Education

Education. Practically the systematic elementary education of the children of the poorer classes in England dates from the beginning of this century. There were from the earliest times of our history endeavours to give instruction in one form or another, and from the Norman Conquest to the dissolution of the monasteries the Church founded schools, established the universities, and aided generally the work of education. Edward VI. founded a number of grammar schools throughout England. In the 18th century the Society for Promoting Educational Knowledge had founded a large number of free schools, and the rise of Methodism was accompanied by the erection of schools in connection with chapels.. But it is to Dr. Bell and Joseph Lancaster that we owe the first rudimentary forms of a school organisation and of a method of popular instruction, which have-developed into the system which now exists. Dr. Bell was a Scottish clergyman with a love for natural knowledge and a gift for imparting it. He was urged by a friend "to go to India to lecture on natural philosophy and to do work in the way of tuition." He sailed in 1787 for Calcutta, but on reaching Madras he was invited by the committee of a military male orphan asylum to remain and take charge of the school. He agreed. There he learned from the schools of Malabar to teach reading and writing simultaneously by means of sand, in which the pupils formed the letters of the alphabet; and he devised the scheme of employing little boys as monitors in place of grown teachers. He returned to England in 1797, and issued a report on his Madras experiment in teaching. This report attracted much attention. Its most notable effect was that produced on a Quaker, Joseph Lancaster, son of a tradesman in Deptford. At the age of eighteen he had opened a school in his father's house. It was about this time he met with Dr. Bell's report, and in the year 1804 wrote to him from the "Free School, Borough Road," asking for advice, and to be allowed to have an interview with Dr. Bell. This request was granted, and they met in 1805.

Their history, so far as they were mutually concerned, was from this time one of fierce controversy, jealousy, and hatred. It was sadly typical of the subsequent results of rival, but well meant, endeavours to found a national system of popular education, but it is entirely apart from our purpose to consider it further than this mention of it.

The success of Joseph Lancaster was very marked. His private school in Southwark rose in two years to more than a thousand scholars. He was patronised by dukes, eminent members of Parliament, and finally by royalty. But his character was not equal to the strain of popularity. He was incapable of the business management and financial control of his affairs. He is said to have been vain and improvident. A few influential friends - Whig noblemen, rich Quakers, and Dissenters - paid his debts, established a society in his honour and under his name - The Royal Lancasterian Institution - but in the course of a few years a complete severance between Lancaster and his friends took place, and in 1814 the British and Foreign School Society was founded, on the principle that the education should be Christian, though not sectarian, and that the method should be monitorial. Of this method it was said by a contemporary admirer that by its means "one master can teach a thousand, or even greater number of children, not only as well, but a great deal better than they can possibly be taught by the old methods, and at an expense of less than five shillings a year for each" (Edinburgh Review, 1810). In 1818 Lancaster emigrated to America; from that time to his death in 1833 his life was one of alternating prosperity and disappointment.

In contrast to him, Dr. Bell, who left England in 1787 with £128 10s. in his purse, returned to England exactly ten years afterwards with £25,935 16s. 5d. He was a careful, prudent man, invested his savings profitably, and obtained even more profitable preferments in the Church. He has been generally regarded as the founder of the "National Society for Promoting Education in the Principles of the Established Church," but it appears he was not even on its first committee. However, the society's existence was due to his influence, and his methods of instruction were adopted in the schools.

For the next twenty years the elementary education of the poor of England was practically under the care, and, so far as it existed at all, was due to the benevolence and religious zeal of those two societies. But it became increasingly evident that the voluntary resources were not able to meet educational necessities. This fact was insisted on with special emphasis by those statesmen and public writers who held the doctrine that it was the duty of the State to provide elementary education for the poor. Many efforts were made by men like Sydney Smith to arouse public feeling on the subject, and by members of Parliament to introduce Educational Bills into the House of Commons. All these efforts failed, but in the year 1834 the Government granted £20,000 towards the building of schools. This grant was to be equally divided between the National and British and Foreign Schools Societies. It did not pass the House of Commons without some opposition. Mr. Hume objected to it on economical grounds, and Mr. Cobbett from the belief that schoolmasters were "a new race of idlers." Subsequently the grant was divided according to the voluntary subscriptions raised by the societies, and, as the National Society was the richer of the two, the Church schools gradually absorbed the larger share. This led to a step which was the most important in the development of a scheme of national education. In the year 1839, from being a subscriber to the funds of the two societies for the building of schools, the Government increased its grant to £30,000, and administered it by means of a department of the Privy Council. This grant was continued to be appropriated to building purposes; the quality of education remained very much the same as it had been left by Dr. Bell and Joseph Lancaster. A competent witness said of it, "Nothing, or next to nothing, is learned, and the parents merely pay for having their children kept out of harm's way." The reports published by the Committee of Council, the Statistical Society, and quarterly reviews of the state of accommodation, of the attendance of children, and, above all, of the character of the teachers, led the Government in 1843 to take a still further step and vote £40,000 for the school-houses, and teachers', houses.

The year 1846 was the epoch of the celebrated minutes of the Committee of Education. From 1833 to that year the gross amount of parliamentary grant was £490,000, out of which schools had been built capable of accommodating 550,000 scholars. The proposals of the Government were to substitute for the old monitorial system the apprenticeship of elder scholars under the name of pupil teachers; to provide, under the name of Queen Scholarships, exhibitions to normal colleges, to be for those pupil teachers who at the termination of their apprenticeship should pass successfully an examination; to make, under the name of augmentation grants, a payment to the head teachers of schools for the instruction of their pupil teachers out of school hours. The system of inspection of schools, which had been hitherto chiefly optional on the part of the managers, to be extended, the grants to teachers depending upon the result. In spite of all these arrangements, the attendance of children at school was miserably low, and in 1853, Lord John Russell being President of the Council, the Government introduced a Bill which would have placed the education of the urban population in the hands of town councils. The Bill was withdrawn, but by a minute of Council a limited capitation grant was made to managers on condition that the scholars attended 176 days in the year, that the teacher should qualify himself by holding a Government certificate, and that three-fourths of the scholars were presented to H.M. Inspector for examination. In January, 1856, this grant was extended to the whole country; the total grant for education rose from £160,000 to £460,000. It was in this year that the first vice-president to the Council was appointed. In 1858 the Government established a kind of judicial commission, under the presidency of the Duke of Newcastle, to inquire and report on the whole subject of elementary education. It was in that year that a collection was made of all the minutes of Council under which the parliamentary grants had been administered, and they were codified for information as to the law. This, which was issued as a state paper, is known as Lord Norton's code, and was the first of its kind. The state of popular instruction as shown by the report of the commission was that only one in eight of the child population was in any school whatever, including all sorts of schools, private adventure schools, and others, and under all sorts of teachers. Of these children only one-fourth were efficiently educated; the infant schools were some of them good, but the great mass exceedingly bad. (Evidence of Mr. P. Cumin, secretary to the Committee of Education, before the Royal Commission of 1887.) In order to secure a better quality of instruction throughout each school the report recommended the examination of every child individually by the inspectors. To carry out this recommendation Mr. Lowe, who in 1861 was vice-president of the Council, drew up a code for the management of the schools and the distribution of the grants. This code was withdrawn, but in the next year the "First Revised Code" was issued, which, though it was bitterly opposed, led the way to the next great change towards a real system of national education. Hitherto all the payments from parliamentary grants had been made for Educational machinery, as the building of schools, endowments of normal colleges, etc., but now grants were added for educational proficiency. "If," said Mr. Lowe, "this new system be costly, it shall be efficient; and if it be inefficient, it shall be cheap." This was said in consequence of the rapidity of the growth of the education grant. In 1853 the amount was £160,000. In 1859, when Mr. Lowe became vice-president, it had reached £836,920. Hence he determined that the cost and efficiency should bear some proportion. The organic principle on which schools had been assisted was to be retained, viz. the education was to remain denominational; it was to be confined to the children of the labouring class. The grants were to be given in aid of local subscriptions; were to be paid to managers, not to teachers; and on condition that the children passed a satisfactory examination in reading, writing, and arithmetic. Failure in one subject involved a reduction of the grant by a third, in two subjects by two thirds, and a total failure involved the total loss of the grant. Further, the code established six standards of instruction, and practically asserted the principle of payment by results.

The next stage in the formation of a national system of elementary education was the Act of 1870. Practically it may be regarded as the final stage, for though modifications have since been made in it, and probably other modifications may yet be made, they have been, and will be, in the form of development and expansion. This Act provided that wherever the voluntary supply of school accommodation was insufficient, school boards should be created, with powers to levy rates for the building, equipment, and maintenance of schools, and of exercising by means of local by-laws the power of compelling the attendance of children at school. The teachers of these schools were to be certificated, or preparing to sit for an examination for a certificate. The schools were to be open for inspection at all times, and subject to an annual examination by which the amount of grant was to be determined. The managers of the schools might, if they desired, teach religion and use religious exercises, but no catechism or distinctive religious formula could be used, and every school, whether under a board, or voluntary manager, must be subject to a conscience clause. The basis on which the supply of accommodation was to be calculated was one-sixth of the population. The education was to be no longer confined to the labouring class. The limit of school life was from five to thirteen years of age, A revision of the Act has raised the age to fourteen, and local by-laws vary the age for leaving school by labour tests. The Act did not supersede the code to which frequent reference has been made, though it necessitated frequent changes in it. Its provisions in relation to school maintenances are enforced by the "code." The code is the work of the department, but it requires the sanction of the Houses of Parliament. On the passing of the Act a new code was made in 1871; no important change was made till the year 1882, when the basis on which the grants were paid was changed, and every child who had been on the register of a school for six months was required to be presented for examination. The code of 1890 was framed upon the report of the Royal Commission on Education appointed in 1886, and made an essential change in the principles upon which previous codes had been constructed. The codes of 1892-1895 were still further amended in the same direction, abolishing, as far as possible, payment by results, and rendering the organisation of the classes by the head teachers less mechanical, and more elastic.

The chief interest for the general public in the Code lies first in its curriculum, or the subjects which the scholars must learn, and those in addition which they may learn. The tendency is naturally towards expansion and the larger range of literary and scientific subjects. The tendency is also by authority tending towards practical work. Thus the highest award of the principal grant is allowed to schools in which the children can not only read well, but recite well from memory. Drawing in boys' schools is obligatory, and needlework in girls'. Manual instruction is encouraged in addition to drawing, and amongst girls a grant is given for a successful pass in cookery and laundry work.

The following paragraphs respecting the Code are taken from the General Report for the Year 1891, by the Rev. T. W. Sharpe, senior chief inspector.

They are an explanation and a defence: - "It is sometimes alleged that the Education Code emunerates too many subjects of instruction outside the scope of elementary education, to create an erroneous impression that most of these subjects are taught to all the scholars in public elementary schools. But what are the facts? Beyond reading, writing, arithmetic, drawing, singing, and needlework, no scholar, as a rule, learns more than two class subjects. (geography, grammar, history, and elementary science.) In addition to this, in some of the best schools the older boys and girls are entitled to study one or two of the long list of specific subjects enumerated in the Code; mechanics for boys and domestic economy for girls are the favourite subjects in London. Very few intelligent lovers of education would desire to exclude any of these subjects from the curriculum of a good elementary school, and would probably add three or four hours per week of manual instruction in carpentry or some use of tools, and in cookery and laundry work for girls.

" It is also sometimes alleged that some of the specific subjects named in the Code are outside the scope of elementary education, whereas there is no single subject that is not useful for the scholar's future life in some special locality, e.g. German might with advantage be taught to our seafaring boys in the eastern ports of the island, French in the southern ports, navigation in both; some knowledge of chemistry in the neighbourhood of the chemical works of the north of England. or of electricity for future telegraphists, or of physiology for all who value healthy habits of body, would be very helpful.

" Again, the use of a piano in a school has been attacked by the false assertion that it is introduced to teach boys and girls in elementary schools to play the piano; it might as well be asserted that a soldier is to be taught to play all the instruments in a regimental band because one of the chief uses of a band is to enliven his march and assist the regularity of his step. A school piano has a marvellous effect on the drill and marching of a class, even though the instrument may be a little wheezy or out of tune, or may perhaps have lost a note."

A second point of interest is the means by which the profession of the teacher can be entered, by those who have gone through the routine of the pupil teacher's apprenticeship and the two years' training at a normal college. Section 51 reads thus: - "Graduates of any university in the United Kingdom, and persons over 18 years of age who have passed university and other examinations recognised by the Department, may be recognised as assistant teachers." (Copies of the Code can be procured at Eyre and Spottiswoode's, which persons desirous of becoming teachers should obtain.)

A third point of increasing interest is the amount which the total education grant has reached, and the mode of its distribution. The latter fact will be found in the Code; the former is to be obtained from the annual report issued by the Department. The Act of 1891, by which the elementary schools were rendered practically free, entailed an immediate expenditure of £1,200,000, and this sum will, in all probability, increase from year to year. At the time of the presentation of the educational budget the scheme had been in existence only ten months. The return of results, however, for 1894 shows that out of 19,709 schools in England and Wales only 117 had declined to accept the Act. These must have been schools with high fees, since the fee-grant offered by the Department amounted to ten shillings per child in average attendance from three to fifteen years of age. Most schools, both Board and Voluntary, must have gained a profit by accepting the fee-grant. The children have improved in the punctuality and regularity of their attendance, and in consequence the elder scholars have had more time to devote to the higher subjects of instruction. The increase, in both respects, is very marked.

The grants for 1896-7 amounted to £6,368,424, while the School Board rates amounted to £2,182,372. In 1870 accommodation was only provided for 8.75 per cent. of the population, while in 1896 the percentage was 19.71. The number of the schools inspected in 1896 was 19,848; the number of scholars on the register was 6,072,374. In 1870 the number was 1,152,389. In the same year the number of certificated teachers was 12,467. At the present time there are upwards of 50,000 certificated teachers in England. Infants under the Code now in operation earn, on an average, a grant of 16s. O-1/2d., and the average earnings of all scholars are 19s. ll-1/4d.

The change that has taken place in the educational machinery and the results of its working is one of the most remarkable facts in the history of the last sixty years.

The system is certainly costly, but we believe that Mr. Lowe's prediction in 1862 has been fulfilled, and that it is also efficient.