative societies, in 

 close touch with Government experts ; these societies reduce expenses by dealing 

 with large quantities of produce, and at the same time teach improved methods, 

 and effect a profitable distribution of the products. It is claimed by the Danes 

 that their success is largely due to the development of the people's intelligence 

 by means of education. 



If Ave turn to Ceylon we are surprised to hear a different story. We are 

 told, not without truth, that education is demoralising the agricultural classes ; 

 the villager's son who gets a smattering of "English" education, considers 

 himself demeaned by returning to agriculture, and -he becomes an idler and a 

 ne'er-do-well — a man who falls miserably between two stools. 



How is this ? We cannot suppose that education is good for one race 

 and not for another, or that it is desirable in temperate and disastrous in 

 tropical climates. Is it possible that the explanation lies in the different kind 

 of education aimed at in the two countries? 



Let us enquire into the Danish system, to which the Danes themselves 

 attach so great a value. 1 shall extract my account from the Report of a 

 Deputation sent from Ireland to study co-operative agriculture in Denmark, 

 "Report on Co-operative Agriculture and Rural Conditions in Denmark.' 

 Dublin, 1904. 



"The most important branch of the system of education in Denmark 

 lies in the series of Popular High Schools and Agricultural Colleges. . . The 

 Popular High Schools do not teach how to make butter, cure bacon, or to 

 plough, although Denmark has become a wealthy nation by its yield of agri- 

 cultural produce, chiefly for the English market. Improvements in reading, writing 

 and arithmetic, together with the history of all nations, but especially the history 

 and literature of Denmark, are taught. Should pupils so desire it, foreign 

 languages are included in the curriculum. A strong religious feeling permeates 

 the whole course of instruction. National songs and folk lore play a more 

 'prominent part in the system of education than any otlier subject. A most 

 remarkable incident was witnessed ; prior to a lecture being given, the whole 

 of the pupils — in this case numbering 108 full-grown men — sang an old Danish 

 national song as an introduction to the work before them, and this appears to 

 be the custom in the schools before commencing nearly every lesson or lecture. 

 The whole theme of the song was the inspiration of the peasant with hop e 

 and enthusiasm in his capacity as a citizen. It is claimed in Denmark that 

 this general education, obtained at the High Schools, and not so much the 

 technical education, has been the development of the country. . . 



