Schools and School Life
If the Dutch peasant is not generally well educated it is not for want of
opportunity, but rather because he has not taken what is offered him. For
many years past a good elementary education has been within the reach of
all. Even the small fees usually asked may be remitted in the case of
those parents who cannot afford to pay anything, without entailing any
civil disability; but attendance at school was only made compulsory by an
Act which passed the Second Chamber in March, 1900, and which, at the time
of writing, has just come into force. It is said that as many as sixty
thousand Dutch children are getting no regular schooling. About one half
of this number live on the canal-boats, and will probably give a good deal
of trouble to those who will administer the new Act; for, as we have
already seen, the families that these boats belong to have no other homes
and are always on the move, so that it must ever be difficult to get hold
of the children, especially as their parents do not see the necessity of
sending them to school. It remains to be seen, therefore, whether any
great improvement will resuit from the new Act, especially as private
tuition may take the place of attendance at a school, and exemption is
granted to those who have no fixed place of abode, and to parents who
object to the tuition given in all the schools within two and a half miles
of their homes. Under these conditions it seems that any one who wishes to
evade the law will have little difficulty in doing so. The canal-boat
people, apparently, are exempt so long as they do not remain for
twenty-eight days consecutively in the same 'gemeente,' or commune.
The education provided by the State is strictly neutral in regard to
religion and politics, but there are many denominational schools all over
the country. Protestants call theirs 'Bible schools,' and Romanists call
theirs 'Catholic schools,' and both these receive subsidies from the State
if they satisfy the inspectors. Private schools also exist, but do not as
a rule receive State aid. They are all, however, under State supervision
and subject to the same conditions as to teachers' qualifications; and a
very good rule is in force, namely, that no one may teach in Holland
without having passed a Government examination.
Instruction in the elementary schools supported by Government is in two
grades, though the dividing line is not always clearly drawn. In
Amsterdam, for example, there are four different grades. In the lower
schools the subjects taught are, besides reading, writing, and
arithmetic, grammar and history, geography, natural history and botany,
drawing, singing and free gymnastics, and the girls also learn
needlework, but a large proportion of the pupils are satisfied with a
more modest course, and know little more than the three R's. The children
attending these schools are between six and twelve years of age, though
in some rural districts few of them are less than eight years old, but
according to the new law they must begin to attend when they are seven
and go on until they are twelve or thirteen according to the standard
attained. In the upper grade schools the same subjects are taught in a
more advanced form, with the addition of universal history, French,
German, and English. These languages, being optional, are taught more or
less after regular school hours.
All the teachers in these schools must hold teachers' or head-teachers'
certificates, to gain which they have to pass an examination in all the
subjects which they are to teach except languages, for each of which a
separate certificate is required. Every commune must have a school, though
hitherto no one has been obliged to attend it, and lately, owing to the
new Education Act, the builders have been busy in many places enlarging
the schools to meet the new requirements. If there are more than forty
children two masters are now necessary, and for more than ninety there
must be at least three. Ten weeks' holidays are allowed in the year, and
these are to be given when the children are most wanted to help at home,
in addition to which leave of absence may be granted in certain cases by
the district inspectors. Holidays, therefore, vary according to the
conditions of a town or village.
All schools are more or less under State control. They are divided into
three classes according to the type of education which they provide. Lower
or elementary education has already been dealt with. Between this and the
higher education of the 'Gymnasia' and Universities comes what is called
'middelbaar onderwijs'--that is, secondary, or rather intermediate,
education. This is represented by technical or industrial schools,
'Burgher night schools,' and 'Higher burgher schools.' The first named
train pupils for various trades and crafts, more especially for those
connected with the principal local industries. The course is three years
or thereabouts, following on that of the elementary schools, and there is
generally an entrance examination, but the conditions vary in different
communes. Sometimes the instruction is free, sometimes fees are charged
amounting to a few shillings a year, the cost being borne by the communes,
and in a few towns there are similar schools for girls who have passed
through the elementary schools. The technical classes for girls cover such
subjects as fancy-work, drawing and painting of a utilitarian character,
and sometimes book keeping and dress-making. Most of them are free, but
for some special subjects a small payment is required. Drawing seems to be
a favourite subject, and in most of these technical schools there are
classes for mechanical drawing as well as for some kind of artistic work
connected with industry. In addition there are numerous art schools, some
of them being devoted to the encouragement of fine art, while in others
the object kept in view is the application of art to industry.
The 'Burgher night schools,' like the technical schools, are supported by
the communes in which they are situated. There are about forty of them in
all, and most of them are very well attended, in some cases the regular
students, who are all working men and women, number several hundreds. The
instruction is similar to that given in the technical schools, that is to
say, it is chiefly practical, and local industries receive special
attention. Formerly there were day schools also for working men, on the
same lines as these, but they were not a success, and the technical
schools have taken their place.
Of a higher class, but still included in the term 'middelbaar onderwijs,'
is the 'modern' education of the 'higher burgher' schools. The majority of
these schools were founded by the communes, the rest by the State, but
internally they are ail alike, and all are inspected by commissioners
appointed by the Government for the purpose. Pupils enter at twelve years
of age, and must pass an entrance examination, which, like nearly every
examination in Holland, is a Government affair. Having passed this, they
attend school for five years, as a rule, but at some of these institutions
the course lasts only three years. In some degree the 'higher burgher'
schools correspond to the modern side of an English school: at least the
subjects are much the same, embracing mathematlcs, natural science, modern
languages and commercial subjects, and no Latin or Greek is taught. The
education is wholly modern and practical, with the object of preparing
pupils for commercial life. There are 'higher burgher' schools for girls
as well as for boys, at which nearly the same education is provided.
A great advantage of these schools is that they are very cheap; at the
most expensive the yearly fees amount to a little more than thirty pounds,
but at the majority they only come to four or five. To teach in such
schools as these one must have a diploma or a University degree. A
separate diploma is necessary for each subject, and the examination is not
easy. Even a foreigner who wishes to teach his own language must pass the
same examination as a Dutchman. No difference is made between the masters
at the boys' schools and the ladies who teach the girls; exactly the same
diplomas are required in both cases.
The 'Gymnasia,' to which allusion has been made, are classical schools,
which prepare boys for the Universities. The age of entry is the same as
at the modern schools, twelve; but the course is longer, as a rule
covering six years instead of five, and at the end of this course comes a
Government examination, the passing of which is a necessary preliminary
to a University degree. The 'Gymnasia' were founded by an Act of
Parliament, but are supported by the communes, which in this case are the
larger towns, but they are assisted, as a rule, by a Government grant. The
fees are very small, only about, £8 a year.
There are a few private and endowed schools, which may send up candidates
for the same examinations as are taken by the pupils of the State schools,
and it is among these that we find the only boarding schools in the
country. Some of these have certain privileges; for instance, the
headmaster may engage assistants who do not hold diplomas, which makes it
easier for him to get native teachers for modern languages; but in the
State schools proper, the selection of undermasters does not rest with the
head, or director, as he is called, at all. Foreign teachers are not very
plentiful, as the diplomas are not easy to get, and a native, who has to
relearn much of his own language from a Dutch point of view, has little or
no advantage over a Dutchman in the examinations.
No sketch of Dutch schools would be complete without some reference to the
way in which modern languages are studied, for this is the most striking
feature in the national education, and is of great importance when we are
considering the national life and character of Holland. Former generations
of Dutchmen won a place among the 'learned nations' by their knowledge of
the classical languages; and their descendants seem to have inherited the
gift of tongues, but make a more practical use of it. French, German,
English, and Dutch, which go by the name of 'de vier Talen,' or 'the four
languages,' have taken the place of Greek and Latin. In the 'Gymnasia'
every pupil learns to speak them as a matter of course, and in the 'higher
burgher' schools the same languages receive special attention, with a view
to commercial correspondence. Even in the upper elementary schools, boys
and girls are taught some or all of them. A boy entering one of the higher
schools at the age of twelve or thirteen generally has some knowledge of,
at least, one foreign language, acquired either at an elementary school,
or at home, and he is never shy of displaying that knowledge. If his
parents are well off, he has probably learned to speak French or English
in the nursery, and it sometimes happens that he even speaks Dutch with a
French or an English accent, having been brought up on the foreign
language and acquired his native longue later. German as a rule is not
begun so soon, the idea being that its resemblance to Dutch makes it
easier, which is no doubt true to a certain extent. The result, however,
is very often that the easiest language of the three is the one least
correctly spoken.
As in all Continental countries, there is nothing in Holland corresponding
to the English public school System. The 'Gymnasia' prepare boys for the
Universities, and the 'higher burgher' schools train them for commercial
life and some professions, somewhat in the same way as English modern
schools, but there the resemblance ends. As a rule, a Dutch boy's school
life is limited to the hours he spends at lessons; the rest of the day
belongs rather to home life. There are a few boarding schools in Holland,
but the life in such schools in the two countries is different in almost
every respect. The size of the schools may have something to do with this,
though by itself it is not enough to account for the difference. A Dutch
head-master once drew my attention to the lack of tradition in his own and
other schools in the country, and expressed a hope that time might work a
change. At present there is little sign of such a change. Tradition has
hardly had time to grow up yet, for few of the existing schools are much
more than twenty years old, and its growth is retarded by the small
numbers, which make any widespread freemasonry among old boys impossible.
But there is another and more serious obstacle. The uniform control which
the Government exercises over ail schools alike, State, endowed, or
private, whatever advantages it may have, certainly hinders the
development of that individuality which makes 'the old school,' to many an
English boy, something more than a place where he had lessons to do and
was prepared for examinations.
A rough sketch of the inside of a Dutch school will doubtless be of
interest. One of the few endowed schools in Holland may be taken as fairly
typical of its class, but not of the State schools, though it competes
with these and combines the classical and modern courses. It lies in the
country, near a small village, and in this respect also differs from the
'Gymnasia' and 'higher burgher' schools, which are ail situated in the
larger towns.
One of the first things which attracts notice is the large number of
masters. It seems at first that there are hardly enough boys to go round.
This is due to the law, which requires that every master must be qualified
to teach his particular subject either by a University degree or by an
equivalent diploma. Few hold more than two diplomas, and consequently much
of the teaching is done by men who visit this and other schools two or
three times a week. In this particular foundation the three resident
masters are foreigners, but such an arrangement is exceptional. Classes
seldom include more than half a dozen boys, and very often pupils are
taken singly, and therefore each boy receives a good deal of individual
attention. Such a school is divided into six forms or classes, but not
for teaching purposes; the day's work is differently arranged for each
boy, and these classes merely record the results of the last examination.
Some of the lessons last for an hour, but the rest are only three quarters
of an hour long; they make up in number, however, what they lack in
length, amounting to about nine and a half hours a day. Owing to the time
being so much broken up, it may be doubted whether the amount of work done
is any greater here than in an average English school where the aggregate
of working hours is considerably less. Amongst our Dutch friends, however,
and there may be others who share their opinion, the general belief is
that English schoolboys learn very little except athletics.
With regard to sports and pastimes, these are the only schools in which
any interest is taken or encouragement given therein. Football is played
here on most half-holidays during the winter, and sometimes on Sunday, and
occasionally its place is taken by hockey. It must be admitted that the
standard of play is not very high in either game, though many of the boys
work hard and, with better opportunities, might develop into high-class
players; but as there are only about thirty boys in the school,
competition for places in the teams is not very keen. Rowing has lately
been introduced, not to the advantage of the football eleven. It may be
remarked, by the way, that only Association football is played in Holland;
the Rugby game is strictly barred by head-masters and parents as too
dangerous. Attempts have been made to introduce cricket, but the game
meets with little encouragement. There is a lawn-tennis court, however,
which is constantly in use during the summer term. Bicycling is very
popular, not only here, but in Holland generally; in fact, most of the
boys seem to prefer this form of exercise to any of the games which have
been mentioned.
Whether at work or play, all the boys are under the constant supervision
of one or other of the resident masters, and the head is not far off. A
few of the seniors are allowed to go outside the grounds when they please,
but the rest may only go out under the charge of a master. In spite of
this apparently strict supervision, however, there is not much real
discipline. Corporal punishment is not allowed; both public opinion and
the law of the land are against it. Other punishments, such as detention
and impositions, are ineffectual, and are generally regarded by the
culprit as unjustly interfering with his liberty. Consequently the masters
have not much hold over the boys, who might, if they chose, perpetrate
endless mischief without fear of painful consequences so long as they did
nothing to warrant expulsion; but the young Hollander does not appear to
have much enterprise in that direction. Perhaps he is sometimes kept out
of mischief by his devotion to the fragrant weed, for he generally learns
to smoke at a tender age, with his parents' consent, and no exception is
taken to his cigar except during lessons; but it is certainly startling to
see the boys smoking while playing their games, as well as on all other
possible occasions.
A large proportion of the boys at the 'Gymnasia,' perhaps the majority of
them, pass on to the Universities, some to qualify for the learned
professions, others because it is the fashion in Holland as in other
countries for young men who have no intention of following any profession
to spend a few years at a University in search of pleasure and experience;
but the experience in this case is peculiar and unique.