EDUCATION IN ENGLAND.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1796, 22 November 1879, Page 3

EDUCATION IN ENGLAND.

The Committee of Privy Council on education have issued a voluminous report of the proceedings of the Education Department during the past year for the promotion of elementary education in England and Wales. They state that in many important respects the progress made since they presented their last report has been extremely satisfacLory, The inspectors in the year ended August, 1878, visited 16,293 day schools, to which annual grants were made, furnishing accommodation for 3,912,337 scholars. Of the 3,495,893 on the registers, 1,189,557 were infants under seven years of age; 2,158,179 were between seven and thirteen ; and 143,156 were above thirteen. The average daily attendance throughout the year was 2,405,107 ; and, while 933,058 passed the examination in reading, writing, and arithmetic, 86 - 59 out of every 100 examined passed in reading, 79 59 in writing, and 72 , 2-l in arithmetic. These •figures show a considerable improvement upon the returns quoted in the last report. The accommodation has increased by 283,919 school places, or 7'9 per cent; the scholars os the registers by 310,919 (10.8 per cent), those present at inspection by 310,929 (118 per cent), and the average attendance by 251,514 (118 per cent), while the number of children individually examined has increased by 377,126, or 17 per cent. The local effort which has resulted in this improvement may be measured by the continued support derived from voluntary contributions £774,101 from 285,621 subscribers); by an advance in the contributions from rales to the maintenance of board schools from £447,710 to £570,193 ; and by a rise in school pence from £1,138,270 to £1,273,073. The annual Government grants to elementary schools rose in the year from £1,5-13,325 to £1,820,661, or from 14s 4.jd to 13s IJd per scholar in average attendance ; while the grant for the current financial year is estimated at 13s 9d per head. “ This,” observe the committee, “is no small contribution from Imperial funds, whether we look at the total amount of the grant or at the sum paid in respect of each scholar. We think the time has come when it will have to bo considered whether it is necessary to maintain this high rate of aid for the future, now that the operation of the by-laws has largely added to the number of our scholars, and has enabled so many of them to earn for their schools grants, of which a large proportion (nearly two-fifths) is p id merely in respect of their forced attendance. It is to be borne in mind that the leading conditions on which the Parliamentary grant is now administered, were settled before the effect of compulsory education had been realised, or any reliable estimate could be formed of the probable results of the working of this new system.”