E.—l2.

REPOKT UPON STATE EDUCATION.

Digest. The subjects available to be taught in ail the elementary schools 1 are of two kinds— those for which grants may be made ; 2 and those which may, in addition to the above subjects, and including religious subjects, be taken, but without pecuniary State recognition. 3 Again, the grant-earning subjects are divided into —(a) "obligatory," and (b) "optional;" and these latter into («) " class," and (b) " specific." 3 There are code, although not statutory, provisions for infant 4' and evening schools, 5 half-time scholars, 0 and pensions for teachers engaged prior to 9th May, 18G2; 7 and the infant school system is deserving of especial notice. The colleges in England 8 for training teachers are residential; but they are not State institutions, being merely voluntary ones receiving State aid, and charging fees. 9 The colleges in Scotland, which are partially affiliated to the national universities, are reputed to be particularly excellent. 10 Pupil teaching exists, and is said to be the weakest point in the system. 11 There are statutory provisions against the employment of uneducated children, 12 and in Scotland the State requirements in this respect are more stringent. 13 The Royal Commission on Technical Instruction recommended " that the provision at present confined ' o Scotland, which prescribes that children under the age of fourteen shall not be allowed to work as full-timers in factories and workshops, unless they have passed the Fifth Standard, be extended to England and Wales." 14 Scholarships, 10 school libraries, 16 and special training of deaf-mutes 17 are not objects for which State grants are made. The only State provisions made in England and Wales for education, other than elementary, are yearly grants made for the promotion of science, 18 and an annual vote of £10,500 in aid of three colleges in Wales. 10 In addition to children under inspection by the Education Department, there are in England and Wales, according to return quoted at foot hereof, " some 54,681 scholars in schools under the inspection of other departments, viz. : 1,295 between 3 and 13 in naval schools; 20 9,198 on the school books at home stations of army schools; 739 in reformatories; 8,114 in industrial schools; and 35,335 in average daily attendance in the workhouse, separate union, and parochial and distiict schools under the Local Government Board." 21 State education in Scotland differs somewhat; and both the processes and results of public education there are, upon the whole, superior.23 Whether the primary cause of this superiority be to any extent the invigorating climate need not here be discussed. But in estimating the proximate causes, the high aims of the schools and the thoroughness of the teaching should not be overlooked. Indeed, in most parishes there are teachers who are university men. Further, the circumstance should be

Subjects taught in schools.

Code provisions for infant and evening schools, half-time scholars, and pensions. Training colleges.

Pupil teachers. Injurious employment of children.

Scholarships, school libraries, and deaf-mute training. Secondary and higher education.

Special elementary schools.

Differences in Scotch system and its superiority.

T See table p. 17", hereafter; and especially Mr. Cumin's evidence before Royal Commission, 1886; and G.R., 1885-86, p. xiii. 3 Code, Arts. 15 and 16, and G.R., 1885-86, p. xiii., and seq. 8 Art. 17, and G.R., 1885-86, pp. xv. and xvi. But note recent change in Scotland. G.R., 1885-86, Scot., p. xxix. * Code, Arts. 106-108, and 126, and see G.R., 1885-86, pp. xii. and xiii. 5 Arts. 25-29, 31, 32, and 113, and see G.R., 1885-86., p. iv. 6 Arts. 11 and 12, and G.R., 1885-86, p. xiv. 7 Art. 134, and see G.R., 1885-86, p. xxxv. But no new pensions are granted, see Code, s. 134. 6 For definition see Code, Art. 116, and generally see (a) G.R., 1885-80, pp. iv., xviii., and seq.~; 1883-84, p. viii., 121, and 483, 484; (b) Code, Arts. 116, 117, compare with N.Z. Regs. Gazette, 92, 1878. 8 See (a) Code, Arts. 116-133; (b) G.R., 1883-84, pp. xix., xx., and 468-494; (c) 1.E.C., vol. xvi.; (d) "Times," 20 Sept., 1884, reporting Rev. Dr. Crosskey. 10 See Scotch Code, 188G, Arts. 83-105. Seo also 1.E.C., vol. xvi., p. 158, and 15.') and seq., and G.E., Scot., 1885-86, pp. xxiii. and viii. 11 See, for instance, G.R., 1882-83, p. 392 ; and for late statistics, G.R., 1885-86, p. xxii. For interpretation of term see Code, 1886, Art. 33. 12 E. Act, 1876, espec. sees. 5, 6 and 47,48; and 1880, s. 4. 13 Scotch Act, 1883, sees. 6, 7.

11 8.C., vol. 1, p. 537, also pp. 524-5, and see Scotch Rept., 18S3-84, p. xv., and 1885-86, p. xiv. 16 Except in connection with Science and Art Dcpt. 16 But see— (a) 8.C., vol. i., p. 523; and vol. iii. answers 911-1-17, 970, 2,787, 2,788, 2,947, and 2,948. (6) G.E., 1883-84, p. 253. " The fact is that the instruction given at the Board schools may be said to lose half its value unless the desire thus incited to gain knowledge can be gratified by free libraries."—See " Illustrated London News," 24* April, 1886, p. 446. In Scotland, however, there are school libraries in 179 schools.—G.R., Scot., 1885-86, p. xx. On " Pedagogical Libraries " see Circulars of Information of the Bureau of Education, No. 1, 1885. " City School Systems in the United States," by the late John D. Philbrick, LL.D, (hereafter termed Dr. Philbrick), p. 182, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1885. See also " Journal of Ed.," July, 1886, p. 229. j " See Special Report herein. ilB See 31st Report and Supplements to 31st and 32nd Repts. of Science and Art Dept., &c. 10 Bangor, Abervstwith, and Cardifi. See also " Times," 28 Mar., 1885. I 20 Report herewith. :i G.R., 1883-84, p. xiii. But see later return published this year (1886), " Pall Mall Budget," 25 March, 1886, p. 27. 22 See also 1.E.C., vol. xv., p. 297, xiii., p. 195. For comparison Eng. and Scotch Systems, see work by Henry Oraik, M.A., LL.D., now See. to Scotch Ed. Dopt. Maomillan and Co., 1884, espec. pp. 143-9 and 159.

10