THE SCHOOL SYSTEM OF ENGLAND
=Literature=.--_Sharpless_, English Education; _Craik_, Education and
the State; _Barnard_, English Pedagogy; _Clark_, The State and
Education; _Gill_, Systems of Education; _Balfour_, Educational Systems
of Great Britain and Ireland; United States Commissioner's Reports for
1889 to 1902.
Nearly a thousand years ago Alfred the Great encouraged education of the
higher classes to the exclusion of the masses--a principle that has
governed education in England until within recent times. Statistics
taken in 1845 showed that only one in six of the inhabitants could read,
one in four write, and one in fifty cipher as far as the Rule of Three.
Since 1870 important changes have been made, and the number of children
in the elementary schools of England has increased from 1,500,000 in
1870 to nearly 6,000,000 in 1902.[179]
"The principal features of the law of 1870 were (1) the obligation
assumed by the government to secure school provision for all children of
ages 5 to 14; (2) the recognition or creation of local agencies (private
or church managers or elected boards) for the execution of this purpose;
(3) provision for securing efficient instruction by means of an annual
grant from the treasury to be distributed to the local managers upon the
results of examination and inspection by government inspectors; (4) the
creation of a central agency to carry out the provisions on the part of
the government and of new local agencies or school boards which every
school district must elect except upon satisfactory evidence that
schools efficient and adequate to the needs of the district were
otherwise provided; (5) the admission of private and public elementary
schools to a share in the government grant upon the same conditions; (6)
the requirements that board schools should be strictly non-sectarian and
the children of private schools protected from enforced sectarian
instruction by a conscience clause."[180]
The most important modifications of this law are the laws of 1899 and
1903. The law of 1899 has reference to the general administration of
education in England and Wales, while that of 1903 entirely changes the
local management of schools and extends the sphere of public education
to secondary as well as elementary schools.
=Administration.= 1. _General._--Under the provisions of the law of 1899
the general administration of educational affairs is committed to a
board of education consisting of a president, appointed by the crown,
lord president of the council, the principal secretaries of state, the
first commissioner of the treasury, and the chancellor of the
exchequer--not less than five nor more than fifteen members. By means of
a sufficient number of royal inspectors who are trained educators, whose
duty it is to visit the schools and report thereon, the board of
education is able to reach every school in the kingdom. There is also a
consultation committee, two-thirds of whom are "persons representing
universities and bodies interested in education," whose office is to
advise the board of education.
2. _Counties and County Boroughs._--By the terms of the law of 1903 the
council of every county and of every county borough are constituted a
"local education authority," which controls secular instruction in all
elementary schools within its district, and performs the duties of
former school boards and school attendance committees. They may also
establish high schools. In boroughs of over 10,000 and cities of over
20,000 inhabitants a special board or "local education authority" is
allowed.
3. _Local Managers._--All public undenominational (board) schools have a
body of six managers, four of whom are appointed by the "local education
authority" and two by the minor local authority. All public
denominational (voluntary) schools shall also have six managers, four of
whom are foundation managers and two are appointed by state authority. A
greater number of local managers may be chosen, but the above proportion
of members must hold.
=School Attendance.=--The school age is from five to fourteen, and the
local authorities are required to compel attendance for that period
excepting in case where the pupil has obtained the educational
certificate of exemption, which cannot be given before the child is
twelve years of age. The average attendance in 1902 reached nearly 83
per cent of the enrollment. England has stringent laws in regard to the
employment of children in factories, mines, etc., which are well
enforced.
=The Schools.=--We have already mentioned the _board_ and the
_voluntary_ schools which supply the principal means of elementary
education. The voluntary schools are under the fostering care of the
Church, and their enrollment includes more than half of the children.
Secondary education is carried on chiefly in private schools, though the
law of 1903 permits the establishment of high schools to follow
elementary education. The private secondary schools are of two general
classes, "grammar" and "public" schools. The former are intended for the
middle classes, their main purpose being to prepare for civil service,
while the latter are the great endowed schools like Rugby, Eton, etc.
=Support of Schools.=--The expense of the elementary schools is met by
parliamentary grants, by local taxes, and by endowments. Parliamentary
grants cover about 62 per cent of the total, and the balance is made up
from the other sources. Formerly both denominational and
undenominational schools participated alike in the government grants,
but the former were compelled to make up the balance needed by private
subscriptions, school pence, etc., while the latter were allowed to levy
a local tax for this purpose. Under the law of 1903 both may share alike
in the local tax, thereby removing the necessity for private
subscriptions.
=The Teachers.=--The training of teachers is as peculiar as the other
features of the English system. Lancaster and Bell introduced the
monitorial system, by which one teacher could take charge of a large
school, the older pupils teaching the younger ones. This idea has been
perpetuated in the "pupil teacher" scheme. Children fifteen years old
are apprenticed to a school to assist in the work, and in return receive
instruction and a small stipend. At eighteen or nineteen they enter the
teachers' college for a two years' course. They may instead at this time
take an examination for the teachers' certificate, and if successful,
they are known as "assistant teachers." That the "pupil teacher" idea
has lost its force is shown by the following facts: From 1876 to 1893
the increase of graduate teachers was 114 per cent, the increase of
"assistant teachers" 691 per cent, while there was a decrease of 15 per
cent in the number of "pupil teachers." This would seem to indicate that
England is demanding better prepared teachers. The 131 teachers'
colleges graduate about 1900 students each year, which is about two
thirds of the number of teachers needed.
Teachers' positions are practically permanent, and the salaries are
good, being in 1901 an average for certificate teachers of $644 a year
for men and $432 for women.
Each teacher is entitled to a pension at the age of 65. This amounts to
at least $330 for men who have been in the service from their
twenty-first year, and $225 for women. If obliged to retire earlier on
account of breakdown, the amount of pension will be proportionate to the
length of service. Men teachers contribute three pounds annually and
women two pounds to this fund, while the State appropriates the balance
needed.
When one considers the traditions that have controlled English education
for centuries, and recalls the conservatism that rules English life, one
can only marvel at the tremendous strides taken by England during the
last third of a century. Victor Hugo says: "The English patrician order
is patrician in the absolute sense of the word. No feudal system was
ever more illustrious, more terrible, and more tenacious of life."
England has had to overcome her patrician ideas in regard to education,
and her growth in the last thirty years has been more rapid and more
effectual than for a thousand years before. Although she still has many
problems to solve, her recent educational enterprise places her in the
front rank among the nations of the world in school matters. The law of
1903 consisted of many compromises which satisfy neither party. It will
doubtless be followed by still further changes in the near future.
FOOTNOTES:
[179] The total enrollment in 1902 was 5,881,278, or 18.08 per cent of
the population.
[180] Report of the United States Commissioner of Education for
1896-1897, Vol. I, p. 12.