658
EDUCATION
several German states differ slightly in some details, but generally enforce attendance from the age of six to fourteen, and an additional attendance at a Fortbildungschule is frequently required in the evenings or on Sundays, e.g., in Saxony, Saxe-Weimar, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and Hesse, for either two or three years after attaining that age. In the kingdom of Saxony alone there were 1900 such institutions, with 77,808 boys. Long habit and tradition and the public opinion of the industrial classes have rendered the attendance laws easy of enforcement, and it is computed that the absences from school vary from 3'6 to 7 per cent., and seldom exceed 6. Moderate school fees are exacted in Prussia, Saxony, and Bavaria ; but some municipalities—notably those of Berlin and Diisseldorf—have made the instruction in the communal schools gratuitous. (Arnold, Report to Education Department, 1886, p. 4.) On the average of the whole kingdom of Prussia, school fees meet 20 per cent, of the cost of teaching in the popular schools, endowments 12 per cent., the municipalities Total, . . . 730,688 55 per cent., and the State 12 per cent. In Bavaria the fee It is noticeable that whereas the figures for all primary schools is fixed at a minimum of eightpence and a maximum of one amount for the year 1899 to 730,688, and for the year 1898 to and fourpence per quarter. In Saxony the minimum fee is 719,415, showing an increase for the attendance of all schools of shilling shillings per annum, but a higher charge is made according 11 273, the increase has been mainly confined to the public schools three to the means and social status of the parents. But in all the and the unassisted private schools. Possibly the explanation of these facts may be found in the states provision is made for the gratuitous instruction of the conditions attaching to Government grants to private or denom- very poor. The general rule in Germany is “ a school fee where the scholar can afford to pay it, remitted where he cannot.” As inational schools. Such grants were first instituted by the law of 1889, which to the quality of the school instruction, Arnold, in the same established the compromise by which the long-standing religious report, describes a fuller programme for the elementary schools difficulty seems finally to have been settled. Yet after ten years than in England: religion, German, English, history, geography, and algebra, geometry, writing, drawing, singing, and of operation, the law of 1889 has enabled the Government to make arithmetic grants to eighteen only out of 1448 private schools. And while gymnastics being all included. In the opinion of that acute the methods of teaching in Germany were more gradual, the number of schools receiving Government grants has decreased, observer, natural, and more rational than the English ; and the religious the unassisted private schools show a great increase, larger even more teaching, chiefly in the form of Bible history and extracts and than that of the public schools. evangelical hymns, appeared to him to be specially interesting and The following are some of the conditions that have to be fulfilled intelligent, 1896 Prussia had a population of 31,840,795 by a private school claiming a Government grant under the Act persons. It "in was then computed that 223 out of -every thousand of of 1889. . 1. It must be managed by an association or institution possess- the population were between the ages of five and fifteen, and that number of scholars actually in attendance in the Volkschulen ing the rights called “civil personality” (similar to the English the was 5,236,826. “rights of a corporation ”). The famous Prussian Minister of Instruction, Dr Falk, sought 2. Its headmaster must possess the rank of instituteur-en-chef, energetically in his anti-clerical campaign (the Kultur-Kampf) or “master-in-charge.” 3. The instruction must comprise all the obligatory subjects of to make national education more completely secular in its character. The drastic “Falk Laws” of 1873 were chiefly directed primary education. • the Catholic Church and the influence of the priests in 4. Instruction must be given in obligatory subjects during at against education. They gave to the State the right to inspect all educaleast eighteen hours per week. institutions, both private and public, and resulted in the 5. The school must possess a body of rules and regulations tional which are binding upon it, and must annually receive the signature closing of many seminaries and establishments of religious orders. after the death of Pius IX. in 1878, diplomatic relations of the Inspector of the arrondissement, whose duty is to see that But between the Government and the Vatican were restored, and Prince the rules are not contrary to school law. after direct negotiations with Borne, in It is, therefore, to the conditions which preclude private schools Bismarck succeeded, the severity of the Anti-Catholic Laws. Subsequent from applying for Government grants that we should look for an mitigating of the Catholic party in the Reichstag to increase clerical explanation of the figures already given. These negative con- efforts influence over education have, however, failed. But from 188/ ditions are as follows :— a more conciliatory policy towards the religious bodies has been No school can claim a Government grant (1) in which there are not more than 25 pupils more than six adopted in Prussia, and provision has been made in the State schools for the separate religious instruction of Roman Catholics, years of age ; and Jews in accordance with the wishes of the (2) in which the school fees exacted reach an average of 80 Protestants, parents. Dr Falk resigned office in 1879, and died in 1900. florins per pupil; It is evident that Germany owes as much as any other country (3) which has been established or is managed for pecuniary to a strong sense of the national importance of education, and to profit. It should further be noted that whereas Government grants are the consistent and resolute efforts of her statesmen during many made to public schools, in aid of new buildings, repairs, &c., to years to develop and to perfect it. Hence, as Mr Sadler has said the amount of 25 per cent., no such grants are made to any private {Problems in Prussia, Special Reports, vol. iii. p. 89), “ Through the labour of generations the public higher schools for boys stand, school. If the explanation of the small number of private schools from several points of view and in many important respects, as receiving Government grants is not to be found in the conditions models to the world. They are unrivalled in their high level of attached to them by the law of 1889,—and it will be generally many-sided attainments. Thought has been lavished on the agreed that those conditions are in no sense onerous,—then the planning and concentration of their studies. The quality, ^ the only explanation is that the members of religious and charitable range, and the method of their teaching are under the watchful associations who direct the private schools of the country prefer care of State inspectors, themselves experienced in the work of partial freedom from Government control, and will not sacrifice secondary education. All the schools are thus scrupulously kept up to an exacting standard of excellence. Prussia, in particular, this in order to gain Government assistance. In Matthew Arnold’s report to the Schools Inquiry Commission owes much to Stein, to Humboldt, to Wolf, and to Schleiermacher, in 1866, he said, “ The school system of Germany, in its com- and in the department of primary education to the ideas of and carefulness, is such as to excite the Pestalozzi and to the inspiration of Fichte.” So early as 1794 the Germany. fpleteness oreigner’s admiration.” There is, in fact, no country Allgemeines Landrecht formally declared schools and universities in Europe in which more skill, statesmanship, and public spirit to be State institutions. In 1808 there was established a special have been brought to bear on national education. So early as section of the Home Office for worship and public instruction, and 1649 the General Synod of Wtirtemberg (G. Perry, German from the year 1817 this section has been separated from the Home Elementary ■ Schools, p. 24) required that parents should send Office and has constituted an independent Education Department. Switzerland, with its small population of 2,993,334, has long bpen their children to school. Similar regulations were enforced in distinguished for its educational efforts and resources. It was the Saxony in 1764, in Prussia in 1736, and in Bavaria in 1802. The Prussian Constitution of 1850 declares ‘ ‘ that adequate provision home of De Fellenberg and ol Pestalozzi; and it is here switzersome of the most fruitful experiments in public /and for the education of the young is made by means of public that have been tried. An article in the Federal schools; and that parents and their representatives may not instruction Constitution requires that throughout the country ‘ primary leave their children and foster-children without the instruction instruction shall be obligatory, and in public schools gratuitous. prescribed for the public elementary schools. The lavs in the
The 730,688 pupils were distributed among the various classes of schools as follows :— In Public Primary Schools— Boys . . . • 280,152 Girls .... 223,579 503,731 In Subsidized Private Primary Schools— 130 Boys . . . • 770 Girls .... 900 In Private Primary Schools not receiving Government subsidies— Boys .... 99,340 Girls .... 126,717 226,057
