Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/310

* NATIONAL EDUCATION. 268 NATIONAL EDUCATION. for the tiiuiiiiiji; ul set-oinlaiy IciKhors, and the regiiliitioii, for all the schools of the |)iovince, of the school proyiammes, regulations, leaving ex- aminations, and of text-books for the higher schools. In each province the general superin- tendent of the Kvangelical Church has the func- tion of inspecting the Protestant religious in- struction in the secondary schools, and a Catholic bishop has a similar right regarding Catholic in- struction. The provinces of I'russia are divided into thirty-si. governments, each of which has a school board consisting of two men a])pointed by the King for life, fovir appointed by the pro- vincial school lioard for si.x years, and the presi- dent of the royal Government. In such schools as are supported largely by the iState, this board appoints the teachers. Wherever, on account of extensive local support or private patronage, local authorities are given the naming of teach- ers, the school board of the Government con- firms their appointment or nominates a list from which the selection must be made. It also over- sees the conduct and work of the teachers, sujK'r- intends the elementary schools generally, settles upon new districts and text-books for local schools. The governments are divided into dis- tricts, some of which have inspectors, whom the Minister on examination appoints for life, and who devote their whole time to the schools. Other districts have a number of local inspectors, who are clergymen or have some other occupation besides that of school ins|iection. The district has a school board composed variously in differ- ent localities of inspectors, members of local councils, and representatives of religions dentmi- inations. This hoard has the jiower of erecting and organizing schools, determining teachers' sal- aries (the minimum being (ixed by the (iovern- ment). increasing pensions, nn<l deciding on prop- erty liable to a school tax. Kach school has a local school board chosen in cities by the central school board. Sometimes, however, it is elected by the cili/ens of a eonnnnnify or by a church organization or by a patron, depending largely on the .source whence the school derives the larger part of its income. The local board looks out for repairs, supplies, and attendance. bit cannot interfere with the internal management of the school. In many cases it has a voice in electing the teacher or fixing his salary. JIany cities have established secondary schoids. the funds for which are largely contributed by them. Here the local boards have charge of fiiiancinl matters, choice of teachers, etc., hut the work of the school itself is under the supervision of the provincial boards. The most extreme eases of local control arise in conne<'tion with the country Volksschulen. under the patronage of the nobility. Here the patron names the teacher, and .sometimes even interferes with the course of study and school hours. Private schools in Prussia are required to conform to State regulations, as to minimum course of study, school uielhods. etc. They are under Slate inspection, and can employ none hut regularly certilicated teachers. The nundier of private elementary schools is insignilicant, but the pupils in middle .schools are one-third in private institutions. Teachers in Prussian elementary schools are ordinarily prnduntes of teachers' seminaries or training colleges. At the end of each year these institutions hold an examination at which the school inspector-^ and superintendents of the dis- trict and a commission from the provincial school board are present. Practical tests in teaching power are required as well as those on theory. The successful candidate gets a privi- lege to teach for three years. After two years of satisfactory work a teacher may take a second examination, the passing of which gives him a right to a permanent position and a pension. This examination is largely on educational mat- ters and includes a practical test. Candidates who are not graduates of teachers' seminaries may be admitted to it, and on passing are al- lowed to teach. The director of the seminary oversees the work of its graduates, and can re- quire them to supply defects by additional work. Those who wish to teach in the higher classes of the middle schools must pass an additional ex- amination given hy a special commission, and the same body gives a still further examination to those who aspire to rectorships. To gain the right to teach in the secondary schools a candi- date, who is usually from a university, often with a degree, must pass a State examination given by one of the ten examining hoards ap- pointed annually by the .Minister. Those who pass may receive, according to the character of their papers, any of three grades of certilieates in the various subjects, and these entitle them to teach such subjects in the lower three, the lower six, or all the grades of the gymnasia. -After passing this examination, a candidate enters either a State seminary (where he receives a vahiable stipend) or a gymnasial .seminar. Here he is under practical instruction for a year, entering at its successful conclusion on a year of probationary teaching, for which he re- ceives no remuneration. He is then, provided his work is satisfactory, eligible to a permanent appointment. Klementarv teachers receive free rent and fuel, and often a garden. Their annual salaries range from 450 marks (in a few ca.scs even less) to as much as .3800 nuirks in I'.erlin. or in the case of rectors even (iOOO marks. The average is, however, about 1200 marks, and is smaller in the country than in the cities. Salaries usually are regularly graded, according to time of service, up to a niaxinuini. Women are paid .soniewliat less than men, and they constitite about 12 per cent, of the total teaching force in elementary schools, .fter tell years of service the teacher can, if disabled or sixty-tive years old, retire on a pensicm of one-fourth of liis salary. This amount increases by one-sixtieth for each nildi- tioiial year of service up to three-fourths of the salary. The pension fund is d<'rivcd from a State and local contribution, together with a small de- duction from the salary of the successor. The aiuunil salaries of secondary school teachers range from h'iOO to .5100 marks, and in the ease of rectors to 7200 marks. In addition, they re- ceive an nllowance for house rent. The same rei;ulations as to pensions that apply ti> primary tea<hers apply also to secondary ones, and in fact to most State oflicials, an exception being professors in the universities. For the support of schools in Prussia, there are live sources of income. The most important of these is the State itself, which pays about one- half of the total required for te.Tchers' salaries. The other sources are school societies, income from inherited property. Church funds, 'local