ENGLISH RURAL SCHOOLS.

During the year ending August 31, 1878, the government inspectors of public elementary schools visited 16,293 day schools in England and Wales to which annual grants were made. These contained 23,618 departments under separate teachers and afforded an average of 8 square feet each of superficial area for 3,942,337 scholars. On the registers of these schools 3,495,892 children were enrolled, of whom 1,189,557 were under 7 years of age, 2,158,179 between 7 and 13, and 148,156 over 13. On the day of inspection 2,944,127 pupils were present, and the average attendance was 2,405,197. The whole population of England and Wales is 24,854,397, and it has been estimated by the education department, after a careful examination of the question, that there should be an average school attendance of 3,500,000 children under 15 years of age. It was also estimated that 28,600 separate departments under certificated teachers were needed to furnish educational privileges to the school population; "if, however, we take into account the large number of small schools in the rural districts it would perhaps be better to take 33,000 as the measure of future requirements."

In round numbers, then, about 2,500,000 children are in average attendance upon those elementary schools of England and Wales which are inspected and receive the government grant. Besides these schools there are a limited number of the same grade scattered throughout the country under denominational and other control not reckoned in the above estimate. There are also many private schools, about which the public knows little or nothing, in which the children of the upper classes are educated. Making a final estimate from all these sources, we may infer that there is an average school attendance in England and Wales of about 3,000,000 children under 15 years of age. It is hard to tell what proportion of these are in large towns and cities and what proportion in rural districts. The education department has never made any distinction between country and city schools, and consequently there is no official information on this point. We conversed with different gentlemen on this subject, some of whom were wholly unable to make any statement which they considered worthy of trust. The statements of the others differed so widely that no definite conclusions could be reached. Mr. W. P. Williams, of the British and Foreign School Society, said that about one-half the children were in rural districts; Mr. T. E. Heller, of

the National Union of Elementary Teachers, thought about one-third, while Rev. Mr. Duncan, M. A., secretary of the National School Society, placed his estimate at one-half. The great difficulty is in distinguishing accurately between strictly rural and town districts. If the term "rural districts" embraces all districts outside of city boundaries, then the estimate of one-half is probably more correct; but if it embraces only strictly rural (farming and mining) districts, one-third seems nearer the truth. It is probable, therefore, that 1,000,000 children are in average daily attendance upon the rural schools of England and Wales. The city population of England is large and increasing, while in many parts of the country the rural districts are rapidly falling away in population. The reason why more attention is not paid to the rural schools is that the towns are large and numerous and their schools so varied and attractive as to almost entirely eclipse the generally small schools of the rural districts. As I inquired of educational men in the cities concerning them, I invariably received the reply that I would find nothing outside of the cities. But how 1,000,000 children are educated is a question of no little importance, and its examination has proved that the rural schools form a most interesting and instructive part of the educational system of England.

Since 1870 all the public elementary schools of the country, whether in towns or rural districts, have been under the same law, which law is now embodied in the several educational acts of 1870, 1873, and 1876, together with the annual codes published by the education department. The direct management of the educational affairs of England is in the hands of this education department, which has charge of the inspection of all the schools that come under the law, of the maintenance of a sufficient number of efficient schools, of the payment of all grants earned by the schools in their examinations, of the support of training colleges for teachers, and of the interests in general of public elementary education throughout the country. A detailed report is made annually, stating in full the progress of education in town and country. Thus all the educational interests of the nation are brought under the control of a school administration which has its head at Whitehall, London, and sends out its branches to even the most remote and inaccessible regions of Great Britain, carrying with it a national influence. The rural schools are thus under the same regulations as the city schools, and have the same inspectors, the same examinations, teachers from the same training colleges, the same resources for money, and the same kind of local regulating authority. This uniformity, however, is not so rigid as to allow no local coloring. A school board or an attendance committee can draw up a code of by-laws, under the sanction of the education department which will give certain liberties to the schools under their charge. The particular object of most of these by-laws seems to be to give power to the authorities to enforce the attendance of children at school. There are also special regulations for rural

districts thinly populated. "A special grant of £10 (or £15) [is made], subject to a favorable report from the inspector, if the population of the school district in which the school is situate, or within two miles, by the nearest road, from the school is less than 300 (or 200) souls, and there is no other public elementary school recognized by the department as available for the children of that district or population." [Section 19 D, Code, 1879.] Also, "150 attendances are accepted in place of 250 in the case of scholars who reside two miles or upwards from the school." [Section 20, b.]

These special regulations must be looked upon, however, as hindrances (perhaps necessary) rather than aids to the fullest success of the schools which they are intended to benefit. Scholars in rural districts are required to pass the same examinations as those in city schools in order to obtain the government grant, which amounts to about $4 per scholar each year. Any remissness in attendance or study has a damaging effect on the final examinations, and thus decreases the government aid to the school. It is the influence of this government grant which has brought the public schools of the country under the same sway, and every effort in the way of education seems compelled to trim its sails to this breeze from the public treasury.

All the public elementary schools of England and Wales recognized under the law are in the charge of one of two distinct bodies, viz, a school board or a school attendance committee. All schools under school boards have been either organized since 1870 or transferred to these boards by former authorities, generally denominational. Schools under school attendance committees are divided into three classes, according as they are found in (1) boroughs, (2) urban sanitary districts, and (3) unions which are made up of two or more parishes or parts of parishes. These schools, as a rule, have been in existence for many years, although some have been established since 1870 in order to preclude the possibility of a board school.

It is a difficult matter to determine how many of these different schools are to be found in rural districts. The official report does not take up the subject, and all the conversation I had with educational authorities gave me no clear light. While the truth can only be approximated, the following figures from the report of the committee of the council of education for 1879 may form the basis of an estimate:

The greater part of the parishes and unions mentioned in these tables are in the rural districts of England and Wales. The figures that interest us then are the following:

1,807 school boards in 2,618 parishes 582 unions

Population.

4,273, 392

7,626, 294

Of the 1,807 school boards we find 176 in towns containing over 5,000 inhabitants, and under these 176 school boards is a population of over 2,000,000. As these cannot be considered rural districts we must subtract their population, 2,000,000, from the 4,273,392, which leaves 2,273,392 as the number of inhabitants in rural districts under school boards. About seventy-five of the unions are in districts having over 5,000 inhabitants and they have a total population of about half a million. There will be left about 7,000,000 as the population of rural districts under school attendance committees. The percentage of school boards in rural districts, then, varies from 10 to 30, the remaining 70 to 90 per cent. being under school attendance committees. The vast majority of these schools are under the care of the Church of England and are called "national schools."

Schools under school boards cannot be taken as representative examples of a rural school, for they have been in existence only since 1870, having been established in accordance with the education act of that year, which sought to provide school privileges for every child in the country, and are intended only to supplement those already in existence. While in all the large towns and cities schools under this management have sprung up with astonishing rapidity, the rural districts have been very slow to adopt them, partly because there was not such a manifest deficiency in their educational advantages and partly on account of the general conservatism, which has a firmer hold upon rural

One gentleman (who, however, was only familiar with city schools) told me that I might take the following observation as the truth: "In the large towns and cities the people are pushing educational matters ahead as rapidly as they can, while in the rural districts they are clinging to the minimum requirements of the law."

Board schools are established in the same manner in rural districts as in towns. If on the inspection of a district the education department find that there is not sufficient school accommodation for all the children of a neighborhood, notice is sent by them to that effect. At the end of six months, unless school accommodation has been supplied, the department orders a school board to be organized. A school board may also be organized on application to the education department by the authori

ties stating that they are unwilling or unable longer to maintain voluntarily elementary schools. If, on inspection, the department is assured that such is the fact, and that on the decline of the said schools there will be insufficient school accommodation, they may cause a school board to be established. In parishes not situated in the metropolis, these boards are elected by the ratepayers. Each elector is entitled to as many votes as there are candidates to be elected, and may distribute these among the candidates as he pleases. The board, numbering not less. than five nor more than fifteen persons, thus elected for a term of three years is a "body corporate by the name of school board of the district to which they belong, having a perpetual succession and a common seal, with power to acquire and hold land for the purposes of this act (1870) without any license in mortmain." It is under the control of the education department, makes annual reports, and cannot make any extensive changes except with the sanction of the department. The clerk of this board has charge of the schools under its jurisdiction, secures teachers, regulates standards, and makes an annual report. As these schools do not differ in any important feature from the "national schools" I will defer the description of their internal workings. Board schools are supported by funds coming from three different sources: (1) Fees from the scholars, which cannot exceed 9d. per week for each scholar and which generally vary in rural districts from 1d. to 6d. per week; 56.61 per cent. of scholars in England and Wales pay less than 3d. per week; 3.07 per cent. are free.1 (2) The government grant, which varies according to the general appearance of the school when inspected, the average attendance, passes in examinations, and the number and quality of teachers. The average grant is about 15 shillings or $4 per child. (3) Taxes, from which any deficiency that may occur is supplied. This method of meeting deficiencies, together with the religious question, has hindered the spread of board schools in rural districts. Most of the rural schools formerly under the charge of the British and Foreign Schools Society have been transferred to school boards. The fact cannot be concealed, however, that these schools are slowly increasing throughout England. During the year 1877-78 there was a gain of 72 schools in 186 parishes and this tendency has not disappeared, but is rather developing itself. In many cases voluntary aid has diminished, school authorities have become discouraged, and schools have been transferred. As we proceed to the consideration of the supporting power of the voluntary schools we shall see how this comes about. There are not a few of the best educational authorities of England who predict a

"If a school board satisfy the education department that on the ground of poverty of the inhabitants of any place in their district it is expedient for the interest of education to provide a school at which no fees shall be required from the scholars, the board may, subject to such rules and conditions as the education department may prescribe, provide such school and admit scholars to such school without requiring any fee." [Sec. 26, education act 1870.] I saw no such school; and few, if any, exist.