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 SCHOOLS

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SCHOOLS

character in regard to secular instruction. It enacted that the local authority must maintain and control all secular instruction in the pubhc elementary schools of its district; but whereas the local authority must provide the cost of both building and upkeep of the provided schools, in the case of the non-provided (i.e. voluntary) schools the building and equipment is to be at the expense of the denominational body which volunteers to set up the school. The school thus is, and remains, their property. Each school is man- aged by a committee of six managers who have the appointment and dismissal of the teachers. The lo- cal authority has the nomination of all the six man- agers of the provided schools, but of only two in the case of non-provided schools. The trust body which owns the school has the right of nominating four of the six. It is on this slender clause the main value of the Act from the CathoUc standpoint hinges, for it is this clause which retains the efficient control of the school for religious purposes in the hands of the denomination which built it. In the provided school religious in- struction is on much the same footing as in the former Board-schools; that is, some Bible lessons and reli- gious instruction of a non-denominational character may be given if the local authority chooses. In the non-provided school religious instruction may be given in accordance with the trust-deeds, that is with the tenets of the proprietors of the school. This is to be under the control of the managers and subject to a time-table conscience clause, and not at the charge of public moneys.

For the sake of clearness, then, the present position of the Cathohc elementary school in England in 1912 is this: The cost of the school building and its equip- ment must be found by the Cathohc congregation, whilst the State through the local authority provides all working expenses for all secular instruction. Each Catholic school when first built is vested in the hands of Catholic ecclesiastical authorities by carefully drawn-up trust-deeds. The committee of managers usually includes the prie.st in charge of the mission with three of the chief Catholic laymen of the parish. To these are added the two members appointed by the local authority. The right of opening new schools where needed is also secured by the Act ot 1902. On the whole, therefore, the condition of Catholic schools under this Act is fairly satisfactory. The Board of Education may, however, exert unpleasant pressure by exacting regulations under the title of efficiency. Still, though burdensome, if tolerable, the sacrifice in the long run ought to make for the good of the children. More objectionable have been attempts of certain bigoted local authorities to discriminate against the non-provided schools in the scale of sala- ries and some other matters. However, judicial de- cisions tend to prevent this injustice. The chief anxiety at present is the precariousness of the situa- tion. Three Education Bills in succession have been before Parliament which sought to transfer the entire control of the school from the managers appointed by the owners of the non-provided schools to the local authority, and under the plea of abolishing religious tests for teachers aimed at rendering all schools liable to accept teachers of any religion or of none. Up to the present, each of these measures has been defeated, and largely by the resoluteness of the Catholic minority.

Provision of Catholic Teachers. — The method of training teachers in England for primary schools dur- ing the last century has usually included some years of apprenticeship as monitors or pupil-teachers in the primary school during which the candidate for the teaching profession continued his or her studies, re- ceiving at the same time a small stipend from the State. At the end of this apprenticeship the young man or woman either began with the lowest grade of assistant-teacher and worked up by concomitant pri-

vate study to pass examinations leading up to a first- class certificate; or the more fortunate candidates obtained scholarships, which secured them two years in a training college approved and assisted by the Government. In recent years, however, the aim of the Board of Education has been to secure that all future teachers of primary schools shall have gone through the last three or four years of their school course in a secondary school, and shaU subsequently have the advantage of a two or three years' course at a training college. The preparation of Cathohc teachers has followed the same fines as that of other teachers belonging to the voluntary division of the system. At present there are in England five recog- nized Catholic residential training colleges for female primary teachers. All are managed by religious. The largest, that conducted by the Sisters of Notre Dame at Liverpool, was opened in 1856. In 1909 there were in residence at all the five training colleges 507 women students. There is one residential Catho- hc primary training college for men under diocesan authorities in London. There were 1 14 students there in 1909. The State contributes scholarships or burses of £.38 per annum for each female student and £5.3 for each male student at these colleges. Though the ordinary course is two years, it may be prolonged to three or even four years in the case of very prom- ising students. As at present the total number of Catholic elementary teachers is about 8000, to staff near 1100 schools and teach about 400,000 children, and as the insistence on training constantly increases, there is need of increased provision in this respect. One source of anxiety lies in the efforts of the Board of Education in recent years to compel the voluntary training-colleges, if in receipt of any grant, to admit students of all denominations. In the case of resi- dential training colleges, this would obviously be fatal to their Catholic character. The attempt has been therefore vigorously resisted and, so far, success- fully. A more serious difficulty in regard to the for- mation of Catholic elementary teachers for the fu- ture, as before hinted, seems to lie in the paucity of recognized Catholic secondary schools which Catholic boys and girls looking forward to a teaching career can attend, as such attendance for three or four years is now to become a permanent regulation of the Board of Education. Moreover the many valuable scholarships open to these and other pupils from pri- mary schools can now be held in Catholic secondary schools, provided these be recognized.

Special Classes of Schools. — The Catholic educa- tion of certain other classes of children is also provided for by charitable institutions, which are primarily due to voluntary effort, and conducted by religious con- gregations or other charitable organizations, but fre- quently receive considerable state aid, subject to cer- tain conditions. Thus there are in Great Britain: Catholic certified poor-law schools, for boys, 13; for girls, 28; reformatory schools, for boys, 5; for girls, 2; industrial schools, for boys, 14; for girls, 12.

The chief organizations for the safeguarding of Catholic educational interests are the diocesan school associations and the central Catholic Education Council of Great Britain. There are sixteen of the former. The bishop or some Catholic layman of position is usually the chairman, and the committee includes some of the most influential Catholic laymen of the diocese. The Catholic Education Council was founded by the bishops of Great Britain in 1905. It took over the functions of the old Catholic School Committee, which originated in 1847, and also those of the Catholic Secondary Education Council, begun in 1904. The Council consists of ninety-five mem- bers nominated in certain proportions by the bishops, diocesan school associations, and the Conference of Catholic colleges. The object of this Council is to look after and defend the general interests of Catholic