UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 STUDIES IN 
 SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 ARTHUR H. D. ACLAND, M.P. 
 
 HONORARY FELLOW OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD 
 AND 
 
 H. LLEWELLYN SMITH, M.A., B.Sc. 
 
 SECRETARY OF THE NATJONAL ASSOCIATE FOR THE PROMOTION OF TECHNO 
 AND SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
 
 JAMES BRYCE, M.P. 
 
 Published under the auspices of the National Association 
 for the Promotion of Technical and Secondary Education 
 
 NEW YORK 
 MACMILLAN & CO. 
 
 1892
 
 CONTRIBUTORS 
 
 JAMES BRYCE, M.P., D.C.L., 
 
 REGIUS PROFESSOR OF CIVIL LAW IN THE UNIVERSITY OF 
 OXFORD. 
 
 ARTHUR H. D. ACLAND, M.P., 
 HONORARY FELLOW OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD. 
 
 HENRY HOBHOUSE, M.P. 
 
 CLARA E. COLLET, M.A., 
 UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON. 
 
 A. P. LAURIE, M.A., B.Sc., 
 FELLOW OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 GODFREY R. BENSON, M.A., 
 BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD. 
 
 H. LLEWELLYN SMITH, M.A., B.Sc., 
 CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, OXFORD.
 
 Education 
 Library 
 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CO 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION, .... James Bryce, M.P., ix 
 
 ec 
 
 B 
 B 
 
 PART I. HISTORICAL SURVEY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. The Educational Problem of To-day. 
 
 H. Llewellyn Smith i 
 
 Sources of the present Educational movement The Tradition 
 of the School, and the Tradition of the Workshop The 
 Renaissance Pestalozzi Effects of the Industrial Revolu- 
 tion Rise of Popular Education Froebel Technical 
 Education Movement Abroad In England Necessity of 
 Organised Secondary Education From the Point of View 
 of Industry From other Points of View Objects of the 
 Technical Association Present Position. 
 
 CHAPTER II. The Growth of our School System. 
 
 G. R, Benson, 1 5 
 
 Meaning of the Term Rise of Endowed Schools Decay of 
 Old Foundations Social and Economic Changes Rise of 
 Proprietary Schools Attitude of the State to Secondary 
 Education Royal Commission of Inquiry Summary of 
 Recent Legislation. 
 
 CHAPTER III. The Report of the Schools Inquiry Com- 
 
 mission, ...... G. R. Benson, 23 
 
 (i) The Commissioners' Ideal. A National System of Public 
 Schools Grading of Schools Subjects of Instruction 
 Scholarships Education of Girls School Accommodation 
 Required Cost and Fees Systems of Secondary Schools 
 in other Countries. 
 
 397450
 
 vi CONTENTS 
 
 I'A(,E 
 
 CHAPTER III. Secondary Education in Liverpool (Boys). 
 
 A. P. Laurie, 222 
 
 Want of Endowments in Liverpool The Two Classes of 
 Secondary Schools Amount of School Requirements of 
 Liverpool Existing Supply of Schools The Liverpool 
 Institute The High School The Commercial School 
 Criticisms The Liverpool College The Upper, Middle, 
 and Commercial Schools The Royal Institution The 
 Private Schools of Liverpool Statistics of Private Schools 
 Suburban Schools Statistics of Suburban Schools- 
 Upper Divisions of Elementary Schools The Council of 
 Education Recent Changes. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. Secondary Schools in Birmingham. 
 
 H. Llewellyn Smith, 248 
 
 Introductory Provision of Secondary Schools in Birmingham 
 The King Edward's Foundation Other Agencies Histori- 
 cal Sketch of King Edward's Schools Mr. T. H. Green's 
 Report First Reform by Endowed Schools Commission 
 Second Reform by Charity Commission Existing State of 
 the Schools Number of Pupils and Accommodation High 
 Schools and Grammar Schools Governing Body and 
 Organisation Social Class and Age of Pupils Linkage of 
 Schools Scholarships Staff and Curriculum of High 
 School Of Grammar Schools Comparison with the Luith- 
 Escher Platz School, Zurich Income and Expenditure of 
 the King Edward's Schools Problem of the Completion 
 of the School Supply Seventh Standard Board School- 
 Want of Powers by Local Authority. 
 
 CHAPTER V. Secondary Schools of Reading. 
 
 G. R. Benson, 276 
 
 General Conditions in Reading The Existing Supply of Schools 
 Foundations for Secondary Education Their History 
 The Grammar School Kendrick School for Boys Its 
 Curriculum Cost Scholarships Private Schools for Boys 
 Kendrick Girls' School Church High School Private 
 Girls' School Green Girls' School Blue Coat School- 
 Its History and Present Position West's Charity and 
 Other Funds applicable to Education Relation to Christ's 
 Hospital Improvements Suggested Conclusion.
 
 CONTENTS vii 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER VI. Conclusion, . . . The Editors, 301 
 Review of Previous Chapters Lessons to be drawn from 
 Birmingham From Liverpool From London From 
 Somerset From Wales The Theory of ' Graded ' Schools 
 Social Difficulties of Grading -The Great Public Schools 
 Relation to them of Organised Secondary Education- 
 Want of Continuation Schools for Artisans Powers given 
 by Technical Instruction Acts Curriculum of Secondary 
 Schools Co-ordination of Schools by Public Authority 
 Relation of Central Departments to the New Work 
 Example of Wales Want of Fresh Legislation in England 
 Outline of Measure required for Secondary Education 
 Registration of Teachers Provincial Authorities Council 
 of Education Conclusion. 
 
 APPENDIX. Note on the Objects and Work of the 
 National Association for the Promotion of Technical 
 and Secondary Education, 321 
 
 INDEX, 329
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 HE who seeks to determine the requirements of any 
 country as respects education, and to ascertain the 
 extent to which those requirements are satisfied, 
 finds it convenient to distinguish and consider 
 separately three questions, f The first is the quantity 
 of education provided, that is, the number of the 
 teaching institutions, and their sufficiency to pro- 
 vide teaching for the various classes of the com- 
 munity. The second is the quality of the education 
 supplied, i.e. the adequacy of the teachers, of the 
 methods pursued, of the studies prescribed to supply 
 a sound instruction suited to the needs of the several 
 classes. And the third is the relation ^established 
 between the different sets of institutions which supply 
 instruction of the elementary, the intermediate, and 
 the higher or university type. 
 
 If, adopting this division, we take a rapid glance 
 at the condition in England of that department of 
 education the department commonly called second- 
 ary or intermediate which is dealt with in the 
 present volume, we shall find its condition less satis- 
 factory than that of the other two departments. 
 
 As respects elementary education, every one
 
 x STUDIES IN SECOND A R Y EDUCA TION 
 
 knows what vast progress the last twenty-five years 
 have seen. Under the Act of A.D. 1870, England 
 and Wales have been so covered with schools that 
 comparatively few places remain in which the accom- 
 modation is unequal to the needs of the population, 
 swiftly as that population grows. The quality of 
 the schools no doubt lags behind their quantity, yet 
 it shows evident marks of improvement. Elementary 
 teachers, taking them as a whole, are more competent, 
 their methods more intelligent, the organisation of 
 teaching freer and more flexible than in the days that 
 immediately followed the Revised Code. So, at the 
 other end of the field we are surveying, higher edu- 
 cation has also been remarkably developed. Within 
 the last quarter of a century the number of students 
 at the two ancient universities has doubled. Seven 
 or eight new colleges giving university teaching 
 have been either created or immensely expanded, 
 and three of the foremost among these have been in- 
 cluded in a new university of high promise. Hun- 
 dreds of courses of lectures dealing with advanced 
 subjects, from what may be called a university point 
 of view, are being delivered in great cities and other 
 populous districts lectures which, though they may 
 not always meet the needs of a serious student de- 
 siring to go thoroughly and accurately into a subject, 
 have nevertheless done much to stimulate and even 
 to instruct those whom other agencies might have 
 failed to reach. As in the case of elementary schools,
 
 INTRODUCTION xi 
 
 so in that of universities and colleges, the advance- 
 ment in the character and methods of teaching has 
 been less palpable, largely owing to the unhappy 
 predominance in Oxford and Cambridge of the 
 examination system, with its cramping influences 
 and its tendency to induce a narrow and sordid view 
 of learning and culture. Still, taking the higher 
 education as a whole, the record of progress during 
 the last twenty- five years is an encouraging one, 
 not unworthy of the efforts of the many able and 
 public-spirited men who, especially in the north and 
 centre of England, have laboured in this cause. 
 
 If, however, we proceed to inquire what has been 
 done in the field of intermediate or secondary edu- 
 cation during the same quarter of a century, we are 
 met by very different results. The progress made 
 for progress no doubt there has been is far less 
 general and far less evident than as regards the two 
 other departments. It so happens that the materials 
 for ascertaining the condition of intermediate edu- 
 cation twenty-five years ago are unusually ample, 
 for in 1868, after three years of exhaustive labour, the 
 Schools Inquiry Commission presented an elaborate 
 report, whose appendices filled twenty-one volumes, 
 describing in much detail and with great care the 
 number, revenues, organisation, methods of instruc- 
 tion, educational quality, and general efficiency of 
 the schools frequented by the sons and daughters 
 of the commercial and professional classes, excluding
 
 xii STUDIES IN SECOND AR Y EDUCA TION 
 
 seven only, used by the wealthy, which had been 
 shortly before dealt with by another Commission. 
 This report is very properly taken as its point of de- 
 parture by the present volume, whose third chapter 
 contains a lucid abstract of the conclusions reached 
 by the Commissioners. Stated in the fewest words, 
 the actual condition of intermediate or secondary 
 education, as presented in the report, was as follows: 
 
 The schools were insufficient in number. They 
 were not placed where they were wanted, i.e. some 
 places were overstocked, while others, perhaps far 
 more populous, were left unprovided for. The edu- 
 cation given was often poor in quality, and there 
 existed little organic relation either between the 
 different grades of intermediate schools, or between 
 the intermediate schools as a whole and the insti- 
 tutions giving elementary and university education. 
 
 The endowed schools, which were the most 
 direct object of the Commissioners' inquiry, had in 
 many instances fallen into neglect and become 
 practically useless. The teachers were supine and the 
 trustees indifferent, while the general public, ex- 
 cluded from all voice in the management, had little 
 interest in the welfare of the foundation. Religious 
 exclusiveness had in many cases added to the mis- 
 chief, sometimes rendering the school unpopular, 
 sometimes even depriving a part of the population 
 of its benefits, such as they were. The methods by 
 which the central authority could exercise its control
 
 INTRODUCTION xiii 
 
 to reform or supervise the management were costly, 
 clumsy, and so limited by technical legal rules as to 
 be constantly ineffective. 
 
 The proprietary schools, although somewhat 
 more in accord with the educational needs of the 
 towns where they existed, were far too few to make 
 a substantial addition to the provision of intermediate 
 education. They were scarcely increasing in num- 
 ber, and their want of endowments prevented them, 
 in most cases, from raising the quality of the teaching 
 they gave. 
 
 The private adventure-schools, which might have 
 been expected to spring up and supply the defects 
 of the endowed foundations, were, taken as a whole, 
 no better, perhaps even worse. Their teachers were 
 frequently unskilled and often positively uneducated. 
 The quality of the instruction given was, with few 
 exceptions, poor and superficial. It often professed 
 to be practical, and addressed itself to commercial 
 parents, but in becoming narrowly ' commercial ' it 
 did not really fit boys any better for the actual work 
 of life. 
 
 Of the schools for girls it might be said that, 
 while scarcely any enjoyed endowments, the enor- 
 mous majority belonging to the private adventure 
 class, they were, as a whole, inferior to those for boys, 
 their existence shorter and more uncertain, their 
 teaching thinner and more flimsy. 
 
 Summarising these results under the three heads 
 
 b
 
 xiv STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 which we set out by distinguishing, it may be said 
 that secondary education in England in 1868 was 
 
 I. Deficient in quantity. 
 II. Unsatisfactory in quality. 
 
 III. Without organic relation either to the higher 
 education on the one hand, or to elemen- 
 tary education on the other. 
 
 The recommendations of the Commissioners led 
 to the passing, in the session of 1869, of the En- 
 dowed Schools Act, which created a permanent 
 executive Commission (merged in 1874 in the Charity 
 Commission), and armed that body with enlarged 
 powers of making schemes for endowed schools. 
 Another Bill brought in at the same time by Mr. 
 Forster, in further pursuance of the suggestions of 
 the Schools Inquiry Commission, and providing for 
 the examination of schools and the registration of 
 teachers, was^dropped, and has never been again 
 introduced. 
 
 Such was the state of things in 1868. How far 
 has it improved now? How much of the work of 
 extension and renovation contemplated by the 
 Commissioners still remains to be done ? This is the 
 first question which the reformers of to-day have got 
 to answer. As no subsequent Commission has been 
 appointed to traverse the ground traversed in 1868, it 
 is impossible to present a picture of the education of 
 to-day at once as full and as authoritative as that given 
 by the Schools Inquiry Commission. There are, how-
 
 INTRODUCTION xv 
 
 ever, two methods of throwing light on the question. 
 The one is to follow the course of legislation and 
 administration since 1868, the other is to select 
 certain districts, as far as possible typical districts, 
 and describe the condition of secondary schools in 
 them. 
 
 Both these methods are followed in the present 
 volume. Part II., Chapter i, contains a sketch of the 
 work of the Endowed Schools Commission since 1869 
 a sketch showing that, although much has been done 
 in the way of re-organising endowed schools, the num- 
 ber of scholars in them having doubled from 1868 to 
 1883, many remain still unreformed, while as respects 
 others, the powers of the Commission have been 
 found less than adequate to effect what the needs of 
 each several locality prescribe. The work, in fact, 
 has proved slower and more difficult than was ex- 
 pected, and we are still a long way from having 
 attained the best application of existing endowments, 
 or created an organisation capable of duly utilising 
 them. As regards legislation, two measures de- 
 serve special notice. The one is the Welsh Inter- 
 mediate Education Act of 1889, fully described in 
 Part II. Chapter 3 ; the other the Local Taxation 
 Act of 1890, under which county councils are per- 
 mitted to apply their share of the liquor duties 
 surplus for the promotion of technical education. 
 Both Acts have done good, but one of them is limited 
 to Wales, and the other, besides being restricted to
 
 xvi STUDIES IN SECOND A R Y EDUCA TION 
 
 technical education, has not yet been supplemented 
 (save to some extent by the Technical Instruction 
 Act of 1891), by the provisions needed for the proper 
 application and management of the funds. On the 
 whole, it may be said that the programme of reform 
 outlined by the Commission in 1868 is still very far 
 from being filled up. 
 
 The other method of dealing with the problem 
 consists in ascertaining how far existing secondary 
 schools meet the actual needs of the community, and 
 has been applied by selecting certain typical spots, 
 inquiring into the educational facts in each of them, 
 and setting forth those facts: The reader will find 
 this done, and done with much care and judgment, 
 in the first five chapters of Part III., and in Part II. 
 Chapter 2. The places selected are London, Liver- 
 pool, Birmingham, Reading, and (with special refer- 
 ence to technical education) Somersetshire. In each 
 of these the endowed and other schools are severally 
 dealt with, the condition of each is described, and an 
 endeavour is made to show how far the schools cover 
 the ground, and what kind of teaching they provide. 
 This inquiry, being made by private agency, with no 
 official authority, is necessarily less complete even in 
 its limited field, than that embodied in the report of 
 1868. But those who have made it their business to 
 study the condition of education in England will, I 
 am persuaded, be impressed by its general accuracy. 
 Some little repetition is necessarily involved, but as
 
 INTRODUCTION xvii 
 
 it is usually a repetition of similar conclusions drawn 
 from facts varying from one place to another, it serves 
 to enforce those conclusions all the better. 
 
 This inquiry discloses the existence of most of 
 the evils descanted upon by the Commissioners of 
 1868, though some, and especially the maladministra- 
 tion of endowments, are now less salient. Several 
 of the most richly endowed foundations are located 
 where they are not greatly needed, while places which 
 need foundations have none. Charities exist which 
 ought to be, but have not been, applied to education. 
 Nowhere (in spite of the valuable efforts of the Boys' 
 and of the Girls' Public Day School Companies) is the 
 provision of secondary schools equal to the number 
 of children who ought to be receiving secondary 
 education, and to a great extent the education pro- 
 vided is unsatisfactory sometimes too narrow in its 
 scope, sometimes deficient in thoroughness. The 
 faults noted are most conspicuous in the cheaper 
 schools used by children who leave about fourteen or 
 fifteen. A considerable proportion of those who ought 
 to be receiving secondary education are to be found 
 in the elementary State-aided schools, whose methods 
 and arrangements are imperfectly adapted to the 
 work thus thrown on them. Of all the districts 
 selected for examination, London comes out worst, 
 having been left least organised. Birmingham is the 
 best thanks to its possession of a large endowment, 
 which has enabled a scheme, more comprehensive
 
 xviii STUDIES IN SECOND AR Y EDUCA TION 
 
 than elsewhere, to be framed. Everywhere the pro- 
 vision for education is scantier, and the standard of 
 education lower, in the case of girls than it is in that 
 of boys. 
 
 The value of this detailed inquiry and statement 
 does not lie solely in the confirmation it gives of 
 those conclusions, at which persons who have watched 
 the progress of secondary education since 1868 have 
 already arrived. There is plenty of other evidence 
 to show how far behind the hopes and expectations 
 of that year we still stand. The special service which 
 an examination of typical instances renders is this : 
 that it shows by concrete illustrations exactly how 
 and why the present evils arise, and in what precise 
 points the existing machinery is defective. I cannot 
 go further into the details which the chapters referred 
 to contain, but will sum up this part of the argument 
 by observing that the experience of twenty-four years 
 demonstrates that there is still urgent need for bold 
 and comprehensive measures measures which shall 
 not only stimulate the existing institutions, but sup- 
 plement them by new ones fitted to keep pace with 
 the growth of population and the development of 
 new educational demands. The experience of those 
 twenty-four years has proved that endowed founda- 
 tions will not reform themselves, that the present 
 central office in London cannot overtake the work, 
 that neither local public spirit nor ordinary com- 
 mercial enterprise can be trusted to fill the blanks
 
 INTRODUCTION xix 
 
 left by the absence of endowments, or the want of a 
 local authority ; and, in fine, that in secondary edu- 
 cation, as to a large extent in all education, the supply 
 must create the demand rather than the demand the 
 supply. 
 
 What, then, is it that we need, to obtain an ade- 
 quate provision of secondary schools for both girls and 
 boys, to secure that those schools shall give sound and 
 stimulating teaching, to place them in their due rela- 
 tions to the elementary schools on the one hand, to the 
 universities and colleges on the other ? The first and 
 most obvious need is more money. It is, unfortunately, 
 even more clear now than it was in 1868, that a good 
 secondary education of the humbler type an educa- 
 tion to stop at fifteen years of age cannot be pro- 
 vided for the fees which it has been found possible 
 to collect from parents of the poorer section of the 
 middle class. Some large schools there are which 
 try to give that education at an average fee of from 
 4 to 6 a year, but they do it either by starving 
 their teachers (i.e. by getting indifferent ones) or by 
 the help of the Science and Art Department grants 
 with their attendant evils, or by both together. Now, 
 there are but two sources from which money can 
 come. The one is to be found in the application to 
 education of endowments now used for other charit- 
 able purposes purposes which, it may be said in 
 passing, are seldom beneficial and frequently mis- 
 chievous. These endowments are in many places
 
 xx STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 of very large amount. The other source is the 
 rates. No one suggests the imposition of a general 
 tax, such as the elementary school rate ; but if the 
 power to impose a rate for assisting the extension of 
 intermediate education were to be conferred on a 
 representative local authority, such a power would at 
 once be used in some places, and before long in many 
 others, with the result not only of raising the level of 
 education, but of associating popular interest with it. 
 
 To obtain money in either of these ways .some 
 change in the existing machinery is needed. Experi- 
 ence has shown that a proposal to divert charitable 
 funds to educational purposes is, when it comes from 
 London, almost certain to excite suspicion and re- 
 sistance. From this cause the Charity Commission 
 have been able to make comparatively little use of 
 the provisions in that behalf contained in the Act of 
 1869, just as they have seldom been able to take 
 superfluous endowment funds from one locality to 
 apply them in another. 
 
 But the same suspicion and hostility are not shown 
 to a proposal made by a local authority which has 
 the weight of enlightened local opinion behind it, and 
 a better chance of removing the prejudices of the 
 unenlightened. The example of Wales shows (see 
 Part II. Chapter 3) that the county authority created 
 by the Welsh Intermediate Education Act has been 
 able to effect local diversions of endowments which 
 the Charity Commission could not have carried
 
 INTRODUCTION xxi 
 
 through. It is obvious that only a local representa- 
 tive authority could be invested with rating powers : 
 and the case of Wales is here again in point, for the 
 Welsh counties have shown no reluctance to use their 
 rating powers. 
 
 What the local authority should be it is less easy 
 to determine. In the case of towns it would seem 
 proper to have a Board charged with the duty of 
 seeing that an adequate provision for secondary 
 education is maintained, and therefore enjoying, along 
 with the rating power and the power to lay hold of 
 useless endowments, a power of supervising all the 
 public secondary schools within its area. Whether 
 this Board should be an entirely new one or a com- 
 mittee of the School Board, or composed partly of 
 the School Board and partly of other persons, is a 
 further question. In Scotland, the School Boards in 
 the burghs have the charge of secondary as well as 
 of elementary education. It is alleged that they have 
 not always risen to the level of the situation, but as 
 the funds at their disposal have usually been small, 
 there may be an excuse for such defaults. It is also 
 an arguable point whether special governing bodies 
 should be allowed to remain for existing foundation 
 schools. Probably in many cases there would be 
 advantages in retaining such bodies, subject, however, 
 to the supervision of the general town authority. For 
 the rest of the country outside the larger towns, a 
 county board would appear to be needed, with or
 
 xxii STUDIES IN SECOND AR Y EDUCA TION 
 
 without some connection with the county council, 
 possibly even forming a committee of it, and enjoying 
 powers similar to those of the town board. Such a 
 board would not supersede the governing bodies of 
 the endowed schools within its area, but it would 
 properly be allowed a certain control over them. 
 
 However these points may be settled, the 
 essential thing is to constitute everywhere, both 
 in town and county, a public authority charged 
 with the duty of providing an adequate supply of 
 schools to cover the whole field between the primary 
 school and the university. The Commission of 1868 
 suggested the creation of provincial boards of edu- 
 cation, with a jurisdiction covering a group of counties. 
 While not denying that some gain might be expected 
 from such board, it may be remarked that the diffi- 
 culty of getting counties to act together is serious, 1 
 and that the larger counties, at any rate of England, 
 seem to have a population quite great enough to 
 enable each of them to organise itself, as a whole, 
 without needing to combine with others. The ex- 
 periment may at any rate be allowed to stand over 
 till it is seen how the county boards work. 
 
 The question remains : What sort of a central 
 authority for the whole kingdom is needed ? At 
 present the Charity Commission fills that place for 
 
 1 In Wales, the county boards have shown themselves willing to 
 combine, but the counties of Wales are much smaller both in area and 
 population than the average counties in England.
 
 INTRODUCTION xxiii 
 
 most purposes, having an oversight of charitable 
 foundations, and a power of making schemes for 
 endowed schools, while the Science and Art Depart- 
 ment dispenses 'result grants,' on the basis of its 
 examinations. Both have been useful, but neither, 
 nor both taken together, is equal to the needs of the 
 country. We seem to require a guiding and inspiring 
 force larger than either, more distinctly educational in 
 its scope than the Charity Commission, less mechani- 
 cal than the South Kensington examination system. 
 A central educational authority ought to be able to 
 advise local authorities, to aid them by its knowledge, 
 to stimulate them when inert, to adjust the differences 
 likely to arise between the higher authorities (town 
 and county boards) and the governing bodies of 
 schools, to serve as a sort of court of appeal when 
 a body of trustees seeks to resist the proposed diver- 
 sion of an endowment either to an educational pur- 
 pose or to some other locality. Such an authority 
 ought, however, to have a wider scope than the field 
 of secondary education only. It ought to receive 
 the powers and functions which now belong to 
 the Education Department, and therewith ought 
 also to receive certain functions in reference to the 
 higher education of the country, the so-called uni- 
 versity colleges and the universities themselves, func- 
 tions which are now either feebly discharged by the 
 Privy Council, or are not discharged at all. In other 
 words, what is needed is a Ministry of Education,
 
 xxiv STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 whether under that name or any other, a department 
 of State which shall be able to draw to a centre the 
 still unconnected threads of our educational system, 
 and facilitate that organisation of it upon intelligible 
 pervading principles which it now lacks. That it 
 should have an arbitrary control over secondary 
 schools is undesirable. The more local activity can 
 be aroused by local power and responsibility the 
 better. But, after excluding arbitrary powers, there 
 will remain a large and useful sphere for the action 
 of a central authority. 
 
 It is a further question by what methods the new 
 local educational authorities, when constituted, should 
 proceed to secure instruction sufficient in quantity 
 and quality. As respects towns, the problem is 
 comparatively simple. The Commission of 1868 
 thought that three grades of secondary schools 
 were needed, to be designed respectively for boys 
 leaving school at fourteen, at sixteen, and at eighteen. 
 Strong reasons are advanced in this book for holding 
 that two grades, a higher and a lower, will be suffi- 
 cient, because the children of the professional and 
 commercial classes divide themselves into two, rather 
 than three sections. Large towns exceeding, say 
 30,000 or 40,000 people, will need schools of both 
 grades ; smaller towns may have to be content with 
 a school of the lower grade only. The difficulty be- 
 comes greater when we approach rural districts, for it 
 is only in the more populous centres that a population
 
 INTRODUCTION xxv 
 
 can be found sufficient to supply the necessary mini- 
 mum of scholars. In some parts of Scotland the 
 difficulty has been met by attaching what are virtually 
 secondary departments to the larger elementary 
 schools. Another method would be to arrange, in 
 establishing a certain number of secondary schools 
 for each county, for the reception of boarders at a low 
 figure, aiding by scholarships the pupils from elemen- 
 tary schools. 
 
 Passing on from questions of organisation to those 
 which bear on the instruction to be given, we need 
 not pause to discuss the problem of adjusting techni- 
 cal teaching to general education, for on this problem 
 the experiments now being made by the county 
 councils under the Local Taxation Act of 1890 are 
 throwing much light. The funds are already provided, 
 and are not likely to be withdrawn. Some reformers 
 suggest a general system of examination or inspec- 
 tion by a central authority. I should expect some 
 immediate good from such examination ; but it would 
 encounter great resistance, and might eventually 
 work for evil by inducing uniformity and stereotyping 
 established methods. It is probably better to leave 
 the local authorities to try different plans for testing 
 the results of the teaching. Intelligent and non- 
 mechanical inspection, conducted in a somewhat free 
 way, and by men who had a practical knowledge of 
 teaching, and a wider range of view than the average 
 Privy Council inspector now shows, would be better
 
 xxvi STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 than such examinations as those of the Science and 
 Art Department, or those conducted by the Oxford 
 and Cambridge Local Examiners. It is hardly 
 necessary to observe that the greatest advance of 
 all would be to secure teachers of a higher level of 
 ability and skill. Ability can only be obtained by 
 good salaries, and by the prospect of promotion, 
 which a development of the secondary school system 
 will open up. Knowledge and skill, however, may 
 be sensibly improved by better provision than has 
 yet been made for the general and professional train- 
 ing of teachers. We may overrate the importance 
 of educational machinery, we may expect too much 
 from modernised curricula ; we cannot overrate the 
 excellence of the teacher, or spend too much pains 
 in endeavouring to secure it. With good teachers 
 nearly everything will have been gained ; without 
 them hardly anything. 
 
 I have not space to speak of what ought to be done 
 to establish harmonious and mutually helpful relations 
 between the universities and the secondary schools, 
 between the secondary schools and the elementary. 
 There is, however, one point pertaining to the relation 
 between the two latter, with regard to which much 
 interesting information will be found in the following 
 pages I mean the arrangements for transferring the 
 best pupils of elementary schools to secondary 
 schools by means of scholarships. Very different 
 views have prevailed regarding the success of this
 
 INTRODUCTION xxvii 
 
 plan. The facts here stated go to commend its 
 working, and to encourage its extension. 
 
 A word remains to be said upon the greatest 
 difficulty which the reformers of secondary education 
 have to confront. It is the apathy of the public. One 
 may always count on a wide-spread interest in the 
 improvement of primary schools, because all the 
 world sees that universal education is needed in a 
 democratic country, because an immense number of 
 people occupy themselves as school managers and 
 members of School Boards, and because politicians 
 are anxious to please, or to be seen to wish to please, 
 the mass of the voters. At the other end of the scale 
 one may also count upon some amount of interest 
 in university questions, because the leading men and 
 the leading classes are directly connected with the 
 greater universities and colleges, or send their sons 
 to them. Meanwhile the intermediate schools are 
 neglected, and the importance of intermediate educa- 
 tion is ignored. No Minister expects to earn gratitude 
 for himself or win credit for his party by dealing 
 with problems whose significance few people perceive; 
 and thus it happens year after year this whole class 
 of educational reforms is thrust aside. Yet how much 
 of the prosperity and strength and happiness of every 
 civilized country depends upon the excellence of its 
 secondary teaching ! What can be more useful to the 
 State than to develop, by the best training, the talent 
 of the most promising youth, passing on the ability
 
 xxviii STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 and industry of the working-man's child into the 
 secondary school, and thence to the university or 
 the technical institute ? What contributes more to 
 the efficiency of professional men than thoroughness 
 of preparation in a secondary school ? What does so 
 much to raise the general intellectual level of a nation 
 as the enlargement of the minds and the enrichment 
 of the tastes of those large classes who are not wholly 
 absorbed in daily toil, but have, or can have if they 
 wish it, opportunities comparatively ample for cul- 
 tivating a higher life? If, in this respect, the profes- 
 sional, and still more the commercial, classes take 
 them all in all have not reached a level proportioned 
 to the wealth and greatness of England and to the 
 abundance of force and ambition among her people, 
 it is chiefly in the deficiencies of our secondary 
 education that the cause is to be sought 
 
 JAMES BRYCE. 
 
 April 1892.
 
 PART I 
 HISTORICAL SURVEY 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM OF TO-DAY 
 
 IN the constitution of the Canton Zurich there 
 is a clause which declares that ' the higher establish- 
 ments for teaching shall be brought into organic 
 connection with the popular school.' This article at 
 once expresses in a sentence the main difference 
 between the systems of higher education abroad 
 and at home, and strikes the key-note of the move- 
 ment for secondary and technical education which 
 is now passing over this country. 
 
 For many years Mr. Matthew Arnold urged 
 almost alone, and, as he thought, vainly on the Eng- 
 lish people the necessity of organising their secondary 
 education, and now at last the tide seems strongly 
 setting in that direction. It is the object of this 
 volume, as it has always been the object of the 
 Association under whose auspices it is published, 
 to indicate clearly the nature of the problem 
 with which we have to deal ; to point out where 
 our main deficiencies lie, and what has been done 
 
 A
 
 2 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION I. 
 
 in the last few years towards remedying them ; 
 to show wherein the existing agencies require to be 
 strengthened, and along what lines it is desirable 
 to proceed in the new departure which is now gene- 
 rally admitted to be necessary. But before we can 
 usefully consider in detail the various aspects of the 
 complex and many-sided educational movement of 
 to-day, it is necessary to get some idea of the sources 
 from which it springs, and its general drift and 
 purpose. 
 
 i. We inherit two distinct educational traditions: 
 the scholastic tradition of the grammar-school, and 
 the apprenticeship tradition of the workshop. 
 
 Both are of very ancient origin ; but for our pur- 
 poses we need hardly look further back than the 
 sixteenth century, when the revival of letters gave 
 that powerful impulse to grammar-school education 
 which has studded the country with educational 
 endowments, and when the apprenticeship system 
 was consolidated and erected into a statutory obliga- 
 tion by Elizabeth. 
 
 From this time, for two centuries, the two traditions 
 of school and workshop flowed side by side without 
 mingling. Differing in all other respects, they agreed 
 in one point : education was identified with instruction, 
 with the acquisition of learning or of skill. The aim 
 of the pious founder of the grammar-school, touched 
 by the fresh enthusiasm for knowledge of the Renais- 
 sance, was to encourage learning, especially of the 
 Greek and Latin tongues ; the aim of the apprentice- 
 ship system was the acquisition of skill of hand and 
 knowledge of the ' mysteries ' of a craft. We shall 
 best gain a clear notion of the factors which make
 
 I. THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM OF TO-DAY 3 
 
 up our present educational problem by tracing in 
 turn the changes which have passed over the theory 
 of education and the practice of industry, and the 
 mode in which they have reacted on each other. 
 
 2. All fresh impulses in education will be found 
 to be closely connected with wider world-movements 
 of thought or action. And thus it is natural that 
 for the next phase of educational progress we must 
 look to the epoch of the two great revolutionary 
 movements of last century : the ferment of ideas 
 which culminated in the French Revolution, and the 
 transition from the old-world industry to the new, 
 which followed the mechanical inventions of the same 
 period. 
 
 It was Rousseau who, as Mr. Quick says, ' first 
 severed entirely education and learning.' But it was 
 Pestalozzi a man saturated with the ideas of the 
 Revolution whose name is to be most closely asso- 
 ciated with the change of ideal. Briefly speaking, 
 this change was the substitution of the idea of de- 
 velopment of faculty for that of acquisition of know- 
 ledge. Pestalozzi shows traces throughout his work 
 of the leading idea of the day the ' return to nature ' 
 and the simplification of institutions and methods. 
 But his insight into the nature of education was 
 far more profound than the evanescent philosophy 
 through which he expressed his ideas, and, in spite 
 of his practical failures, his work is of enduring 
 value. Holding that ' sense-impression is the 
 foundation of instruction,' l he was naturally led to 
 pay more attention than had hitherto been given 
 to the harmonious development of all the faculties, in 
 
 1 'Pestalozzi,' Roger de_Guimps (tr. Russell), p. 241.
 
 4 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION I 
 
 place of the exclusive cultivation of words. ' Words 
 alone,' he wrote, ' cannot give us a knowledge of 
 things : they are only useful for giving expression 
 to what we have in our minds.' l Accordingly, Pesta- 
 lozzi wished to ' connect study with manual labour, 
 the school with the workshop.' 2 
 
 3. Turning from the educational to the economic 
 movement, we find that the Industrial Revolution was 
 at the same time paving the way for the gradual 
 break-up of the old apprenticeship system, and thus 
 necessitating some supplement to workshop instruc- 
 tion. The master-craftsman was developing into the 
 capitalist employer often without the necessary 
 technical knowledge, still more often without the 
 time or the will to undertake personally the train- 
 ing of his apprentices. At the same time the ever 
 increasing application of scientific principles to in- 
 dustry, and the rapid substitution of machine-work 
 for many kinds of manual dexterity, were at once 
 lowering the importance of the old seven years' period 
 of servitude, and increasing the importance of the 
 knowledge of general principles which could best be 
 taught not by one master or workman to an appren- 
 tice in the workshop, but by a trained instructor to 
 a class in the school. 
 
 Thus from both points of view the functions of 
 the school and workshop, so long separate, began 
 to overlap the educational reformer began to de- 
 mand a workshop to complete the system of school 
 education, the manufacturer a school to supplement 
 his system of workshop training. 
 
 1 ' Pestalozzi,' Roger de Guimps (tr. Russell), p. 153. 
 - Ibid. p. 167.
 
 I. THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM OF TO-DAY 5 
 
 4. There is, however, a third stream of movement 
 that took its rise about the same period, which 
 requires to be noticed, before we can understand the 
 present position of the educational problem. It is 
 to the latter half of last century that we owe the 
 general rise of the conception of universal popular 
 schools. It is true that two centuries earlier the 
 Reformation gave an impulse towards a widespread 
 education in the countries where the great reformers 
 had influence ; and in Scotland, under the influence 
 of John Knox, the foundations of a really national 
 system were laid. But abroad, after the first impulse 
 given by Luther had died away, the idea of popular 
 education only survived in the minds of one or two 
 great reformers, such as Ratke and Comenius. And 
 in England the aim of the founders of schools in the 
 sixteenth century, who were men of the Renaissance 
 and not the Reformation, was undoubtedly to select 
 promising children, and give them a scholastic educa- 
 tion ; the others received their education as appren- 
 tices in the workshop, or not at all. 
 
 The notions of human equality and natural right 
 floating about in the atmosphere of the eighteenth 
 century were fatal to the idea of selection. ' Every 
 human being,' said ' Citizen ' Pestalozzi, ' is entitled 
 to the development of the faculties he was born with.' 
 Almost all systems of general popular instruction 
 date from this period. Thus, for the first time, the 
 problem arose of adapting education to the wants 
 of the class that live by manual labour, whose 
 industrial necessities both shorten the time of their 
 school life and make it of importance that their 
 education should be, so far as possible, a definite 
 preparation for their after-career.
 
 6 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION i. 
 
 It is the union of these three currents that has 
 produced the modern Technical Education movement, 
 which thus may be regarded as having its sources in 
 three great world-changes philosophical, industrial, 
 and social. 
 
 5. The next great epoch in the educational re- 
 action started by Pestalozzi against the Renaissance 
 ideal of the classical grammar-school was made by 
 Friedrich Froebel, who looked at education through 
 the medium, not of the French eighteenth-century 
 philosophers, but of the German psychology of the 
 early part of the present century. It is in the domain 
 of primary education that Froebel's ideas have hither- 
 to chiefly fructified, partly no doubt because it was for 
 the earlier stages of education only that he worked 
 out his system of the ' kindergarten ' in detail. But 
 his views embraced not only the infant school but 
 the whole ' education of man,' and directly or in- 
 directly they are slowly permeating every department 
 of education. Thus, for example, Froebel's ideas 
 germinating in the mind of Cygnaeus resulted in the 
 system of manual training which in Sweden has be- 
 come Slojd, and which has taken different forms in 
 Germany, America, PVance, and England, according 
 to the varying genius and traditions of each nation. 
 
 The secondary schools of England have to a 
 great extent resisted the change, partly because of 
 our insular antipathy to the study of method, partly 
 because of the overshadowing influence of the old 
 universities, but also largely because of the depend- 
 ence of English grammar-schools on endowments. 
 No institution is so proof against the influence of the 
 ' Zeitgeist ' as a foundation supported by endow-
 
 I. THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM OF TO-DAY 7 
 
 merit and thus independent both of popular demand 
 and of external control. And thus, until very recent 
 times, our endowed schools have been in a back-water, 
 and their pious founders have determined from the 
 grave the methods and subjects of instruction long 
 after the changes in circumstances of districts or 
 scholars may have rendered them inappropriate, or 
 the advance of educational theory may have made 
 them obsolete. ' The great movements of the human 
 spirit,' says Mr. Matthew Arnold, ' have either not got 
 hold of the public schools or not kept hold of them.' 1 
 
 Even the investigation of the Schools Inquiry Com- 
 mission whose report we summarise elsewhere was 
 conducted in great part by Commissioners saturated 
 with the old English public-school tradition ; and the 
 first Endowed Schools Commissioners had the same 
 bias. One of them informed Mr. Quick that he had 
 discovered ' that there was nothing whatever in 
 Pestalozzi.' 
 
 But even in England, the home of old tradition, the 
 new leaven of the gospel of harmonious development 
 of faculty is slowly but steadily making itself felt. 
 
 6. It was likewise on the Continent that the 
 industrial phase of the movement first worked itself 
 out on any large scale. ' Before factories founded 
 on the inventions of Watt, Arkwright, and Crompton 
 had time to take root abroad, and whilst our own 
 commerce and manufactures increased from year to 
 year, the great wars of the early part of this century 
 absorbed the energies and dissipated the capital of 
 continental Europe. . . . By various Acts of the last 
 century, which were, not repealed till 1825, it was 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. vS. p. 595.
 
 8 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION I. 
 
 made penal to enlist English artisans for employment 
 abroad. . . . Thus when, less than half-a-century ago, 
 Continental countries began to construct railways 
 and to erect modern mills and mechanical workshops, 
 they found themselves face to face with a full-grown 
 industrial organisation in this country, which was 
 almost a sealed book to those who could not obtain 
 access to our factories. To meet this state of things 
 foreign countries established technical schools like 
 the Ecole Centrale of Paris and the Polytechnic 
 Schools of Germany and Switzerland.' l 
 
 In England this movement was faintly reflected 
 in the foundation of Mechanics' Institutes during 
 the early years of the Great Peace. But though 
 Dr. Birkbeck's idea was to make these institutes 
 centres of technical and scientific instruction, the 
 intention was frustrated by the absence of any pre- 
 liminary education on the part of the students, and, 
 instead of succeeding like the schools on the Conti- 
 nent, our first technical schools withered away. Our 
 failure and their success were due to the fact that we 
 had left secondary and even primary instruction to 
 chance, while abroad the French Revolutionists and 
 after them Humboldt in Germany and Napoleon 
 in France were organising the educational systems 
 of those countries from top to bottom. 
 
 So effective, under the new conditions of industry, 
 proved the foreign methods of training, that in 1851 
 when the Great Exhibition rendered possible for the 
 first time a comparison between the products of Eng- 
 land and the Continent, Englishmen were startled 
 
 1 ' Royal Commission on Technical Instruction,' Second Report, 
 vol. i. p. 507.
 
 I. THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM OF TO-DAY 9 
 
 at the extent to which they had allowed their natural 
 advantages in many branches of industry to be neu- 
 tralised by the superior organisation of education 
 abroad. 
 
 Of the successive steps taken from that time 
 forward to grapple with the problem in this country, 
 the work of the Science and Art Department, the 
 City and Guilds Institute, and other organisations, it 
 would be out of place to speak in detail in this 
 chapter, which aims rather at tracing broad move- 
 ments of ideas than the details of legislation and 
 administration. But the appointment ten years ago 
 of a Royal Commission to inquire into the subject 
 of technical instruction must be noticed because 
 the Report of that Commission marks an epoch in 
 the movement from the industrial point of view, by 
 proving from the examination of foreign systems 
 that an efficient system of technical education was 
 impossible without an efficient and national organisa- 
 tion of secondary schools. 
 
 At Zurich it is only after six years in the primary, 
 and two years in the secondary school that a scholar 
 enters the ' Industrie Schule,' and another four years 
 elapse before he is considered ready for the Polytechnic. 
 In England we have hitherto tried to build up a 
 system of industrial training without the necessary 
 basis, and the result has been that our higher 
 establishments have had no 'organic connection with 
 the popular schools.' 
 
 There is no more important paragraph in the 
 Report of the Royal Commission than that which 
 states that ' the best preparation for technical study is 
 a good modern secondary school. . . . Unfortunately
 
 io STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION I. 
 
 our middle classes are at a great disadvantage com- 
 pared with those of the Continent for want of a suffi- 
 cient number of such schools. . . . The existing 
 endowments are very unevenly distributed over the 
 country, in many of the large manufacturing centres 
 no resources of the kind exist : private enterprise is 
 clearly inadequate to do all that is required in estab- 
 lishing such schools, and we must look to some public 
 measure to supply this the greatest defect of our 
 educational system.' l 
 
 7. This conclusion, to which scientific and in- 
 dustrial experts were led when fixing their attention 
 exclusively on the needs of trade and commerce, had 
 also been arrived at by a different route by those 
 who studied the matter rather from the educational 
 or social standpoint. In 1868 the great Schools 
 Inquiry Commission had recommended the grant of 
 powers to local authorities to complete the supply 
 of secondary schools. But the writer and thinker 
 who has contributed most to the formation of a 
 sentiment in favour of public secondary educa- 
 tion, has undoubtedly been Mr. Matthew Arnold. 
 ' Technical Schools/ he said, ' are needed, and in 
 elementary schools manual training should be given ; 
 yet it is undesirable to bestow in the elementary 
 school too much prominence on this training, to turn 
 the elementary school itself too much into a technical 
 school. The technical school is, in fact, a secondary 
 school to follow the elementary school after some 
 manual training has there been acquired. But our 
 secondary instruction is a chaos ; unless, therefore, 
 we organised the technical school within the sphere 
 
 1 ' Royal Commission on Technical Instruction,' Second Report, 
 vol. i. pp. 516-17.
 
 I. THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM OF TO-DAY 11 
 
 of our primary instruction, which is not desirable, we 
 have no means of organising at all.' 1 
 
 But secondary education was by no means re- 
 garded by Mr. Matthew Arnold merely as a stepping- 
 stone to the acquisition of technical knowledge. He 
 was largely perhaps mainly guided to the views 
 which he so long and eloquently urged by considering 
 the immense social loss to the country in an age of 
 political and social change and upheaval, caused by 
 the inferior training of the mass of the middle class, 
 on whom so much depended. And while they 
 suffered from the want of breadth of ideas which 
 higher education gives, the only organisations for 
 higher education existing in the country suffered 
 also. Cut off from the main stream of national life, 
 and remaining the exclusive privilege of an aristo- 
 cracy, they took inevitably the stamp of the current 
 notions and prejudices of a leisured class notoriously 
 inaccessible to ideas. Thus ' we have to meet the 
 calls of a modern epoch, in which the action of the 
 working and middle class assumes a preponderating 
 importance, and science tells in human affairs more 
 and more, with a working class not educated at all, a 
 middle class educated on the second plane, and the 
 idea of science absent from the whole course and 
 design of our education.' 2 
 
 This was written in 1866, and since then much 
 has been done. We have gone very far towards 
 organising at least the machinery for primary in- 
 struction on a national basis. We have done some- 
 thing (the following pages will show how much and 
 
 1 ' Reign of Queen Victoria,' vol. ii. p. 269. 
 
 - 'Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. vi. p. 630.
 
 12 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION i. 
 
 how little) towards re-organising endowed schools 
 one by one. But even yet there is hardly any con- 
 tinuity, and, except in the region of primary educa- 
 tion, hardly any order or arrangement ; while, in spite 
 of the efforts of the Science and Art Department, the 
 ' idea of science,' using the term in its broadest sense, 
 has hardly penetrated yet into ' the whole course and 
 scheme of our education.' 
 
 Until a year ago Mr. Matthew Arnold's words 
 were still true. ' The hubbub of our sterile politics 
 continued, . . . our secondary instruction is still the 
 chaos it was.' Eighteen months ago, however, in the 
 course of the ' hubbub of our sterile politics,' a 
 scheme for compensating brewers and publicans 
 was framed and defeated, and, with the money 
 diverted from that object, the English people are 
 now at last settling down to the work of rescuing 
 secondary education from chaos. 
 
 8. It is now more than four years since the 
 National Association for the promotion of Technical 
 and Secondary Education was founded. Its objects 
 and a sketch of its work are given in an appendix 
 to this volume. Nothing could show better the 
 close approximation which has come about between 
 the programmes of those who approach the ques- 
 tion from the educational and the industrial stand- 
 points, than the first statement of the objects of the 
 Association. Founded, as it was, to carry out the 
 recommendations of the Royal Commission on 
 technical instruction, its objects might be equally 
 well stated in the words of the last utterance of 
 Mr. Matthew Arnold himself: 'Throughout the 
 country good elementary schools, taking the child to
 
 I. THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM OF TO-DAY 13 
 
 the age of thirteen ; then good secondary schools 
 taking him to sixteen, with good classical high 
 schools, and commercial high schools, taking him 
 further to eighteen or nineteen ; with good technical 
 and special schools for those who require them 
 parallel with the secondary and high schools this 
 is what is to be aimed at. Without system, and 
 concert and thought, it cannot be attained.' 1 
 
 This is not the place to describe or appraise the 
 value of the work of the Association. In a great 
 international movement which more than twenty 
 years ago was found by Mr. Matthew Arnold on the 
 Continent to be already ' so wide and strong as to be 
 fast growing irresistible,' 2 we cannot estimate the 
 importance of individual contributions. Something 
 has been done to remove obstacles, and to guide the 
 current along the path of least resistance. But the 
 movement itself is not the result of the efforts of a 
 few enthusiasts, but has its sources in the economic, 
 social, and intellectual changes now passing over the 
 world, by which England, as so often, has been the 
 last to be reached. 
 
 The demand for secondary and technical educa- 
 tion is sometimes charged with vagueness, because it 
 is the result of so many lines of thought converging 
 on the same point, that it is advocated on many 
 different grounds by those who approach it from 
 different points of view. But it is this many-sided 
 character which is the real strength of the position. 
 Those who are seeking merely for the best mode of 
 training the leaders and the rank and file of industry, 
 
 1 ' Reign of Queen Victoria,' vol. ii. p. 279 (1887). 
 - ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. vi. p. 512.
 
 14 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION \. 
 
 arrive at the conclusion : ' organise secondary educa- 
 tion.' Those who, from the social point of view, are 
 seeking for the best training for the citizen, and the 
 best means of saving and developing that great 
 waste-product of our time, the intelligence and 
 talents of the ' fittest ' of our artisan population, 
 arrive at the same result : ' organise secondary 
 education.' And lastly, those whose object is to 
 bring our educational system into relation with 
 the main stream of national life and thought, to lift it 
 out of the rut of old tradition and bring it into touch 
 with ' the great movements of the human spirit '- 
 who wish, above all things, to secure continuity and 
 harmony in the various grades of education, so that 
 the higher are but a natural development from the 
 lower, instead of being, as now, modelled on different 
 lines and aiming at different objects and adapted to 
 different classes, are driven even more irresistibly to 
 the conclusion that the great necessity of the day 
 is for the nation to undertake seriously the task 
 which it has hitherto neglected with such baneful 
 results. 
 
 If the divergent claims of liberal culture and 
 technical training are thus harmonised in the com- 
 mon demand for the organisation of secondary 
 education as the basis of both, there are yet two 
 points of view from which we may approach the 
 work of construction. We may look upon second- 
 ary schools as mainly middle-class institutions, or 
 as the crown of the edifice of primary education. It 
 is at this point that the educational problem comes 
 into relation with the other main social and political 
 movements of the day.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE GROWTH OF OUR SECONDARY SCHOOL 
 SYSTEM 
 
 i. Meaning of the Term. The word 'secondary' 
 is ordinarily applied to those schools which occupy 
 a middle position between the elementary schools 
 and the universities, or between the elementary 
 schools and those special institutions which give 
 technical and professional instruction, but do not 
 undertake the general education of their pupils. 
 The term is in common use on the Continent, but 
 with a varying significance in different countries. 
 At Zurich, for instance, it means not the higher 
 schools in general, as contrasted with elementary 
 schools, but a special kind of school intermediate 
 between the elementary and the higher schools. In 
 England it is applied to a great variety of schools 
 ranging from foundations, like Eton and Winchester, 
 to small country grammar-schools and private 
 academies, some of which actually give a lower 
 education than a good elementary school. 
 
 This absence of uniformity is the chief character- 
 istic of English secondary education. An observer 
 from France, Germany, or Switzerland finds a small
 
 1 6 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION \. 
 
 number of great and famous schools with attractions 
 of a peculiar kind, but he is struck by the absence 
 of any uniform provision for the education of the 
 middle class throughout the country, and by the 
 very wide differences between the various forms of 
 education available for different social classes. Not 
 only is the system of secondary schools incomplete 
 in itself, but there is no careful adjustment of it to 
 other parts of our educational system. It is not 
 related either to the examinations for the public 
 services, or to the universities, or to the elementary 
 schools. At some points the secondary and elemen- 
 tary schools overlap. In these respects the English 
 system differs greatly from the foreign systems with 
 which it may naturally be compared. For good or 
 evil, it has grown up without central organisation 
 and control. 
 
 2. Growth of Secondary Schools. In England, 
 then, there has been no attempt on the part of the 
 nation to make complete provision for higher edu- 
 cation on a deliberately organised plan, and in 
 considering the present position it is necessary 
 to recall the various movements which have contri- 
 buted to make our supply of higher schools what 
 it is. First, there are the endowed grammar-schools, 
 scattered unevenly over the country. Some of the 
 most famous foundations date from before the Re- 
 formation, and many endowed schools took the 
 place of schools maintained by the monasteries be- 
 fore they were dissolved. But the keen interest in the 
 revival of learning and the diversion of munificence 
 into a new channel which followed the Reformation, 
 led to the foundation of grammar-schools in large
 
 ii. GROWTH OF SECONDARY SCHOOL SYSTEM 17 
 
 numbers. This movement went on rapidly to the 
 end of the Stuart period, and continued, though with 
 diminishing energy, until the close of the last century. 
 In addition to the grammar-schools, which were started 
 with the object of teaching Latin, there is a still larger 
 number of small endowments which have from the 
 first been devoted to merely elementary education. 1 
 
 The founders of grammar-schools gave very 
 various directions for the conduct of their founda- 
 tions, but the earlier foundations were, generally 
 speaking, intended to supply all the educational 
 wants that were chiefly felt in their neighbourhood. 
 At this period, the idea of an elementary educa- 
 tion desirable for everybody had not been clearly 
 conceived. Scholars were expected to come from 
 the ranks of poor and rich alike, and those who 
 wanted education at all had hitherto wanted much 
 the same sort of education. Latin had long been 
 an essential not only of the higher learning, but of 
 what would now be called a commercial education. 
 The translation of the Scriptures into the mother- 
 tongue had no doubt made religious men anxious 
 that even the unlearned should be enabled to read ; 
 but no difficulty was felt in combining the mere 
 teaching of reading in the same school with the teach- 
 ing of grammar. The men who were able to teach 
 the one were able to teach the other, and the masters 
 were not of such a class that a high remuneration was 
 needed to attract them. To help poor scholars of 
 ability was generally recognised to be a most worthy 
 object of beneficence. The founders, who intended 
 that their schools should be the avenue to the highest 
 
 1 These are, as a rule, of later dale than the grammar-schools. 
 B
 
 1 8 STUDIES IN SECOND AR Y ED UCA TION \ . 
 
 learning, were also anxious that they should be com- 
 monly used by the poor, and often they required that 
 some or all of their scholars should be taught free of 
 charge. The grammar-schools have had very various 
 careers. The requirements of education gradually 
 became more complex, its cost increased, social 
 classes became more widely separated in point of 
 culture, and it became more and more difficult for the 
 same school to provide for different educational needs. 
 Very many foundations proved to have too slender 
 an endowment, many suffered from the apathy 
 of their managers, the general want of interest in 
 education, and the growth of abuses. Some fell 
 gradually into decay, many became in practice ele- 
 mentary schools, most were distracted by the varying 
 claims of different classes of boys requiring different 
 kinds of teaching. But many small grammar- 
 schools continued until quite recent times to edu- 
 cate the sons both of the lower middle class and of 
 the gentry of the neighbourhood, sending boys fre- 
 quently to the universities and turning out some dis- 
 tinguished scholars. Meanwhile, certain foundations 
 most, but not all, having wealthy endowments, 
 became distinguished both as the chief nurseries of 
 learning .and as the proper places of education for 
 the sons of the gentle-folk, and those who could 
 afford it became anxious to send their sons from a 
 distance to them. Thus arose the habit of sending 
 boys to boarding-schools, and with it ultimately a 
 preference for the discipline of a boarding-school. 
 At the same time a demand for various expensive 
 accompaniments of education grew up, and between 
 the few eminent schools and the universities, a
 
 IT. GROWTH OF SECONDARY SCHOOL SYSTEM 19 
 
 distinct kind of curriculum became established as the 
 normal course for a classical education. Modern 
 facilities for travelling increased the predominance 
 of a few great schools, and from these various cir- 
 cumstances arose a class of public schools which 
 maintained a certain standard of efficiency, but at a 
 cost which confined them to the upper and leisured 
 classes. Meanwhile the habit of founding grammar- 
 schools gradually died away, while population grew 
 enormously and the distribution of it entirely changed. 
 The old system of schools was thus outgrown, and 
 for many new and populous neighbourhoods there 
 was no provision at all. The absence of schools in 
 spme places, and their inefficiency in others, afforded 
 an opening for private adventure in the establishment 
 of schools, and in a large part of the country the 
 private school became the recognised means of edu- 
 cation for the middle class. General experience has 
 since shown that private adventure cannot be relied 
 upon to provide a good system of education, more 
 especially for a class which has long been without 
 any considerable interest in learning, and which is 
 unable to test the quality of the schools by any ac- 
 cepted notion of right education. 
 
 The admitted needs of middle-class education 
 have led, during the last half century, to the establish- 
 ment of a third class of schools. These are the pro- 
 prietary schools founded and managed by companies 
 of investors interested in education. They have been 
 started for the benefit sometimes of a particular re- 
 ligious body, sometimes of a particular profession, 
 and sometimes of a particular neighbourhood. This 
 movement, though important in its effects, is by no
 
 20 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION i. 
 
 means general. The most conspicuous result of 
 this zeal for education has been an addition to classical 
 schools of the first rank, rather than any general pro- 
 gress in the promotion of middle-class education. 
 
 3. Attitude of the State. We have now to 
 indicate the various ways in which Parliament and 
 Government have so far concerned themselves with 
 Secondary Education. Religious, philanthropic, and 
 political motives have all alike contributed to the 
 progress of the educational movement in England, 
 and especially to the spread of elementary education 
 among the poorest classes. The establishment of 
 Sunday-schools about a hundred years ago was fol- 
 lowed at the beginning of the present century by that 
 of day-schools, supported by voluntary contributions 
 and by the efforts of the British and Foreign and the 
 National Society. In 1833, a Parliamentary grant 
 was given for school buildings, and the movement 
 progressed by gradual steps to the establishment of 
 our present system of elementary schools in 1870. 
 The Government of the country has now undertaken 
 the fullest responsibility for the support and direction 
 of elementary education. 
 
 In the years which preceded 1870, the whole school 
 system of the country had been made the subject of 
 consideration by Royal Commissions. The subject 
 was not, however, brought under review at once, 
 but was dealt with in separate parts by three differ- 
 ent bodies. First, in 1858, came the Duke of New- 
 castle's ' Commission on Popular Education,' dealing 
 with elementary schools only, and leading ultimately 
 to the passing of the Act of 1870. In 1861 a second 
 Commission was appointed to consider another class
 
 II. GROWTH OF SECONDARY SCHOOL SYSTEM 21 
 
 of schools, not however secondary schools generally, 
 but nine selected schools of the first rank. Their report 
 was followed by the Public Schools Act of 1 868, under 
 which seven of the nine schools had their statutes 
 revised by an Executive Commission. The remaining 
 schools which fell between these two classes were the 
 subject of inquiry by a later Commission ; the 'Schools 
 Inquiry Commission,' appointed in 1864. When all 
 these Commissions had done their work, the universi- 
 ties were taken under consideration by a Commission 
 appointed in 1872. The Schools Inquiry Commission 
 led to the passing of the ' Endowed Schools Act ' 
 of 1869. This set up an Executive Commission (since 
 merged in the Charity Commission), to revise, as 
 speedily and systematically as might be, the statutes 
 of endowed schools which needed change. Previously 
 these statutes had occasionally been altered by the 
 various Courts competent to deal with charitable 
 trusts, or by private Acts of Parliament. The Charity 
 Commission is still labouring at the work started by 
 the Act of 1869. The Schools Inquiry Commission 
 had recommended a comprehensive scheme for the 
 reorganisation of schools. Though the Endowed 
 Schools Act gave only a very partial effect to their 
 scheme, it remains in England by far the most im- 
 portant measure by which the development of second- 
 ary schools has been affected. In Wales a complete 
 re-organisation of secondary education is now going 
 forward under the Welsh ' Intermediate Education 
 Act' of 1889. The schools of the Principality, and 
 the lessons which its experience may afford to 
 England, will be separately treated in a later part of 
 this volume. In England, as well as in Wales, we
 
 22 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION II. 
 
 have further to notice the relation to secondary 
 schools of certain other agencies established in the 
 first place to promote special kinds of teaching. For 
 example, the Science and Art Department, established 
 as long ago as 1856, affords, by the grants given on 
 the results of examinations, a stimulus to the teaching 
 of certain subjects, and an addition to the income of 
 some secondary schools. Again, as already noted in 
 the first chapter, the report of the Royal Commission 
 on Technical Instruction, issued in 1884, dwelt strongly 
 on the need of promoting sound general education, as 
 apart from technical training, among the middle and 
 working classes. The Technical Instruction Act of 
 1889 is not, of course, primarily intended for this 
 purpose ; but, by the liberal definition of technical 
 instruction there inserted, County Councils have power 
 to spend money from the rates, or the money received 
 under the Local Taxation Act of 1890, on the ad- 
 vancement of certain branches of secondary educa- 
 tion, and considerable use is already being made of 
 these powers pending the passing of a thorough 
 measure for the organisation of secondary schools. 
 These measures will probably prove to have been 
 the first step towards a great and decisive change. 
 
 The following chapter gives a detailed account ot 
 the policy which was recommended on the one occa- 
 sion in our history, when the general condition of 
 English secondary schools was made the subject of 
 serious consideration and systematic inquiry.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE REPORT OF THE SCHOOLS INQUIRY 
 COMMISSION 
 
 i. THE COMMISSIONERS' IDEAL 
 
 THE Report of the Schools Inquiry Commission 
 is perhaps the most remarkable English Government 
 publication, alike from the breadth and completeness 
 with which it handles its subject, and from the merit 
 of its literary style. The Commission was a strong 
 one, consisting of Lord Taunton, the present Lord 
 Derby, Lord Lyttelton, Sir Stafford Northcote, the 
 present Sir Thomas Acland, Dean Hook, the present 
 Bishops of London and of Winchester, Mr. W. E. 
 Forster, Mr. Edward Baines, Mr. Peter Erie, Q.C., 
 and Dr. John Storrar. Lord Derby and Sir Stafford 
 Northcote did not sign the Report, being members 
 of the Government when it was issued. The Com- 
 missioners had the services, as Assistant Com- 
 missioners, etc., of Mr. Matthew Arnold, Mr. T. H. 
 Green, Mr. Bryce, Mr. Fearon (now Secretary of the 
 Charity Commission), Mr. J. G. Fitch, Mr. Fraser 
 (afterwards Bishop of Manchester), and others. Mr. 
 H. J. Roby (now M.P. for Eccles) was secretary. Not 
 only the final report of the Commissioners, which is 
 here summarised, but the separate reports sent in 
 to them by their Assistant Commissioners, contain
 
 24 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION i. 
 
 much that deserves to be read by those who are 
 interested in education. 
 
 A National System of Public Schools. The 
 
 purpose of the inquiry was (to quote the terms of 
 reference) to consider ' the education given in schools 
 not comprised within the scope' of former Com- 
 missions, ' and also to consider and report what 
 measures, if any, are required for the improvement 
 of such education, having especial regard to all en- 
 dowments applicable, or which can rightly be made 
 applicable thereto.' 1 
 
 In the course of their Report, the Commissioners 
 not only give a picture of the existing state of facts, 
 and detailed proposals for immediate legislation, but 
 also indicate the ideal at which, in their opinion, a well- 
 organised system of secondary education ought to aim. 
 'It would probably,' they said, 'be both useless and 
 impracticable to attempt simply to transplant into 
 England systems that have flourished elsewhere. We 
 have not the universal energy and restlessness of the 
 Americans, nor the long training of the Scotch, nor 
 the singular aptitude for organisation of the French, 
 nor the strong belief in the value of culture which 
 makes education so universal an object of desire in 
 Prussia. But there is no reason why, if we cannot do 
 precisely what our neighbours have done, we should 
 not do something of a corresponding character. The 
 wants of England are not exactly the same with those 
 of America, France, or Prussia ; nor even, where 
 the wants are identical, will the proper means of 
 supplying those wants always coincide. But without 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 4.
 
 in. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 25 
 
 quitting the course usually observed in dealing with 
 English institutions, we have no doubt that the right 
 result in the matter of education may be defined now 
 and reached hereafter.' 1 
 
 In a system of secondary education adequate to 
 the needs of the country, public schools must, it was 
 felt, generally prevail. Schools under private manage- 
 ment would be useful, if they were exceptional ; but 
 they could not be expected to supply the main part 
 of what was wanted. Of a national system of public 
 schools, the existing endowed schools were the rudi- 
 ments, and therefore, though in number compara- 
 tively few, they were throughout treated by the Com- 
 missioners as the chief element to be considered in the 
 existing supply of schools. Their public position, and 
 their old traditions, gave them a peculiar position in 
 the popular regard. No other schools had resources 
 independent of their pupils' fees, which could enable 
 them to educate those who were fit for high educa- 
 tion but could not afford to pay the full cost. 
 They could readily be brought under the necessary 
 supervision and control. Thus the first step in 
 future organisation was to make due use of these 
 schools. Their condition of decay at the time was 
 also indicative of the general state of secondary 
 education. Experience showed that, in general, they 
 were somewhat superior to the private schools, but 
 where they were inefficient their competition might 
 yet prevent the rise of good private schools. Where, 
 however, public schools were altogether wanting, it by 
 no means followed that private schools would come 
 to supply their place. 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 78.
 
 26 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION I. 
 
 Grading of Schools. The Commissioners laid 
 down, as a fundamental principle, that schools of three 
 distinct levels or grades were required, above the rank 
 of elementary education. ' The wishes,' they said, 
 'of the parents can best be defined, in the first 
 instance, by the length of time during which 
 they are willing to keep their children under in- 
 struction. It is found that, viewed in this way, 
 education, as distinct from direct preparation for em- 
 ployment, can at present be classified as that which 
 is to stop at about fourteen, that which is to stop 
 at about sixteen, and that which is to continue till 
 eighteen or nineteen ; and for convenience we shall 
 call these the third, the second, and the first grade 
 of education respectively. The difference in the time 
 assigned makes some difference in the very nature 
 of the education itself; if a boy cannot remain 
 at school beyond the age of fourteen, it is useless 
 to begin teaching him such subjects as require 
 a longer time for their proper study ; if he can 
 continue till eighteen or nineteen, it may be 
 expedient to postpone some studies that would 
 otherwise be commenced early. Both the substance 
 and the arrangement of the instruction will thus 
 greatly depend on the length of time that can be 
 devoted to it. It is obvious that these distinctions 
 correspond roughly, but by no means exactly, to the 
 gradations of society. Those who can afford to pay 
 more for their children's education will also, as a 
 general rule, continue that education for a longer 
 time.' l 
 
 It was found in practice that the attempt to 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 15.
 
 in. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 27 
 
 combine the education of these different classes of 
 boys in one school prevented any class from getting 
 what it really wanted. Therefore the Commissioners 
 advocated the principle of grading the schools. ' The 
 first requisite,' they write, ' in organising education, 
 is to assign definite functions to the schools, so as 
 to prevent all trying to answer every purpose, and 
 thereby few succeeding in answering any.' 
 
 Under a proper organisation of schools, the mass 
 of boys who wanted a lower-grade education should 
 find a day-school adapted to their needs near at hand ; 
 the minority, who wanted education of a higher grade, 
 should find a higher school in their district, generally 
 at a greater distance, and probably with provision 
 for boarders. The character of the locality in which 
 each school was placed, the extent of its endow- 
 ments, and the neighbourhood of other schools, would 
 determine the class of scholars for whom it could 
 best be made available, and the proper function of 
 the school was to give the special kind of teaching 
 which was most suited to that particular class. 
 
 In the system of schools so distributed, there 
 would be need of preparatory departments for the 
 schools of higher grade. Little boys and big boys 
 would require different kinds of teaching and of 
 discipline, and where, as in first-grade education, the 
 range of ages was considerable, it was desirable to 
 keep the older and younger boys altogether apart. 
 In second-grade schools there was less objection to 
 the economy of letting the preparatory department 
 and the school proper share the same premises and 
 the teaching of the same staff. In third-grade schools, 
 where all the scholars were young, there was no need
 
 28 STUDIES IN SECOND A R \ ' EDUCA TION i. 
 
 of a distinct preparatory department ; but, if social 
 prejudices did not forbid it, such a school might well 
 be attached as an upper department to an elementary 
 school. 1 
 
 Subjects of Instruction. In considering the ques- 
 tion of the choice of subjects of instruction in schools 
 of all grades, the Commissioners paid most regard to 
 the relation of such subjects to good general training 
 for the mind. ' Special preparation for employments 
 was all but universally condemned as a mistake. It 
 disorganised and broke up the teaching. It conferred 
 a transitory instead of a permanent benefit, since the 
 boy whose powers of mind had been carefully trained 
 speedily made up for special deficiencies, and very 
 often it taught what soon had to be unlearnt and 
 learnt over again.' " But this implied no condemna- 
 tion of the teaching of any subject which, though 
 specially useful in some particular employment, could 
 easily be made an instrument for the general cultiva- 
 tion of the intellect. 
 
 Thus the demand of some parents for a modern 
 education in first-grade schools, was one which ought 
 to be effectively supplied, and it could best be met 
 by establishing separate modem schools of the first 
 grade. For the modern side of a classical school was 
 apt, being apart from the main current of the school, 
 
 1 The Commissioners did not consider that preparatory schools 
 should share in the endowments available for secondary education in 
 a way which would diminish the revenues of higher schools. A pre~ 
 paratory department might, however, share in the buildings of an 
 endowed school, when the fees received in it would increase the net 
 revenues of the whole institution. 
 
 2 'Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 21.
 
 in. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 29 
 
 to become merely a refuge for boys without ambition 
 or application ; and moreover the inclusion of fresh 
 subjects in first-grade classical schools was difficult 
 without direct encouragement from the universities. 
 
 Similarly, in schools of other grades, the busi- 
 ness or industry of the neighbourhood gave an 
 exceptional practical value to particular sciences or 
 languages. But in the curriculum of all secondary 
 schools alike, three leading subjects should be used 
 as the chief instruments for the discipline of the mind: 
 language, mathematics, and physical science. The 
 Commissioners inclined to the opinion that language 
 was the most valuable instrument of the three. 
 'Nothing,' they say, ' appears to develop and discipline 
 the whole man so much as the study which assists 
 the learner to understand the thoughts, to enter 
 into the feelings, to appreciate the moral judgments 
 of others. There is nothing so opposed to true 
 cultivation, nothing so unreasonable as excessive 
 narrowness of mind ; and nothing contributes to 
 remove this narrowness so much as that clear 
 understanding of language which lays open the 
 thoughts of others to ready appreciation. Nor is 
 equal clearness of thought to be obtained in any 
 other way. Clearness of thought is bound up with 
 clearness of language, and the one is impossible 
 without the other. When the study of language can 
 be followed by that of literature, not only breadth 
 and clearness, but refinement becomes attainable. 
 The study of history in the full sense belongs to a 
 somewhat later age ; for till the learner is old enough 
 to have some appreciation of politics, he is not cap- 
 able of grasping the meaning of what he studies.
 
 30 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION \ 
 
 But both literature and history do but carry on that 
 which the study of language has begun, the cultiva- 
 tion of all those faculties by which man has contact 
 with man.' l 
 
 Among languages, Greek could not be taught 
 with advantage, except in first-grade schools. But 
 Latin could, they thought, be taught with effect in 
 other schools, and Latin held its ground against all 
 other languages, English included, by its character 
 as a language, and by the help it gave in acquiring a 
 scholarly understanding of English, and in learning 
 other languages at the same time or afterwards. 
 Languages therefore, including, along with Latin, 
 French or German or both, should divide with science 
 and mathematics the chief part of the school time 
 of boys who had first mastered the indispensable ele- 
 mentary subjects. English literature and historyshould 
 receive careful attention, but they had subordinate 
 claims on the time of the school. Science teaching 
 could best be made a valuable discipline if it began 
 with sciences which appealed at first chiefly to the 
 faculties of simple observation, such as elementary 
 botany, going on to physical geography as a subject 
 which led to some general understanding of natural 
 objects, and ending with elementary chemistry and 
 physics, as 'the common groundwork of all the 
 sciences.' 
 
 ' It is most likely,' said the Commissioners, ' that 
 in different classes of schools, or in schools of the 
 same class, the extent to which natural science may 
 be carried, may greatly vary just as is now the 
 case with mathematics. Indeed, it may be highly 
 
 1 'Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 22.
 
 in. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 31 
 
 desirable that there should be considerable variety in 
 this respect ; for it must not be lost sight of that boys 
 of very ordinary power of grasping other subjects may 
 evince special ability in natural science, which ought 
 to be provided for. Nor would it be wise in a country 
 whose continued prosperity so greatly depends on its 
 ability to maintain its pre-eminence in manufactures, 
 to neglect the application of natural science to the 
 industrial arts, or overlook the importance of pro- 
 moting the study of it even in a special way, among 
 its artisans.' 1 
 
 Scholarships. When the schools were organised 
 in such a way as to provide for the needs of first-grade, 
 second-grade, and third-grade scholars, the next thing 
 requisite was to enable the ' poor scholar of ability ' 
 to attend a school where he would find the education 
 needed to develop his talents. 
 
 ' One great service which till a very late period 
 was rendered to this country by the grammar-schools 
 was, that so many boys of more than ordinary 
 capacity found in them, what they could hardly have 
 found elsewhere, the means of rising to eminence in 
 all professions, and especially in literature. Our his- 
 tory is full of names of men who have risen by their 
 learning, and not a few from comparative obscurity. 
 And in a great majority of cases these men obtained 
 their early education in the first instance from the 
 nearest country grammar-school, and sometimes not 
 only their early education, but exhibitions to enable 
 them to complete that education at the universities. 
 . . . This service was, perhaps, more certainly than 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 36.
 
 32 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION I. 
 
 anything else which the grammar-schools can now do, 
 a main object of the founders.' But the grammar- 
 schools had ceased to be able to do this. ' They 
 could do this work only so long as education was 
 comparatively simple and uniform, and all classes 
 could be educated together.' 1 The different demands 
 of different classes had now made that impossible ; 
 grammar-schools had either abandoned higher educa- 
 tion, or had lost their scholars through attempting 
 to maintain classical teaching. In neither case could 
 a boy of superior ability find what he wanted in 
 them. In the reform of the schools the divergence 
 of the requirements of different classes was to be 
 accepted as inevitable, 'but we cannot think it well,' 
 said the Commissioners, ' that the old glory of the 
 grammar-school should be entirely lost, and that it 
 should be henceforth impossible for ability to find 
 aids to enable it to achieve distinction. Nor do we 
 think it a necessary consequence of what we have 
 proposed.' 2 
 
 A system of exhibitions had to be devised which 
 should enable boys to pass from one kind of school 
 to another, as well as from school to the universities. 
 Schools of a lower grade could not be preparatory 
 for those of a higher grade, but if some leading study 
 formed a link between them, and such a link could 
 be supplied by Latin, it would be ' easy to arrange 
 that real ability should secure its proper opening.' 
 Thus, in a third-grade school, though Latin would 
 not be the chief object of study, the upper forms 
 might be well grounded in the elements of it, and an 
 exceptionally clever boy, rising rapidly to these upper 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 93. J Ibid. p. 95.
 
 in. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 33 
 
 forms, could thus fit himself to enter a higher school 
 while he was young enough to do so with advantage. 
 Such a boy, if intended ultimately to receive a first- 
 grade education, should go straight from the third 
 grade to the first-grade school. The arrangement of 
 what has been called ' the ladder of education ' was 
 not discussed in much detail in the Report, but it 
 was insisted that it ought to be a reality, and though 
 the curricula of the different kinds of school were not 
 to be framed with the idea that ordinary boys would 
 pass from one to the other, it was believed that, in 
 the exceptional cases of such transition, ' clever boys, 
 thoroughly well instructed in the elementary sub- 
 jects, with their minds well opened already by sub- 
 jects suited to their capacity, fired by the natural 
 ambition consequent on their own success, would be 
 found quite capable of making up, perhaps of more 
 than making up, for the disadvantage of changing 
 from one system to another.' l 
 
 Education of Girls. The Commissioners treated 
 the education of girls as a serious matter of national 
 concern no less than that of boys. In the first place, 
 the number of women of the middle class who had to 
 earn their own livelihood made the subject, 'for any 
 one who thinks much of it, important, to the very last 
 degree.' They condemned with decision the ' long- 
 established and inveterate prejudice, that girls are less 
 capable of mental cultivation, and less in need of it 
 than boys ; that accomplishments, and what is showy 
 and superficially attractive, are what is really essential 
 for them ; and in particular, that as regards their 
 
 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 96. 
 C
 
 34 
 
 relations to the other sex and the probabilities of 
 marriage, more solid attainments are actually dis- 
 advantageous rather than the reverse.' 1 In reality, 
 a wife trained to something more than a ' life of 
 mere gentleness and amiability ' was of the ut- 
 most value to her husband in all the more serious 
 affairs of his life. In a busy mercantile community 
 the greater leisure of women, marking them as 
 specially likely to be able to keep up the standard 
 of culture, made the prevalence of high education 
 among them a thing much to be desired. The 
 superiority of education among women in America 
 was, in the eyes of some wise observers, one of the 
 greatest advantages of that country. In intellectual 
 character the two sexes might differ. ' Many differ- 
 ences, such as the tendency to abstract principles in 
 boys contrasted with the greater readiness to lay 
 hold of facts in girls the greater quickness to 
 acquire in the latter with the greater retentiveness in 
 the former the greater eagerness of girls to learn 
 their acuter susceptibility to praise and blame their 
 lesser inductive faculty,' 2 might be noticed. But 
 though their intellectual faculties might differ in 
 kind, all evidence went to show that they were to a 
 great extent similar in degree. ' On the special point 
 of the health of women, both in youth and in after 
 life, so far from its being true that they are likely to 
 suffer from increased and more systematic intellectual 
 exercise and attainment, the very opposite view is 
 maintained both as the result of experience and on 
 scientific authority.' 3 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 546. 
 " Ibid. p. 554. 3 Ibid. p. 557.
 
 in. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 35 
 
 In girls' education the distinction of grades was 
 even more sharply marked than in the case of boys. 
 The curricula of schools for boys and girls would, of 
 course, differ in so far as they were influenced by 
 considerations of practical utility ; but except for this 
 the Commissioners appear to have thought that the 
 difference to be observed in the mental training of 
 the two sexes should lie in methods of discipline, 
 rather than in any selection of subjects of study. 
 
 School Accommodation required. Only a very 
 rough estimate could be formed of the number of 
 scholars for whom accommodation would be wanted 
 in any systematic provision of secondary schools. 
 The often-quoted estimate of the Commissioners gave 
 it in the case of boys as from twelve to thirteen 
 for every thousand of the population, and assigned 
 half of this number to schools of the third grade. 
 In the case of girls they attempted no estimate. 
 What is of more value is their idea of the number 
 of day-schools of different grades for which there 
 was scope. Every town of 20,000 inhabitants might, 
 they thought, support a day-school of the first grade, 
 every town of 5000 one of the second grade, and 
 every town whatsoever one of the third grade. In 
 addition to these there would be wanted, first-grade 
 boarding-schools at the rate of four for every million 
 of the population, each school accommodating on an 
 average about 250 boys ; and second-grade boarding 
 schools for about an equal number of boys. This 
 would mean one second-grade boarding-school ac- 
 commodating about loo boys for every 100,000 of 
 the population. The development of the elementary
 
 36 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION \. 
 
 school system may be assumed to have made some 
 difference in the truth of these always uncertain 
 estimates, for much is now done by public elementary 
 schools which the Commissioners would have assigned 
 to endowed schools of the third grade. On the 
 other hand, the desire for education has grown, so 
 that the total number for whom secondary schools 
 have to provide may not have diminished, and the 
 number for whom schools of the two upper grades 
 are required has certainly greatly increased. 
 
 Cost and Fees. It was estimated that if schools 
 were to be maintained in efficiency, and at the same 
 time made accessible to the mass of those for whom 
 they were intended, the annual fees must be within the 
 following limits : for first-grade boarding-schools, 60 
 to 120; for first-grade day-schools, 12 to 25 guineas ; 
 for second-grade boarding-schools, 25 to 40; for 
 second-grade day-schools, 6 to 12 ; for third -grade 
 schools (always day-schools), 2 to 4 guineas. It 
 was not thought that the cost of girls' education 
 ought to differ greatly from that of boys. In these 
 estimates it was assumed that the cost of buildings 
 and of their maintenance, and of the education of 
 free scholars, should be met from endowments, or 
 from similar sources, and should not fall upon the 
 fees. 
 
 ' To sum up, it may be said that, as things now 
 are, all classes habitually frequenting the schools 
 within the scope of our Commission are able, and, at 
 least where they have no cherished claim to gratuitous 
 education as a right, are willing, to pay from 2 to 
 2, IDS. per annum ; that most are able and willing
 
 in. RE FOR T OF SCHO OLS INQ UIR Y COMMISSION 37 
 
 to pay about 4, 45. ; that a considerable number 
 are willing to pay 6, 6s. ; that those able and willing 
 to pay a higher fee than this are a much smaller 
 number, but having a much larger proportion of 
 persons who are willing for this purpose to strain 
 their ability to the utmost. . . . Consequently, in order 
 to enable a school fully to reach those who are desirous, 
 and rightly desirous, of using it, a third-grade school 
 and a school of a still lower grade require, if buildings 
 be provided, but little help from endowment ; a second 
 grade (costing 8 to 10 per scholar, besides build- 
 ings) requires more ; a first-grade school (costing 15 
 to 20 per scholar, besides buildings) requires more 
 still.' 1 
 
 Systems of Secondary Schools in other Coun- 
 tries. In arriving at their views of the best system 
 of secondary education for this country, the Com- 
 missioners had full regard to the experience of 
 foreign countries, though they saw the impossibility 
 of transplanting to England systems which had 
 grown up naturally under different conditions. Part 
 of the Report on Foreign Schools, presented by Mr. 
 Matthew Arnold to the Commission, has since been 
 republished under the title of ' Higher Schools and 
 Universities in Germany.' 
 
 So much progress has been made abroad in the 
 past twenty-five years that it would serve no useful 
 purpose to give a detailed summary of the state of 
 facts which the Commissioners found to exist in each 
 country. But it is worth while to show, by a few 
 brief quotations, the nature of the judgment which 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. pp. 166-67, 
 
 . - . ..rr . f.
 
 38 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION i. 
 
 they formed on the merits and defects of the various 
 systems investigated. 
 
 America. ' The New England System, as described 
 by Mr. Fraser, 1 appears to be weak where we are 
 strongest, strong where we are weakest. . . . The 
 higher schools in New England can hardly compete 
 with our own higher schools, but with good schools 
 corresponding to what we have termed the third 
 grade, they are well supplied.' 2 
 
 ' But whatever be the defects of the system, it has 
 the one great merit of being alive. The teachers 
 " have the gift of turning what they know to the best 
 account ; they are self-possessed, energetic, fearless ; 
 they are admirable disciplinarians, firm without 
 severity, patient without weakness ; their manner of 
 teaching is lively, and fertile in illustration ; classes 
 are not likely to fall asleep in their hands." . . . On 
 the whole, it appears to us that the great merit of 
 these schools is their precise adaptation to the Ameri- 
 can people and the American political life. Without 
 the American energy to inspire them, and the Ameri- 
 can political life to follow them, we think it may be 
 doubted whether they would attain any real success. 
 . . . They fall far short of Prussia in completeness 
 and culture. But they seem to have succeeded 
 in supplying every citizen with as much education 
 as is indispensable for the ordinary duties of life, 
 and in opening to him the door for more if he 
 desire it.' 3 
 
 Scotland. ' On a review of the Scotch system, 
 it is evident that there is little that can be called 
 
 1 Afterwards Bishop of Manchester. 
 
 - ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 50. 3 'Ibid. p. 53.
 
 in. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 39 
 
 organisation. The universities do not act in concert 
 with the burgh schools, nor the burgh schools with 
 the parochial. It can hardly be said that the masters 
 in each school act in concert with each other. . . . 
 That such results should come from such a system 
 is a proof of what the parents can do for their 
 children's education if they are thoroughly in earnest. 
 In spite of all defects of organisation (some of which, 
 indeed, might be easily remedied), the force which is 
 supplied by the constant and vigilant interest of the 
 parents achieves a remarkable success.' l 
 
 France. ' The French system, as judged from an 
 English point of view, appears to have the merit of 
 being a perfect piece of machinery for the cultivation 
 of the intellect. On the moral side it seems to be 
 weak, and there are some appearances of its having 
 a deficiency just like our own, namely, in the educa- 
 tion put within the reach of the superior artisans and 
 smaller shopkeepers.' 2 
 
 Germany. ' When we view it as a whole, the 
 Prussian system appears to be at once the most com- 
 plete and the most perfectly adapted to its people 
 of all that now exist. It is not wanting in the highest 
 cultivation like the American, nor in dealing with the 
 mass of the middle classes like our own, nor does it 
 run any risk of sacrificing everything else to intel- 
 lectual proficiency like the French. It is somewhat 
 more bureaucratic in its form than would work well 
 in England, but it is emphatically not a mere cen- 
 tralised system, in which the Government is every- 
 thing. . . . The Prussians believe in culture, and 
 whoever may have originally created the educational 
 
 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 61. 2 Ibid. p. 62.
 
 40 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION i. 
 
 machinery, that machinery has now been appropri- 
 ated by the people themselves. . . . The result is an 
 unrivalled body of teachers, schools meeting every 
 possible need of every class, and a highly cultivated 
 people.' l 
 
 Switzerland. ' Mr. Arnold took the Canton Zurich 
 as the representative of Switzerland in the matter of 
 education, as he had taken Prussia as the representa- 
 tive of Germany. This canton shows its zeal for 
 education by devoting nearly one-third of the whole 
 public expenditure to that object. . . . The work 
 done for education in the canton out of its own 
 revenues is summed up by Mr. Arnold in one sen- 
 tence: "A territory, with the population of Leices- 
 tershire, maintains a university, a veterinary school, 
 a school of agriculture, two great classical schools, 
 two great real schools, a normal school for training 
 primary and secondary teachers, fifty-seven secondary 
 schools, and three hundred and sixty-five primary 
 schools : and many of these are among the best of 
 their kind." . . . The drawback to this complete 
 system is that, excellent up to the highest grade of 
 education, it then fails. . . . The higher intellectual 
 cultivation, in short, is wanting. In what they have 
 tried to do they have succeeded perhaps even better 
 than France and Prussia ; but their aim has been 
 distinctly lower.' 2 
 
 2. EXISTING STATE OF FACTS. 
 
 Number and condition of Endowed Schools. 
 
 For reasons which have been seen, a survey of the 
 state of secondary education naturally began with 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i, p. 72. " Ibid. pp. 73-75.
 
 in. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 41 
 
 those endowed foundations which were the original 
 provision for higher-school teaching in the country. 
 A very few figures will show that the endowed schools 
 fell far short of supplying the wants of the country. 
 The total number of such schools with which the 
 Commissioners were concerned was 782. There were 
 as many as 3000 endowed schools, but the great 
 majority of these endowments had always been de- 
 voted to the purposes of elementary education only. 
 These 782 schools consisted of ' Grammar-Schools,' 
 in the strict legal sense of schools intended for the 
 study of Latin, or of Latin and Greek, and of a few 
 others which were giving a higher and larger course 
 of education than the elementary schools. With 
 them must be reckoned the nine great schools which, 
 from their celebrity and importance, had been the 
 subject of a separate Commission of inquiry. The 
 total number was small for the size of the country, 
 and the total income from school endowments only 
 came to about >\ per annum for every boy requiring 
 secondary education. 
 
 The endowed schools varied in wealth from a 
 large foundation, like Christ's Hospital with .42,000 
 a year besides buildings, to insignificant ones with 
 a school-room and $ a year, or less. The larger number, 
 indeed, had less than 100 a year. They varied also 
 from the most successful schools, to those which had 
 fallen into utter decay. The endowments were also 
 distributed about the country very unevenly, and many 
 districts were most scantily provided with them. Of 
 the 195,184 set down as the net income of endowed 
 schools, most counties had between 1000 and 4000 
 a year, but one had 7000, another nearly 9000,
 
 42 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION \. 
 
 another less than 400. Nor were the schools dis- 
 tributed where the density of population offered most 
 scope for their usefulness. Thus, of the 532 towns 
 which then had over 2000 inhabitants, 228 were 
 without endowments, the majority of the grammar- 
 schools being situated in smaller places. ' In at least 
 two-thirds,' said the Commissioners, ' of the places in 
 England named as Towns in the Census there is no 
 public school at all above the primary schools, and 
 in the remaining third the school is often insufficient 
 in size or in quality.' l 
 
 These schools all over the country were educating 
 among them less than 37,000 boys, whereas, accord- 
 ing to the estimate of the Commissioners, the number 
 of boys in the whole country requiring secondary 
 education might be taken to be 255,000. Thus the 
 endowed schools educated less than fifteen per cent, 
 of the total of boys for whom secondary education 
 was needed. If to the boys in endowed schools were 
 added those in the proprietary schools, which had 
 been established to supply their place and possessed 
 something of their public character, the total number 
 came to 52,000. There remained nearly eighty per 
 cent, of the boys of this class who were educated ' in 
 private schools, or at home, or not at all.' 
 
 The endowed schools were, not only inadequate 
 in number, but were, as a rule, not giving their 
 scholars the education they required. In the first 
 place, there was an undue number of purely classical 
 schools. In the second place, when the classics were 
 not the chief subject of study, there were often no 
 other proper subjects taking their place. The Com- 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 102.
 
 HI. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 43 
 
 missioners considered that, when a purely classical 
 education was the most desirable education for the 
 majority of boys in a school, some fairly large pro- 
 portion of them, roughly perhaps twenty per cent, 
 would be found to go to the universities. Now, of 
 the schools in their list 209 were classical, and not one 
 in six of these sent twenty per cent, of its scholars to 
 the universities, little more than a third of them sent 
 one boy a year, many of them did not send a boy once 
 in three years. There were 183 'semi-classical' schools, 
 teaching Latin but not Greek. There were 340 teach- 
 ing neither Latin nor Greek. Of these non-classical 
 schools the Commissioners report : ' In very few 
 of these cases is any effective instruction given in 
 mathematics, French, or natural science. By far the 
 majority, though not quite all, give no better educa- 
 tio t n than that of an ordinary national school, and a 
 very great number do not give one so good.' l These 
 three classes leave fifty schools unaccounted for, 
 those schools being at the time in abeyance. 
 
 A few quotations from the reports of the Assist- 
 ant Commissioners, who inspected the schools of 
 different districts, will give a vivid idea of the state 
 of the schools. From one district it is reported that 
 ' the classical learning prescribed in a large majority 
 of the grammar-schools by the statutes is a delusive 
 thing. It is given to very few in any form. It is 
 not carried to a substantial issue in the case of five 
 per cent, of the scholars.' - But ' it furnishes the pre- 
 text for the neglect of all other useful learning.' 
 The English language and physical science are sel- 
 dom taught systematically. 'Three-fourths of the 
 
 1 'Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 131. ' 2 Ibid. p. 133.
 
 44 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION i. 
 
 scholars whom I have examined in endowed schools, 
 if tested by the usual standards appropriate to boys 
 of similar age ' in elementary schools, ' would fail to 
 pass the examination, either in arithmetic or any other 
 elementary subject.' In another district we are told 
 that classical teaching is giving way to commercial, 
 yet, that ' French and mathematics are not subjects 
 to which the teaching power of the school is more 
 than very partially directed/ l that natural science is 
 hardly taught at all ; that writing is good, but spell- 
 ing only tolerable, and geography unsatisfactory, and 
 that (with little exception) only the superficial facts 
 of English history are known, and that confusedly. 
 In another district, consisting of two populous Mid- 
 land counties, 'there were only one or two schools 
 in which I found lessons given, either in English 
 history or literature, or in the French language, or in 
 chemistry in such a way as to have any educational 
 value. As a general rule, the knowledge of Latin in 
 a grammar-school is the measure of attainment in 
 all other subjects,' but there were only ninety-seven 
 boys in all the schools examined, ' who with any 
 amount of time allowed, and with unlimited use of 
 the dictionary, could make out for themselves with 
 decent correctness an ordinary passage of Cicero or 
 Virgil.' 2 In mathematics the standard was as low, 
 and if twenty were taken as the number of those who 
 could translate a passage from an ordinary French 
 writer for themselves, the allowance would be a liberal 
 one. There were, of course, many exceptional 
 schools, and there were districts where some progress 
 was being made in the schools generally. But, on 
 
 1 'Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 134. 2 Ibid. p. 135.
 
 in. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 45 
 
 the whole, the Commissioners report, ' the instruction 
 in the endowed schools is very far removed from 
 what their founders could have anticipated, or from 
 what the country has a right to demand. The dis- 
 tricts assigned to our Assistant Commissioners em- 
 brace almost every diversity of character and popula- 
 tion, yet the] results appear very uniform. . . . This 
 unsatisfactory state of secondary education is the 
 natural consequence of the clearly proved absence 
 in a large number of cases of the conditions of 
 educational success. Untrained teachers, and bad 
 methods of teaching, uninspected work by workmen 
 without adequate motive, unrevised or ill-revised 
 statutes, and the complete absence of all organisa- 
 tion of schools in relation to one another, could 
 hardly lead to any other result.' 1 
 
 But if endowed schools did not supply the need of 
 a district they might easily prevent them from being 
 supplied in any other way. 
 
 ' It is clear from the information which we have 
 ourselves received that there are few endowments 
 applicable to secondary education which are put to 
 the best use, and very many which are working to 
 little or bad use. An endowed school is not a transi- 
 tory institution which is killed by its inutility ; its 
 constant influence is secured by its foundation. A 
 school kept up otherwise than by a private individual 
 for his own profit at once assumes a semi-public 
 aspect ; it becomes an object of general or local, not 
 merely individual or family concern ; and it thereby 
 is always an obstacle more or less serious to the 
 establishment in the same place of any other school 
 of the same class.' 2 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. pp. 138-39. - Ibid. p. 106.
 
 46 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION \. 
 
 The endowed schools indeed were not public 
 schools in the fullest sense. 
 
 ' There is not (with the exception of some schools 
 for the military and naval services) a single school in 
 England above the class of paupers over which the 
 State actually exercises full control. A few are under 
 the control of the municipal authorities of a borough. 
 The rest are under private individuals or private 
 companies, or special ecclesiastical or eleemosynary 
 corporations, or bodies of practically irresponsible 
 trustees. There is no public inspector to investigate 
 the educational condition of a school by direct ex- 
 amination of the scholars, no public board to give 
 advice on educational difficulties, no public rewards 
 given directly to promote educational progress, 
 except those distributed by the Science and Art 
 Department, hardly a single mastership in the gift of 
 the Crown, not a single payment from the central 
 Government to the support of a secondary school, 
 not a single certificate of capacity for teaching given 
 by public authority professedly to teachers in schools, 
 above the primary schools. In any of these senses 
 there is no public school and no public education for 
 the middle and upper classes. If direct pecuniary 
 assistance is not required, the State offers nothing. 
 It might give test, stimulus, advice, dignity : it with- 
 holds them all, and leaves the endowed schools to the 
 cramping assistance of judicial decisions, which may 
 be quite right as regards the interpretation of the 
 founders' words, and quite wrong as regards the wise 
 administration of the schools they founded.' 1 
 
 A brief summary of the Commissioners' Report 
 
 1 'Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 107.
 
 in. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 47 
 
 on several points connected with the constitution 
 and management of the schools will show some of 
 the causes that contributed to the decay of endowed 
 schools and the changes which seemed most necessary 
 for their revival. 
 
 Adaptation of School Teaching to Needs of 
 Majority of Scholars. The prevailing fault among 
 grammar-schools was a want of adjustment between 
 the subjects which the school chiefly aimed at teach- 
 ing, and the needs of the mass of their scholars. 
 Schools paid their chief attention to classics when 
 the mass of boys in them demanded a commercial 
 education. 
 
 ' The boy destined for the university,' said the 
 Commissioners, 'does not find in the master of a 
 small school the scholarship necessary for the highest 
 teaching, nor in his companions helpful rivals. The 
 boy seeking a commercial education finds himself 
 regarded as an inferior being who may be left to the 
 lifeless teaching of a lower master, and cannot expect 
 any further culture than can be extracted from the 
 Greek and Latin accidence.' Of the extent to which 
 this prevailed one county gives a fair example. In 
 this county there were ten schools devoted chiefly to 
 the study of Latin and Greek, of which three only 
 could be counted as first-grade schools. The mix- 
 ture in one school of incompatible kinds of educa- 
 tion went sometimes to great lengths. One school 
 is described as ' a village school endowed with more 
 than 200 per annum, in which there were fifty 
 children, of whom four boys at the head were learning 
 Latin, and these four were arranged in three separate
 
 48 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION i. 
 
 classes. The master said that so much of his time 
 was taken up in hearing their lessons that he was 
 unable to give much attention to the rest. There 
 was an exhibition of 50 a year at Cambridge. 
 The trustees and head-master pointed with much 
 pride to the fact that one boy from the school was 
 now enjoying this exhibition, and that another 
 would be prepared to succeed him. This was their 
 only test of the soundness of the school. Yet it was 
 the only school in the village. Its existence made 
 the establishment of a national school impossible, and 
 its general character was very low.' l 
 
 In the first place, then, there was great need of an 
 entrance-examination in all grammar-schools to keep 
 out boys who were not properly prepared in elemen- 
 tary subjects. Such an examination was already 
 instituted in many cases, but was generally much 
 neglected. One Assistant Commissioner reports : 
 'The entrance-examination did not, at any school 
 that I visited, even where it was strictest, preclude 
 the necessity of teaching the simplest spelling to 
 the majority of the boys that entered it.' 2 
 
 Next, the Commissioners desired that, at every 
 school, there should be a limit of age after which 
 no boy should stay. The maximum age should be 
 
 1 'Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 156. 
 
 2 Ibid. p. 156. 
 
 They recommended, further, that the entrance-examination should be 
 graduated in difficulty according to the ages of the boys, so as to keep 
 down the evil of having big backward boys in a form of small boys ; 
 also that steps should be taken to prevent Latin being begun by boys 
 before a firm grasp of elementary subjects was acquired. The latter 
 provision would ensure that a boy coming from an elementary school, 
 well advanced in arithmetic, but not having begun Latin, could be 
 put in his proper place in the schools.
 
 in. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 49 
 
 nineteen, sixteen, or fourteen, 1 according to the class 
 of boys for whose education the school was intended 
 to provide. By narrowing in this way the scope of 
 each school, they hoped effectually to prevent the 
 dislocation of school work which has been described. 
 They also proposed that schools where the boys were 
 not to stay beyond sixteen, should not be allowed to 
 teach Greek as part of the ordinary school work, and 
 that modern schools of the first grade should be pro- 
 vided. ' Modern sides ' attached to classical schools 
 were pronounced to have been failures, ' side currents 
 from the main stream/ receiving 'those who desire 
 an escape not from any subject in particular but 
 from hard work generally.' It was hoped that the 
 establishment of separate modern schools would 
 prove more successful. 
 
 Free Education and Local Privileges. The 
 
 will of the founders of grammar-schools sometimes 
 forbade any fees to be taken ; in some cases free 
 education was confined to a certain number, but 
 was still given to a considerable proportion of the 
 scholars. The consequence (except in the case of 
 exceptionally large endowments) had been that the 
 resources of the school were overstrained, and were 
 not sufficient to pay for competent teaching at all, 
 or at least for the competent teaching of the number 
 of scholars required to make a school vigorous. 
 But, further, this system greatly increased what 
 has been already described as the chief cause of 
 demoralisation in school work. The wrong boy 
 
 1 Fifteen, instead of fourteen, is the maximum age actually fixed 
 for ' third-grade ' schools by schemes under the Endowed Schools Acts. 
 
 D
 
 50 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION I. 
 
 was put in the wrong school. The attention of the 
 master was distracted between the requirements of 
 boys with widely different educational needs, and one 
 class, or more probably all, suffered in consequence. 
 Often social friction of the most unpleasant kind 
 ensued. Sometimes the master, or even the rules 
 of the school, made odious distinctions between 
 free and paying scholars, such as the exclusion 
 of the free boys from a part of the playground 
 reserved for their more exalted school-fellows. The 
 founders had intended, before all things, to found good 
 schools ; but the very class for whose benefit free 
 education was intended derived no advantage from 
 being allowed to attend a grammar-school which, 
 under present conditions, taught them no more, and 
 often less, than an elementary school. It was possible 
 to restore the grammar-schools to their proper 
 office, and at the same time to keep them open to 
 the poorest by granting remission of fees as the 
 reward of merit, as ascertained by examination. 
 The free scholar so chosen would at once be fit to 
 profit from grammar-school teaching, and an object 
 of honour rather than, as sometimes happened at 
 present, of scorn. The abolition of indiscriminate 
 free teaching in grammar-schools has, of course, been 
 often the occasion for loud outcry ; but the evils 
 complained of by the Commissioners were so clearly 
 a natural and likely consequence of the old system, 
 that it is only necessary to say that, from all quarters, 
 they had overwhelming evidence of the reality and 
 gravity of those evils. 
 
 There were further local privileges and restrictions 
 which it was now necessary to sweep away. Such
 
 in. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 51 
 
 restrictions sometimes prevented a school from increas- 
 ing its size and its resources by taking boarders, some- 
 times they confined the benefits of a school to a neigh- 
 bourhood which had ceased to be frequented by the 
 class for which it was designed, or prevented proper 
 use being made of an endowment which had largely 
 increased in value. Scholarships or exhibitions, again, 
 lost their usefulness through being restricted to the 
 inhabitants of places where there was no one really 
 qualified to benefit by them. Schools might be 
 found filling the place of elementary schools, but 
 possessing exhibitions tenable at one of the univer- 
 sities, so that there was always one boy in training 
 for this exhibition, kept at a school which was by no 
 means the best for him, and where his presence 
 ensured that the rest of the school should be neglected. 
 
 Management of Schools. There were often 
 special points in the arrangements regarding the 
 position of masters, and in the constitution of 
 governing bodies, which were unfavourable to the 
 efficiency of the schools. The permanent tenure of 
 his office by the head-master resulted sometimes in 
 the utter decay of a school. A head-master had 
 boasted to one of the Assistant Commissioners 
 ' that it was not worth his while to push the school, 
 as, with the endowment and with some other small 
 source of income, he had enough to live on comfort- 
 ably without troubling to do so.' l In some cases the 
 headmaster held another office and left the school 
 to a deputy, or was deaf, or 'almost helpless from 
 age and paralysis.' Sometimes, again, the statutes 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 225.
 
 52 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION i. 
 
 required that the head-master should be a clergyman 
 or a graduate, though this rule often compelled 
 the choice of less competent teachers than could 
 otherwise have been found. Lastly, the head-master 
 often had not the powers required by one respon- 
 sible for the success of the school ; e.g. the appoint- 
 ment or control of his assistants was altogether out 
 of his hands. 
 
 The governing bodies of schools were often con- 
 stituted in a way not likely to secure the intelligent 
 and public-spirited discharge of their trust. The 
 government of some schools was in the hands of 
 bodies constituted for other purposes, such as town 
 corporations, city companies, cathedral chapters, or 
 colleges at the universities. In such cases the 
 management of the school was one among the 
 functions, and perhaps the least prominent of the 
 functions, which the governing body had to discharge. 
 If, moreover, the school endowment came from 
 revenues applicable to other purposes, experience 
 showed that no such corporation, not even a college, 
 could be trusted to apportion equitably to the school 
 its share of the income. Most governing bodies 
 were, however, specially constituted to manage their 
 schools. Such bodies were often too large, often too 
 small, for working purposes. Sometimes the gover- 
 nors were all chosen from a limited area, in which 
 there might easily happen to be no one with en- 
 lightened views on education. Sometimes they were 
 owners of land in the neighbourhood, who were often 
 ' non-resident for all practical purposes.' The gover- 
 nors might all be of a totally different social class 
 from the scholars. The Board was sometimes
 
 III. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 53 
 
 weakened by the exclusion of nonconformists. 
 Boards in which vacancies were filled up by co- 
 optation showed ' an all but incurable tendency to 
 an exclusive tone of feeling.' Ex-officio trustees 
 of eminent position were found often to take no 
 interest in the school. But the worst form of 
 management was that which vested the control 
 of the school in one or two hereditary governors, 
 or in the owners of certain lands. 
 
 With governing bodies generally undue interfer- 
 ence with the school was rare. Apathy or neglect 
 of duty was not rare. One school was under five 
 trustees, who, in spite of repeated attempts to get 
 them together, had not met for five or six years ; 
 and such a case was not uncommon. The interest 
 of the school was not always the first consideration 
 with its governors. There was one endowed school 
 situated near a private school kept by a deaf man, 
 and when the mastership of the endowed school fell 
 vacant, ' it was feared that if a competent man were 
 
 put into the school, poor 's school would be 
 
 ruined ; so the trustees determined to give the vacant 
 mastership to himself.' l 
 
 In addition to faults in their statutes or system 
 of management, small and old grammar-schools were 
 often kept down by the state of their buildings. 
 These are reported to have been often without play- 
 grounds, without proper appliances, situated in an 
 undesirable quarter of a town, dingy, dilapidated, 
 > damp, ill-ventilated, dirty, and so forth. 
 
 Jurisdiction over Schools. The various 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 226.
 
 54 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION i. 
 
 authorities who occasionally interfered with the affairs 
 of a school, or had the power to alter its constitu- 
 tion, were obviously unable among them to effect a 
 general correction of abuses. For schools under 
 corporations created by Act of Parliament or Royal 
 Charter, there were special 'visitors ' with jurisdiction 
 in the case of certain abuses ; but experience showed 
 that their powers were rarely exercised, were ineffec- 
 tive, and were an impediment to other jurisdictions. 
 In all schools the Court of Chancery could interfere 
 in many ways, ranging from authorisation of a sale 
 of land to an entire change in the constitution of 
 the school. The Court of Chancery held itself unable 
 to alter a trust which was capable of execution. But 
 when there was a demand for the alteration of such 
 a trust, a private Act of Parliament was sometimes 
 passed for the purpose at the instance of the Court 
 or of the Charity Commissioners. Nearly all the 
 powers of the Court of Chancery could be exercised 
 by the Charity Commission ; but in dealing with any 
 trust of which the yearly income exceeded 50, the 
 consent of the trustees was required. County Courts 
 and District Bankruptcy Courts had also a jurisdic- 
 tion in the case of such trusts, but in practice this 
 was of little importance. As for the Court of Chancery, 
 Courts of Law were plainly unable to take in hand a 
 systematic revision of school trusts throughout the 
 country, since they had no initiative. Moreover, the 
 question for a Court was not what could be done 
 to promote education, but how the will of a founder 
 could be carried out ; and to that question the answer 
 had to be given, not so much by a consideration of 
 the circumstances of the school or district, as by the
 
 in. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 55 
 
 application of precedents drawn from other cases. A 
 Court could not have an educational policy. An ad- 
 ministrative board, such as the Charity Commission, 
 was free from this defect, but at that time the Charity 
 Commission had no more initiative of its own than 
 a Court of Law ; it must wait till set in motion by 
 suitors, and its jurisdiction was further dependent, 
 in most cases, on consent. In some cases, schools 
 had been reformed by private Acts of Parliament 
 promoted by the Attorney-General. What was 
 wanted was an Administrative Board with power 
 to initiate a policy, and which could also treat each 
 school in relation to the other schools in the neigh- 
 bourhood. ' At present each school is a unit, and the 
 trustees can look to one only. But so long as this 
 is the case, the endowments will be in a great degree 
 wasted, and the secondary education of the country 
 neither raised as it might be in quality, nor brought 
 effectually within the reach of the smaller places and 
 the poorer classes.' l 
 
 Private and Proprietary Schools. The Private 
 schools, more than 10,000 in number, and charged 
 with the teaching of the great majority of boys 
 receiving some kind of secondary education, varied 
 much among themselves. There were among them 
 excellent schools ; in some districts there was testi- 
 mony to their rapid improvement in recent years, and 
 in one they had even decidedly raised the general 
 standard of education. But, in general, the condition 
 of the schools was most unsatisfactory, and the 
 Commissioners reported that ' the account given of 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' p. 276.
 
 56 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION \. 
 
 the worst of the endowed schools must be repeated 
 in even more emphatic language, to describe the 
 worst of the private schools.' l Now, the important 
 point on which the Commissioners gave a decided 
 verdict was that the private schools failed just 
 when they were most wanted. Inquiry showed, 
 among private schools, ' a rapid deterioration as we 
 descend in the scale of price.' ' The endowed schools 
 fail to supply one of the great needs of the country 
 a good education for the lower section of the 
 middle classes. The failure of the private schools 
 that have taken their place, if not so blameable, is 
 perhaps still more conspicuous.' 
 
 The peculiar features common to private schools 
 explained alike the causes of the failure and 'the 
 reason for which, in spite of their faults, the parents 
 so often preferred them to grammar-schools.' The 
 teaching in private schools had distinctly a more 
 modern cast than that of grammar-schools ; but in 
 attempting or professing to give instruction of a 
 practical kind, they often failed to afford their boys 
 a solid mental discipline. Mr. Bryce wrote of 
 them : ' It is natural that the schools which, neglect- 
 ing so-called unpractical studies, seek rather to 
 satisfy the demands of a commercial community, 
 by teaching boys just what it is supposed will do 
 for business, and nothing more, should lack nerve 
 and fibre, and should teach even the practical sub- 
 jects in a loose, confused, and often irrational 
 way.' 2 
 
 The private schools further professed to give 
 more minute and individual attention to the teaching 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 285. -Jbid. p. 287.
 
 in. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 57 
 
 of each of the boys. Occasionally teaching of this 
 kind was successful ; more often it meant, not that 
 each boy received good private tuition, but that the 
 order, discipline, and stimulus of good class teaching 
 was thrown away. Mr. Bryce reported that, in the 
 small private schools where the boys were supposed 
 to get most individual care, they were almost in- 
 variably more ignorant than the boys of larger 
 schools. His experience led him to the conclusion 
 that, within certain limits, a large class was of itself 
 conducive to good instruction. 
 
 In buildings and accommodation the dearer 
 schools were excellent, the cheaper schools remark- 
 ably bad. This was a natural consequence of the 
 very precarious position of the humbler class of 
 private schoolmasters, who could not afford to risk 
 much money in the building of a school, the success 
 of which was always most uncertain. 
 
 Among the head-masters were many men of 
 marked ability and enthusiasm for education, but 
 inevitably there were among them also many pre- 
 tenders. The better class of masters united with 
 the parents in deploring the want of any means to 
 exclude impostors. The assistants, whose situation 
 was one most unlikely to attract men of ability, 
 were often little more than lads, ignorant, or of 
 questionable character ; often private schoolmasters 
 found great difficulty in getting assistants at all. 
 
 Private schools, however, often did good service in 
 undertaking the care of backward boys. They also 
 gave an opening for enterprise and advance in 
 educational methods, and thus often led the way 
 of progress. The private schoolmasters were kept
 
 58 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATfON \. 
 
 to their duty, because their living depended on it ; 
 for the same reason their schools were more open 
 to new ideas and were bound to provide what the 
 parents of the pupils desired. To this it was due 
 that parents who had long lost confidence in the 
 grammar-schools, had everywhere turned to the 
 private schools. Nevertheless, the traditions, the 
 public position, the independence of the endowed 
 schools, placed them in a much stronger position, 
 and enabled, and indeed compelled them to ignore 
 the petty class distinctions which private schools 
 had to consider. 
 
 The ' proprietary ' schools were all of recent origin, 
 but already many that had been founded had ceased 
 to exist, at all events in the same form. Some were 
 first-grade schools giving special attention to mathe- 
 matics and modern languages, others were boarding 
 schools of the second grade, intended specially for 
 farmers' sons. There were also schools for a less 
 wealthy class, that had sprung out of mechanics' 
 institutes, or been formed by the clergymen of large 
 town parishes ; and lastly, there were strictly denomina- 
 tional schools, like the Jesuits' Colleges, and schools 
 for the special benefit of some particular class or 
 profession. Few of them had been managed with 
 a sole view to commercial success, and the interest 
 of the proprietors in the success of the schools 
 appeared to have had a very beneficial effect. The 
 education given by proprietary schools of all grades 
 was favourably reported on, and, in addition to their 
 present utility, it was remarked that they had been 
 the pioneers of reform in methods of education. 
 They only accounted, however, for about five per cent.
 
 in. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 59 
 
 of the boys supposed to need secondary education. 
 Like the private schools, they had to observe class 
 distinctions, and were so far unable to fill the place 
 of public schools. It was thought likely that some 
 of them might accept the position of endowed schools 
 under public control, if the Government ever took in 
 hand the organisation of secondary education. 
 
 Examination of Schools. No system of exami- 
 nation then in force was an agency really adequate 
 to test the work of the schools. Many schools were 
 examined by special examiners of their own choice, 
 who tested the work of the whole school, but who 
 could not be relied on to be impartial and outspoken, 
 or to be sound judges of what a school ought to be 
 doing. Cambridge . had lately undertaken to send 
 examiners to report upon a whole school if requested. 
 But the examination was too expensive to be generally 
 available, and was not likely to be invited by bad 
 schools. The Oxford and Cambridge Local Exa- 
 minations, and those of the College of Preceptors, 
 tested individual scholars rather than whole schools. 
 They might possibly even injure a school, as a whole, 
 by leading to the cramming of a few scholars and 
 the neglect of the rest. Of course the examinations 
 at the universities acted powerfully on the work 
 of some of the schools. But the class of schools 
 that came under their influence were in the minority. 
 The examinations by which admission into various 
 professions and public services was gained, differed 
 from the university examinations, in that they had 
 no relation to the teaching of the schools. The 
 Commissioners were disposed to think that these
 
 6o .9 TUDIES IN SECOND A RY ED UCA TION \ . 
 
 examinations were harmful. It was urged in their 
 defence that the candidates were markedly better pre- 
 pared than formerly ; but they dislocated the work of 
 the schools as a whole, and caused neglect of other 
 scholars for the sake of the candidates, while the 
 preparation required by the examinations was not 
 of much educational value. These objections to 
 examination, however, applied only in the cases 
 when 'the school follows the examination, and not 
 the examination the school.' They would have no 
 weight against an examination carefully designed to 
 test the work of a whole school in the subjects 
 which formed its ordinary course of instruction. The 
 condition of the schools showed unmistakeably the 
 need of such a test, and no existing examination 
 adequately supplied the need. 
 
 Girls' Schools. Only thirteen of the endowed 
 schools, which were the special object of the Com- 
 missioners' study, were devoted to the education of 
 girls. The attitude of founders of grammar-schools 
 generally towards the education of girls was un- 
 certain ; some few foundation deeds expressly ad- 
 mitted girls to the benefits of endowed schools, some 
 few expressly excluded them ; the majority said 
 nothing about the matter. But whatever might have 
 been the founders' intentions, ' the appropriation of 
 almost all the endowments of the country to the 
 education of boys, was felt by a large and increasing 
 number, both of men and of women, to be a cruel 
 injustice.' 1 In the recommendations of the Com- 
 missioners concerning the re-organisation of educa- 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 567.
 
 in. RE FOR T OF SCHOOLS INQ_ UIR Y COMMISSION 6 1 
 
 tional endowments, it was intended that a fair share 
 of such endowments should be applied to the educa- 
 tion of girls. What the due share was, would in 
 practice be a difficult question, but they recognised 
 that the demand for girls' education could not at 
 present be expected to equal that for boys' educa- 
 tion. 
 
 The description given of the general feebleness 
 of instruction in boys' schools, applied at least equally 
 to middle-class schools for girls. In want of system, 
 and of thoroughness, girls' schools were usually worse, 
 though superior in the teaching of a few subjects. 
 The general defects of girls' schools had been well 
 summed up by Mr. (afterwards Archdeacon) Norris : 
 1 We find, as a rule, a very small amount of pro- 
 fessional skill, an inferior set of school-books, a vast 
 deal of dry, uninteresting task-work, rules put into 
 the memory with no explanation of their principles, 
 no system of examination worthy of the name, a very 
 false estimate of the relative value of the several 
 kinds of acquirements, a reference to effect rather 
 than to solid worth, a tendency to fill and adorn 
 rather than to strengthen the mind.' l 
 
 On the other hand, the results of the Cambridge 
 Local Examinations, which had recently been ex- 
 tended to girls, and so far were the only examinations 
 testing girls' schools, 2 showed the quickness with 
 which girls improved when the test of an examina- 
 tion had revealed their defects, and their sound 
 appreciation of the limits of their knowledge. 
 
 1 'Schools Inquiry Commission,' p. 552. 
 
 - The University of London was considering the question of ex- 
 aminations for women.
 
 62 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION i. 
 
 The defective teaching in girls' schools was chiefly 
 the result of the small opportunity open to the 
 teachers of receiving a high education. The growth 
 of colleges which should occupy for women the place 
 taken by the universities for men was the most 
 hopeful remedy for this defect. But besides this, 
 the isolation of school-mistresses' lives, and the little 
 communication they had with one another, also de- 
 pressed their power of teaching. 
 
 Girls' schools, like other schools, needed the 
 stimulus of examination, though publication of the 
 results, and individual competition might be things 
 to be avoided. The teachers in girls' schools ought 
 also to have open to them some examination by 
 which their attainments could be guaranteed, and the 
 schools themselves needed inspection. All these 
 things might be done for girls' schools by the 
 authorities who, according to the proposals of the 
 Commissioners, would be charged with the same 
 duty for boys' schools. 
 
 The great mass of girls' schools were under 
 private management, and the measures, described 
 below, which were recommended with regard to 
 private boys' schools, were also exactly applicable 
 to private schools for girls. 
 
 3. MEASURES TO BE ADOPTED. 
 
 Summary of Recommendations. The objects 
 which the Commissioners had in view in the reforms 
 which they recommended may be summarised under 
 five heads : 
 
 i. The constitutions of the endowed schools were 
 to be subjected to thorough revision. 2. This was to
 
 in. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 63 
 
 be done systematically, each school being treated not 
 singly, but as an element in the total educational 
 provision of its neighbourhood, and with reference to 
 the other schools which were being simultaneously 
 reformed. 3. Fresh endowed schools were to be 
 created where required. 4. The working of the 
 schools, once reformed, was to be placed permanently 
 under supervision. 5. As far as possible the private 
 and proprietary schools were to be brought under 
 influences which would tend to secure their efficiency. 
 To effect these purposes the following were the main 
 steps recommended : 1 
 
 i. The Charity Commission, or other central board, 
 to be armed with powers to make schemes for all 
 schools of their own motion, without necessary con- 
 sent of trustees. 
 
 Grade of each school to be determined by fixing 
 limits of age, limiting the fees to be charged, and 
 to a certain extent fixing the curriculum. A fair 
 proportion of endowments to be applied to educa- 
 tion of girls. In some cases the school to be trans- 
 ferred to more favourable situation, or two endow- 
 ments to be combined ; small endowments in some 
 cases to go towards upper departments of elemen- 
 tary schools, in others to be converted into scholar- 
 ship funds. 
 
 Present system of free education to be abolished, 
 and replaced by scholarships, awarded by competitive 
 examination, and calculated to draw boys of ability 
 from schools of lower grade. Local privileges to be 
 as far as practicable removed. 
 
 Governing body to be a body constituted solely 
 
 1 What follows is given in a condensed form to save space.
 
 64 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION \. 
 
 for the object of managing the school, to consist in 
 part of members representative of parents, ratepayers, 
 or various public bodies, and in part of co-optative 
 members selected originally from present governors. 
 
 Governors to have disposition of school property, 
 appointment and dismissal of head-master, to fix 
 salaries of assistant masters, to determine within 
 certain limits fees and curriculum, and to have 
 control over boarding-houses. In most cases there 
 should be a ' hostel,' or school boarding-house, owned 
 and managed by governors. 
 
 Head-master to hold office at pleasure of governors, 
 to have a minimum salary fixed, and in addition a 
 proportion of the fees, to have appointment and 
 dismissal of subordinates. 
 
 Head-masters and assistant masters to be super- 
 annuated at a certain age (for qualifications required 
 v. sub 4). Provision to be made for annual examina- 
 tion (v. sub 4). 
 
 2. Provincial or Local Authorities to be set up, and 
 to submit to Charity Commission (or other Central 
 Board) schemes for schools in their districts. 
 
 Where at present desired, and ultimately in all 
 cases, local authority to be set up, in every county and 
 in every town of 100,000, and to consist, in counties (in 
 default of other elective authorities) of representatives 
 of guardians ; in towns of representatives of muni- 
 cipality and of existing school trusts. For the pre- 
 sent larger areas more practicable, and Registration 
 Districts recommended. Authority to consist of one 
 paid District Commissioner representing the Central 
 Board, and others unpaid, to be selected by the Crown 
 from local gentry.
 
 in. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 65 
 
 Educational trusts in towns to be consolidated 
 under one governing body. Official District Com- 
 missioner to be member of each governing body, and 
 of any separate county or town authority formed in 
 his district. 
 
 In drawing schemes for schools in their district, 
 District Commissioners, so far as possible, to assign 
 each school a place in provision for the total educa- 
 tional requirements in district, and to design a 
 scholarship system making higher schools in district 
 accessible to all fit scholars from lower schools. 
 
 3. Charitable funds existing for obsolete purposes, 
 or for purposes for which present income was dis- 
 proportionately large, to be applicable to secondary 
 education. 
 
 Any town or parish to be allowed (not compelled) 
 to rate itself for establishment of a school (or en- 
 largement of an existing school), viz., in every parish 
 a third-grade school, in every town of 5000 inhabitants 
 a second-grade school, in a town of 20,000 a first- 
 grade school. Parishes to be allowed to combine. 
 Rate not to exceed amount required for supply and 
 maintenance of premises, and payment of fees of free 
 scholars. 
 
 4. District authorities to continue permanently in 
 existence to watch working of schemes once adopted, 
 and, if necessary, to revise them ; in particular, to 
 supervise working of scholarship system, and trans- 
 ference of scholars from one school to another, and 
 to check any undue competition between different 
 schools in district. 
 
 Official Commissioner to inspect in person each 
 school in district at least once in three years. The 
 
 E
 
 66 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION \. 
 
 whole of every school to be annually examined in 
 subjects chosen by school authorities. Expenses of 
 examination to be borne by school. 
 
 This examination to be conducted by examiners 
 appointed by, and under rules drawn up by, an 
 Educational Council. This Council to consist of 
 twelve unpaid members (expenses paid by Govern- 
 ment), of whom six to be appointed by universities 
 of Oxford, Cambridge, and London, and six by the 
 Crown. Council to issue annual report of examina- 
 tions, and to collect and disseminate information 
 bearing on education. 
 
 The same Council to open a register of teachers, 
 and to determine conditions upon which present 
 teachers should be placed on register. No future 
 teachers to be so placed except after examination 
 prescribed or approved by Council. None but 
 registered teachers to be for the future appointed 
 at endowed schools. 
 
 5. Private and proprietary schools not to be 
 compelled to submit to examination, nor to accept 
 registered teachers only ; but (i), teachers in such 
 schools to be allowed to be registered ; (2), the schools 
 to be allowed to enrol themselves on the list of schools 
 of their district, provided their fees be approved by 
 district authority as not excessive, and the schools 
 submit to precisely the same inspection and examina- 
 tion as endowed schools. In that case their successes 
 in the examination to be published, and their scholars 
 to be admitted to competition for the same scholar- 
 ships as those of endowed schools. 
 
 Conclusion. It will be seen from this summary 
 that the Commissioners realised that the reformation
 
 HI. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 67 
 
 undertaken must be of so extensive and drastic a 
 character that the task would surpass the unaided 
 powers of any central Government Board. The 
 labour must be divided, local knowledge elicited, and 
 local opposition conciliated, by combining the agency 
 of local authorities with the work of expert Govern- 
 ment officials. The Commissioners saw that, if this 
 object was to be altogether attained, the local 
 authority must be an elected authority, and the area 
 of the locality must be a fairly small and unified area, 
 in fact, that of a county or large town. They be- 
 lieved, however, that, for the present, popular interest 
 in the subject was not sufficiently aroused for such 
 a proposal, and they therefore fell back upon the 
 compromise of taking larger areas than counties, 
 and suggested that the Government should nominate 
 members of a board who might be expected to com- 
 mand confidence in the locality. 
 
 ' The reorganisation of endowments,' said the 
 Commissioners, 'is the beginning, but only the 
 beginning, of a systematic provision for education 
 above the elementary. When that beginning has 
 been made, the largest part of the work will still 
 have to be done.' l There was a clear advantage in 
 
 o 
 
 the continued existence of private schools in competi- 
 tion with the endowed schools ; and though it would 
 not be right to meddle forcibly in their affairs, a 
 general improvement among them was to be ex- 
 pected from the acceptance by the better schools of 
 the advantages and the supervision which were to be 
 offered them. But still, the Commissioners insisted, 
 the work would not be accomplished. There were not 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 652.
 
 68 S TUDIES IN SECOND A RY ED UCA T10N i. 
 
 enough schools of all kinds put together ; a very large 
 number of private schools were hopelessly inefficient ; 
 at their best, their subjection to parental interference 
 and to class distinctions would remain a serious 
 defect ; lastly, there were some parts of the country 
 where there were neither endowed schools nor private 
 schools within reach. Therefore, after giving all con- 
 sideration to objections against the use of rates, and 
 without expressing an opinion as to whether the use of 
 public money in support of the education of all classes 
 should be carried to the same length in England as 
 in some other countries, the Commissioners came 
 decidedly to the conclusion that at least a limited use 
 of rates was required to supply the need of secondary 
 schools. And in this judgment with regard to higher, 
 no less than to elementary education, they were sus- 
 tained by the observation that ' no country had yet 
 succeeded in making the provision for education co- 
 extensive with the wants of the people without rates.' 
 Finally, the Commissioners laid stress on the fact 
 that little could be done unless the goodwill of the 
 people at large was secured, and their co-operation 
 enlisted. ' We are convinced that it is vain to expect 
 thoroughly to educate the people of this country 
 except by gradually inducing them to educate them- 
 selves. Those who have studied the subject may 
 supply the best guidance, and Parliament may be 
 persuaded to make laws in accordance with their 
 advice. But the real force, whereby the work is to 
 be done, must come from the people. And every 
 arrangement which fosters the interest of the people 
 in the schools, which teaches the people to look on 
 the schools as their own, which encourages them to
 
 ill. REPORT OF SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION 69 
 
 take a share in the management, will do at least as 
 much service as the wisest advice and the most skilful 
 administration. Public schools have a great advan- 
 tage in the security that can be taken for the efficiency 
 of their teachers, in the thoroughness of the test that 
 can be applied to their work. But they have a far 
 greater advantage, when they have, besides these, the 
 support of popular sympathy, and the energy which 
 only that sympathy can inspire. It is discreditable 
 that so many of our towns should have no means of 
 education on which parents can rely with assured 
 confidence, and that, according to a great weight of 
 evidence, so large a proportion of the children, even 
 of people well able and willing to afford the necessary 
 cost, should be so ill-taught. The machinery to set 
 this right will need skilful contrivance, it will need 
 energy ; and energy can only be obtained by trusting 
 the schools to the hearty goodwill of the people.' 1 
 
 We have summarised the recommendations of the 
 Schools Inquiry Commission as resting upon five main 
 principles. The extent to which their recommenda- 
 tions have as yet had effect in England (leaving Wales 
 out of account), may be shortly expressed, by saying 
 that the first group of recommendations have been 
 adopted; that the third have been to some small 
 extent acted upon in certain districts, but in the main 
 disregarded ; and that nothing whatsoever has been 
 done to give effect to the second, fourth, and fifth. 
 
 1 'Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 658.
 
 PART II. 
 
 RECENT PROGRESS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 RECENT PROGRESS IN ENGLAND. 
 
 The Working of the Endowed Schools Acts. 
 
 The result in legislation of the recommendation of 
 the Schools Inquiry Commissioners was the passing, 
 in 1869, of the ' Endowed Schools Act,' of Mr. Forster, 
 amended in 1873 and 1874. It was an Act to pro- 
 vide more efficacious means for reforming the statutes 
 of endowed schools, and the application of their en- 
 dowments. Mr. Forster at the same time introduced 
 into Parliament a Bill, embodying completely the re- 
 commendations of the Schools Inquiry Commissioners 
 with regard to the examination of schools and the 
 registration of qualified teachers. The Bill met with 
 general approval at the time, but pressure of business 
 compelled the Government to drop it. They ex- 
 pressed confidence that it would be passed in the 
 following year ; but it has never been re-introduced 
 by any Government. In drawing up the Act which 
 was passed, the Government declined to accept, for
 
 I. RECENT PROGRESS IN ENGLAND 71 
 
 the present, two of the leading features in the Com- 
 missioners' recommendations. They postponed the 
 proposal to allow local rates to be used for secondary 
 education, believing, as Mr. Forster stated, that the 
 whole rating system would have shortly to be put on 
 a more satisfactory basis. They postponed, also, the 
 proposal to erect local authorities to take part in 
 the work of reconstruction. The Commissioners had 
 themselves thought that public opinion was not yet 
 active enough to allow of the creation of such authori- 
 ties, by election in every county or large town ; and 
 the Government declined to undertake the task of 
 nominating members of provincial authorities to deal 
 with groups of counties. 
 
 The work of drafting new statutes for schools was 
 therefore intrusted entirely to a central board of 
 Commissioners. This, under the original Act, was a 
 separate body, the ' Endowed Schools Commission.' 
 It was appointed for 3^ years only, 1 for no certain 
 estimate could be made as to the rapidity with which 
 the work could be got in hand. In 1873 its powers 
 were prolonged for another year, and an Act passed 
 in 1874 transferred them to the Charity Commis- 
 sion, the staff of which was strengthened for the pur- 
 pose. The change was made partly because it had 
 been found very inconvenient to have two separate 
 authorities which were dealing with charitable trusts, 
 and partly because the former Commissioners had 
 aroused dissatisfaction in some quarters by a rigid 
 adherence to rules derived from the recommendations 
 of the Schools Inquiry Commission. 
 
 1 With power (which was exercised) to the Queen in Council to 
 extend the period for another year.
 
 72 STUDIES IN SECOND AR Y EDUCA TION \\. 
 
 The jurisdiction of the Charity Commission is not 
 confined to schools distinctly intended for higher 
 education. The original Act applied also to many 
 foundations for elementary education, and after the 
 passing of the Elementary Education Act of 1870, 
 circumstances compelled the Endowed Schools Com- 
 missioners to spend a large part of their time in pre- 
 paring schemes for endowed elementary schools. 
 They held themselves bound in general to use the 
 endowments for some purpose which would give the 
 neighbourhood a benefit that it would not have en- 
 joyed without them, instead of applying them solely 
 to prevent the imposition of a rate or an increase in 
 voluntary subscriptions. Discontent was aroused by 
 their action, and this led to the passing of the amend- 
 ing Act of 1873, by which elementary schools were 
 removed from their jurisdiction and transferred to the 
 Education Department, unless their endowments pro- 
 duced a revenue exceeding 100 a year. There are 
 several classes of endowed schools which cannot be 
 dealt with under the Acts : seven out of the nine great 
 schools dealt with by the Public Schools Commission ; 
 schools for professional training or the training of 
 ministers of religion ; schools, the endowment of which 
 might be applied to other uses by the trustees ; and 
 choristers' schools. Schools and other endowments 
 founded since 1819 can only be dealt with by consent 
 of their governors. 
 
 With these, and a few other unimportant excep- 
 tions, the Commissioners have the power of dealing 
 with all educational endowments, and also of apply- 
 ing to purposes of education, with the consent of the 
 trustees, certain other charitable endowments, e.g.,
 
 I. RECENT PROGRESS IN ENGLAND 73 
 
 those left for doles, marriage portions, apprenticeship, 
 or for various purposes which have become obsolete, or 
 which are insignificant in comparison with the present 
 size of the endowment. 
 
 The Charity Commission may make a new scheme 
 for a school entirely of their own motion, without 
 application from any person interested in the school, 
 and they frequently take this course, especially when 
 their attention is attracted to a school by a crisis in 
 the history of its property which requires action on 
 their part under the Charitable Trusts Acts, or by their 
 dealings with a neighbouring school. But, in a large 
 number of cases, they act at the invitation of the 
 governors of the school itself. The power they exer- 
 cise is surrounded with safeguards. Their action 
 begins with local inquiry made by their Assistant 
 Commissioners. After this they have to publish a 
 draft scheme, and allow two months for objections 
 and criticisms. The criticisms received lead them in 
 many cases to make further investigations. Having 
 finally determined on their scheme, they send it for 
 approval to the Education Department, by whom it 
 is again published, and another month is allowed for 
 objections. The Department may reject the scheme, 
 or require some change to be made in it. Upon the 
 Department approving a scheme, it has again to be 
 published, and there is a further delay of two months, 
 during which the Governing Body or any one directly 
 affected by the scheme may appeal to the Judicial 
 Committee of the Privy Council on some question 
 of law. The Governors, or the Corporation, or twenty 
 ratepayers of any place affected, may also petition 
 that the scheme be laid before Parliament. If within
 
 74 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 11. 
 
 the two months no such step is taken, the scheme 
 receives the Royal Assent ; if it lies before Parliament 
 for two months without objection from either House, 
 it likewise becomes law. The Education Department 
 has sometimes required changes in schemes, but 
 appeals to the Judicial Committee have been rare, 
 and since 1874 only one scheme has been thrown 
 out by either House of Parliament. As to. the 
 character of the schemes they frame, the Commis- 
 sioners are allowed by law the utmost latitude to 
 shape and carry out their own policy. The Act of 
 1869 gives them a general direction to extend the 
 benefit of endowments to girls wherever convenient. 
 They are also required, whenever they take away an 
 exclusive privilege formerly given to any class of 
 persons, to take care that the educational interests 
 of that class are not really injured. They are like- 
 wise directed to respect the vested interests already 
 acquired by masters in endowed schools. Except 
 in special cases, attendance at religious services or 
 instruction may not be demanded of pupils whose 
 parents object ; l no master may be required to be in 
 holy orders ; and no governor may be disqualified on 
 account of his religious opinions. There are certain 
 exceptional cases in which denominational restric- 
 tions are allowed, such as schools attached to cathe- 
 drals, and schools founded since the Toleration Act 
 which are distinctly denominational in character. 
 
 The schemes by which reformed endowed schools 
 are governed regulate the constitution of the govern- 
 
 i Such attendance may be required of inmates of a boarding-house, 
 but the governors must then make special provision for the boarding of 
 those who object to it.
 
 I. RECENT PROGRESS IN ENGLAND 75 
 
 ing body, and lay down the general scope of the 
 school's work, leaving to the governing body con- 
 siderable discretion in matters of detail. The con- 
 stitution of governing bodies varies, but endeavours 
 are made to secure at once the representation of the 
 inhabitants of the locality, and the presence among 
 the governors of persons likely to have especial 
 intelligence in matters of education. Thus a govern- 
 ing body may contain, besides representative members, 
 ex officio members, and a number of members origin- 
 ally nominated in the scheme, vacancies in their 
 number being filled up by co-optation. Or it may 
 contain representatives of the old governing body 
 now extinguished, vacancies in their number being 
 filled up in the same way. There are occasionally 
 one or two representatives of the universities or of 
 colleges. There is a disposition now to increase 
 the proportion of representative members, who may 
 be directly elected by a vestry, or be nominated by 
 a town council, or of a school board. A scheme 
 defines, further, the position of the headmaster, sub- 
 ordinating him to the governing body, but usually 
 leaving him the appointment and control of his 
 assistants, 1 assigning him generally a fixed minimum 
 salary, with a proportion of the fees in addition. 
 An upward and a downward limit is put to the 
 fees. Generally the limits are wide, e.g., 4 to 8 
 in junior departments, 8 to 12 in senior depart- 
 ments. A minimum age for admission of pupils is 
 fixed, and a maximum age beyond which a pupil 
 
 1 This policy is being somewhat changed in some of the schemes 
 submitted by Joint Committees under the Welsh Intermediate Edu- 
 cation Act.
 
 76 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION IL 
 
 may not stay without the special permission of the 
 governors. An entrance examination is prescribed. 
 The school curriculum is described in general terms, 
 by a list of subjects, in which the school may be 
 required to give instruction. A scheme generally 
 directs the governors to give scholarships in the 
 school, and usually authorises or directs the provi- 
 sion of exhibitions to take their scholars to places 
 of higher learning. 
 
 The original Endowed Schools Act only allowed 
 three or four years for the completion of the work of 
 revising endowments. In 1884, after fifteen years 
 of steady progress, a return was published, showing 
 that about half the work still remained to be done. 
 At that time 595 schemes had already become law, 
 seventy-two were in course of preparation, and 660 
 schools, known to be subject to the Acts, were still 
 untouched. Since that time, of course, steady pro- 
 gress has been made, but more endowments are 
 continually being discovered which are subject to the 
 Endowed Schools Acts, and doubtless many more 
 will be found hereafter. At the present rate of pro- 
 gress the work of framing schemes might, perhaps, 
 be finished by the end of this century. 
 
 The task, however, of the Commission would by no 
 means be completed even then, for, as is shown in 
 another chapter, a large number of schemes framed 
 under the Endowed Schools Acts have already re- 
 quired amending schemes, some of them several 
 times, and doubtless by the time the process of re- 
 vision is completed a large proportion of endowments 
 will be ripe for a second or third revision. 
 
 The following figures, taken from a return relating
 
 I. RECENT PROGRESS IN ENGLAND 77 
 
 only to schemes passed before 1880 that is, during 
 the first ten years of the working of the Endowed 
 Schools Acts may serve to illustrate the extent to 
 which these Acts, at all events in the earlier years 
 of their operation, have been concerned with the 
 various classes of endowed secondary schools. They 
 show, also, the number of new schools that have 
 been erected. It is necessary to remember, however, 
 that the designation of a school as first, second, or 
 third grade is only a very rough description of the 
 kind of education provided. 
 
 First-grade boys' schools in 1880 which were 1st grade 
 
 in 1869,. . . . . . -36 
 
 Do. do. do. 2nd grade in 1869, 13 
 
 Do. do. do. 3rd grade in 1869, 2 
 
 Do. do. entirely new, 2 
 
 Total first-grade boys' schools under scheme, 1880, . 53 
 
 Second-grade boys' schools in 1880 which were 2nd grade 
 
 in 1869, . . . . . . -58 
 
 Do. do. do. i st grade in 1869, 15 
 
 Do. do. do. 3rd grade in 1869, 23 
 
 Do. do. do. elementary in 1869, 3 
 
 Do. do. entirely new, 7 
 
 Total second-grade boys' schools under scheme, 1880, 106 
 
 N.B. One second-grade school existing in 1869 
 
 has since been closed. 
 Third-grade boys' schools in 1880 which were 3rd grade 
 
 in 1869, . . . . .48 
 
 Do. do. do. 2nd grade in 1869, 13 
 
 Do. do. do. elementary in 1869, 21 
 
 Do. do. entirely new, 5 
 
 Total third-grade boys' schools under scheme, 1880, . 87 
 Total boys' schools under scheme, 1880, , , . 246
 
 7 S 5 TUDIES IN SECOND A RY ED UCA T10N \ \ . 
 
 Girls' schools, in 1880, ist grade, new, . . .5 
 
 Do., 2nd grade, new, . . . .10 
 
 Do., 3rd grade, all but 2 new, . . . 25 
 
 Total girls' schools under scheme, 1880, . .40 
 
 The object of the Endowed Schools Act was (to 
 quote the preamble of the Act of 1869) to 'put a 
 liberal education within the reach of children of all 
 classes.' It was hoped that the endowed schools, to- 
 gether with other endowments applicable to educa- 
 tion, would afford materials out of which a national 
 system of secondary schools might be gradually con- 
 structed. This hope, however, has only very partially 
 been realised. The Endowed Schools Commissioners, 
 indeed, attempted at first to deal with the country 
 district by district, and to treat the various schools 
 in each district in connection with each other, on 
 some systematic plan. But the attempt had to be 
 abandoned, since it led to the neglect of schools in 
 which there was a crying need for reform, whilst 
 other schools in which abuses were not notorious 
 were being attacked. 
 
 The removal of endowments from one place to 
 another has also proved beyond the powers of the 
 Commissioners. Except in a very few cases, they 
 have been compelled to pay regard, in the first place, 
 to the rights of interested localities, instead of being 
 able to treat endowments as ' a more or less liqui- 
 dated fund, to be carried about and applied wherever 
 it was most wanted.' Local opposition to the re- 
 moval of endowments is perhaps inevitable, while the 
 total fund applicable to secondary education remains
 
 I. RECENT PROGRESS IN ENGLAND 79 
 
 so small that only a few even of the most favoured 
 places can be said to have any surplus to spare. It 
 will be seen from the chapter on Welsh Intermediate 
 Education that, in districts where adequate funds are 
 available for the provision of secondary education, 
 County Councils are able to overcome the difficulty 
 which has proved insurmountable in this country, 
 and that they are actually treating endowments as a 
 ' liquidated fund.' 
 
 But in England the Charity Commissioners have 
 often had to try and make the best use of schools, 
 which could never be of much value in their present 
 situation. There is no class of schools among which 
 failures of revised schemes have been so common as 
 among the poorer schools in rural districts, the in- 
 habitants of which cling tenaciously to the possession 
 of endowments, too small to be of any real service to 
 the schools. 
 
 Another hope that has hitherto been falsified was 
 that educational endowments would be largely rein- 
 forced by the diversion of other charities to purposes 
 of secondary education. Up to 1885 the charities 
 thus diverted only yielded an income of 1 5,804. 
 Nothing has aroused more local opposition than the 
 proposal to apply to secondary education funds 
 derived from charities originally intended for the 
 poor. By long tradition secondary education has 
 been identified in the popular mind with middle-class 
 education, and the care which the Commissioners 
 have unquestionably taken to protect the interests of 
 workmen in their schemes has not prevented the 
 growth of a strong feeling that the poor have been 
 robbed of their rights. Another matter that has
 
 8o STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION n. 
 
 aroused strong opposition has been the imposition 
 of fees in certain schools which had hitherto been 
 free. The Commissioners, however, have been strong 
 enough to carry out this policy, in which they have 
 followed the recommendations of the Schools Inquiry 
 Commission, always reserving a certain number of 
 free places. A review of the evidence can leave no 
 doubt in the mind that their condemnation of indis- 
 criminate gratuitous education in endowed schools has 
 been sound under the conditions which they have 
 found prevailing, however much the conditions of the 
 problem may in the future be changed by the fact of 
 the introduction of a universal system of free primary 
 schools. 
 
 On the whole, the violence of the opposition with 
 which the Commissioners' work has been met has 
 greatly abated of late years. Less opposition is 
 offered to the reconstruction of old bodies of trustees, 
 the reconstitution of foundations which have not yet 
 become actual abuses, and the abolition of rights of 
 patronage, or of the freehold interests of masters in 
 their offices. The admission of nonconformists to 
 governing bodies once closed to them, and the appli- 
 cation of endowments to the education of girls arouse 
 less criticism than formerly. 
 
 Meanwhile, it is gratifying that the wholesale re- 
 vision of ancient trusts has not apparently shocked 
 and terrified those who would otherwise have been 
 disposed to make bequests for education. The refor- 
 mation of an endowed school by scheme has some- 
 times been the occasion of new and large gifts being 
 made to it. Sir Josiah Mason, when making one of 
 the most munificent foundations of modern times,
 
 I. RECENT PROGRESS IN ENGLAND 81 
 
 was asked, ' Are you not afraid of leaving such large 
 bequests to posterity when you see the modern ten- 
 dency to overhaul and revise the wills of founders? ' 
 He answered, ' That is the very reason why I feel such 
 confidence in leaving these sums of money ; if it were 
 not that public authorities are likely to be vigilant 
 and to correct any mistake that I make, and to take 
 care to keep these foundations in full working effi- 
 ciency, I should feel very much hesitation in leaving 
 such large sums to my successors.' 
 
 The Commissioners began by following the re- 
 commendations of the Schools Inquiry Commission, 
 and providing for secondary schools of three distinct 
 grades. But as will be seen from later chapters this 
 theory has broken down in practice. The field for 
 third-grade schools has rapidly narrowed since the 
 spread of primary education, and the Commissioners 
 have wisely modified their policy to suit the altered 
 circumstances. In several cases, particularly of late 
 years, they have applied endowments to special 
 technical schools, and in many others they have pro- 
 vided for a certain amount of technical education to be 
 given to the boys in the reformed secondary schools. 
 
 If we seek to measure the results of the operations 
 that have been described upon English education, we 
 find statistical proof that much has been accomplished, 
 in the growth of the numbers whom our endowed 
 schools collectively are educating. Between 1868 
 and 1883 the schools from which information on the 
 subject had been obtained (including the greater 
 number of the schools for which schemes had been 
 made up to 1880) had more than doubled their total 
 
 F
 
 82 STUDIES IN SECOND AR Y EDUCA TION \ \ . 
 
 number of scholars. They had among them 13,851 
 scholars in 1868, 27,912 in 1883. The increase was 
 in all grades alike, though greatest in the lowest 
 grade : the first-grade schools having grown from 4561 
 to 8262 ; the second grade from 4808 to 9065 ; the 
 third grade from 4482 to 10,585. The greater part 
 of this remarkable increase was due to the creation 
 of new secondary schools (containing 10,075 scholars), 
 but an increase of 3986 on 13,851 shows that sub- 
 stantial progress was made in the 185 old schools for 
 which schemes were in force. 1 
 
 Beyond doubt, the operations which have here 
 been described have produced a valuable amount of 
 real educational progress ; but, when we remember 
 what a lamentable state of decay the Commissioners, 
 acting under the Endowed Schools Acts, found in a 
 large part of the grammar-schools, what obstacles have 
 hindered them from dealing with the schools syste- 
 matically and thoroughly, how slight have been the 
 available means for increasing the resources of edu- 
 cational endowments above all, how small the total 
 provision of endowed schools is in comparison with 
 the wants of the country it is obvious that what has 
 thus been accomplished for the advancement of 
 secondary education leaves much more yet to be 
 begun. 
 
 Scholarships. Upon one educational question of 
 great interest, there is published information giving 
 the results of the experiments of the Charity Com- 
 mission, i.e. the question of scholarships for poor 
 
 1 The chapters in Part ill. of this volume give particulars for cer- 
 tain districts of the progress since made.
 
 i. RECENT PROGRESS IN ENGLAND 83 
 
 scholars. On the usefulness of such scholarships, 
 members of the Commission speak in the strongest 
 terms. ' There is no way in which a small amount 
 of money can be better spent, than in giving a good 
 education to the superior minds, which are found 
 quite as often in the lower classes as in those that 
 are higher, socially speaking.' In 1882 there were 
 2989 scholarships held in secondary schools under 
 schemes ; of these 1145 were especially restricted to 
 bona fide scholars of elementary schools, and it is 
 quite certain that many of the rest had been won by 
 children from elementary schools. Besides these 
 scholarships, 250 'exhibitions' (that is, sums of money 
 to carry a boy from a secondary school to one of 
 higher grade, or to a college or university), were 
 provided up to 1882 in schools under schemes. 
 Since then considerable progress has been made. 
 
 The restriction of scholarships to pupils of 
 elementary schools has been adopted as the only 
 practicable way of reserving the benefit of them for 
 the poor. Patronage intrusted to individual governors 
 used not to work satisfactorily, and an inquisition on 
 the part of school authorities into the means of a 
 scholar's parents would be intolerable. Often it is 
 thought the fairest plan to restrict a certain propor- 
 tion of the scholarships in a school to elementary 
 scholars, leaving the rest open. A question often 
 arises between establishing enough scholarships to 
 benefit a great number, and making the amount of 
 each scholarship sufficient to meet the needs of the 
 poorest child who may win it. The Commissioners 
 consider that the scholarships should usually be 
 large enough to enable the poorest child to obtain
 
 84 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION n. 
 
 a secondary education, and this principle is un- 
 doubtedly sound. Hitherto, however, it has not been 
 generally carried out in practice, for most of the 
 scholarships founded have not been large enough to 
 go beyond remission of fees and contribute something 
 to the child's maintenance. Of late years, however, 
 there has been a strong tendency to increase the 
 value of scholarships, both on the part of the Charity 
 Commission and other educational authorities. 1 
 
 Whether provisions for the introduction of poor 
 scholars into a secondary school produce good results 
 or not depends very much on the master of the school, 
 and this is more so the higher the grade of the school 
 and the smaller the proportion of its pupils that come 
 from elementary schools. In a few cases no pains 
 are taken to make the scholarship system work well. 
 In other cases the examination for the scholarships 
 is not properly suited, in choice and number of 
 subjects, to test the capacity of children from 
 elementary schools. Quite recently the headmasters 
 of secondary schools have been taking action with a 
 view to secure some uniformity in the standard of 
 scholarship examination, and to adapt the scope of 
 the examination to the course of instruction of the 
 elementary schools. There can be no doubt of the 
 wisdom of such action, which, if generally carried out, 
 should infuse new life into the scholarship system and 
 make it more directly useful to the children of artisans. 
 
 With all its defects much has already been ac- 
 complished under the scholarship system in its pre- 
 sent form. 
 
 1 Thus the scholarships administered by the London School Board 
 amount usually to .30 a year.
 
 I. RECENT PROGRESS TN ENGLAND 85 
 
 The school inspector at Bradford writes, ' I learn 
 that the Board school boys are among the most in- 
 dustrious, the most capable, and the most teachable 
 of those who have been admitted into the Bradford 
 Grammar School,' a school of the first grade. Dr. 
 Abbott, speaking of the City of London School, 
 reports of the elementary scholars, that ' in industry 
 and conduct they compare favourably with the best 
 of the scholars.' Such evidence as to the occupation 
 of the parents of scholarship-holders as could be 
 procured for the Committee of the House of Com- 
 mons, showed that the majority of the scholars from 
 elementary schools are children of artisans and 
 mechanics, though there are among them many 
 small shop-keepers and small farmers. But if 
 scholarships are not, as a rule, won by the poorest, 
 they are won by a class which could not, as a rule, 
 afford higher education without them. There are 
 two striking cases, of small country grammar-schools, 
 in which the weekly earnings of the parents of the 
 scholarship-holders have been ascertained ; in one, 
 seven out of nine scholars are sons of men earning 
 from 155. to 255. a week; in the other, there are 
 seven scholars, of whom one is the son of a small 
 huxter, while the fathers of the rest earn wages of 
 from 1 6s. to 253. Scholarships have already, in a 
 good many cases, been the means by which clever 
 sons of working men have raised themselves to posi- 
 tions from which, in spite of their natural abilities, 
 they would have been otherwise debarred. Some, 
 for instance, starting in elementary schools, have 
 won admission to the Indian Civil Service ; one 
 has been senior wrangler at Cambridge. But, of
 
 86 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION n. 
 
 course, the great majority of boys holding scholar- 
 ships from elementary schools finish their education 
 early, and remain in a condition of life not far re- 
 moved from that of their parents. It has been freely 
 asserted with regard to these scholars that they are 
 fitted for the occupation of a clerk an occupation 
 overcrowded with such boys and that they are un- 
 fitted for other kinds of work. The evidence seems to 
 show the contrary. A very large number of scholars 
 remain in the same line of occupation as their fathers. 
 And of the schools in which there are many scholars 
 of this kind it is constantly reported that boys from 
 them are much sought after by employers, not only as 
 clerks or as shop-assistants, but for many other posi- 
 tions. Strong testimony has been borne to the good 
 effect of the scholarship system upon the elementary 
 schools from which the scholars come. ' It seems,' it 
 is said, 'to raise the whole tone and aim of the school, 
 and to excite an honourable ambition among the 
 scholars, when they find that even one or two lads at 
 the head of the school have obtained a distinction of 
 this sort, which enables them to pursue their educa- 
 tion further. There is great pride felt by the teachers 
 and by the scholars in the achievement.' And the 
 advantage to the schools to which the scholars go, 
 seems to be no less. ' There is, no doubt,' writes a 
 schoolmaster, 'some increase in the polish and re- 
 finement' of the poor scholars, 'arising from the 
 intercourse : this ought not to be forgotten in esti- 
 mating the value of these scholarships to poor boys. 
 On the other hand, the boys of a higher social grade 
 are more than repaid by the intellectual and physical 
 activity which the bright poor boys diffuse through 
 the school. But all this goes on silently; there is
 
 i. RECENT PROGRESS IN ENGLAND 87 
 
 no outward mark of rich and poor, but the boys 
 mix freely.' There are many schools in which the 
 scholarship system causes the mixture of boys from 
 very different social circles, but there are very few 
 complaints that the poorer boys are uncomfortable, 
 or that their presence is resented, or that the masters 
 find any difficulty resulting from it, and there is very 
 much evidence of the absence of such social friction. 
 The foregoing conclusions are based in the main 
 on a document, published in the Appendix of the 
 Report of the House of Commons Committee on the 
 Endowed Schools Acts (1886), which exhibits in 
 a very clear form the results of the scholarships esta- 
 blished under schemes, in the form of a return of 
 answers received in 1885 from 101 endowed schools, 
 all but thirteen of which were boys' schools. 
 
 It has lastly to be noted that the foundation, 
 under the Endowed Schools Acts, out of old endow- 
 ments, of scholarships from elementary to secondary 
 schools, has led to the independent establishment of 
 many more such scholarships. Thus, from 1876 to 
 1885 no less than 140 scholarships, ranging in value 
 from 16, los. to 35, have been placed at the 
 disposal of the London School Board by City Com- 
 panies and by private benefactors. 
 
 Again, the Science and Art Department, in addi- 
 tion to the National Scholarships, Royal and Local 
 Exhibitions, and other awards, makes grants to 
 aid local efforts in founding local scholarships for 
 competition among pupils of elementary schools, or of 
 organised science schools, to enable them to continue 
 their education for one, two, or three years at a 
 secondary technical school. The local managers 
 must raise 5 a year, to which the Department adds
 
 88 S TUDIES IN SEC ON DA K Y ED UCA TION \ i . 
 
 4. the first year, 7 the second, and 10 the third. 
 In the year 1889-90, 221 scholarships were granted in 
 England and Wales for the first year, 83 were renewed 
 for the second year, and 16 for the third year. 
 
 But the most notable extension of the scholarship 
 system in relation to secondary schools which has 
 taken place in recent years, has resulted from the 
 grant to County Councils of funds applicable to 
 Technical Education under the Local Taxation Act 
 of 1890. By the Technical Instruction (Amendment) 
 Act, 1891, County Councils were expressly permitted 
 to found scholarships at schools approved by them, 
 and the greater number are already taking action in 
 the matter. It is as yet too early to give a complete 
 statistical account of the number of scholarships so 
 founded ; in many cases the first examination has 
 not yet been held. But there is already evidence that 
 much valuable work is being done in this direction, 
 though, in view of the present backward condition 
 of education in country districts, it is to be expected 
 that in some cases the number of qualified candidates 
 will at first prove to be small. It is to be hoped 
 that this will not lead to disappointment, for in this 
 country it is always the supply which creates the 
 demand in matters of education. 
 
 As a rule, the policy of County Councils is not 
 to attach scholarships to special secondary schools, 
 but to hold examinations open to pupils of all public 
 elementary schools in the county, and to allow suc- 
 cessful candidates to choose the secondary school at 
 which to attend, out of a list of such schools providing 
 technical instruction approved by the County Council. 
 In some cases the competition is free throughout the 
 whole of the county, in others a definite proportion
 
 RECENT PROGRESS IN ENGLAND 
 
 89 
 
 of scholarships is assigned to urban and rural districts 
 respectively, in others an attempt is made to distribute 
 the benefits of the scholarships over the whole county, 
 by assigning a certain number to each administrative 
 district, provided that enough qualified candidates 
 present themselves. The relative advantages of these 
 various systems can only be shown by experience, 
 and at the present time variety of experiment is of 
 the utmost importance. It is gratifying to find that, 
 in many cases, the scholarships founded by County 
 Councils include some provision for maintenance. 
 
 The amounts already allocated to scholarships 
 and exhibitions for the first year by seventeen 
 counties and county boroughs, for which returns 
 are available, are given below. The greater part of 
 this expenditure is on scholarships tenable at second- 
 ary schools, though higher exhibitions and scholar- 
 ships tenable at evening classes are included in the 
 estimate. 
 
 Derbyshire, . 9 
 
 Devonshire, . 3000 
 
 Dorset, . . 856 
 
 Essex, . . 1500 
 
 Kent, . . 1 200 
 
 Lancashire, . 5600 
 
 Monmouth, . 350 
 
 Norfolk, . . 1500 
 
 Oxfordshire, . 660 
 
 Shropshire, . 350 
 
 Somerset (about), 900 
 
 Staffordshire, . 1200 
 
 Surrey (about), 660 
 
 Warwickshire, 500 
 
 W. Riding, . 6485 
 
 Bristol, . . 860 
 
 Manchester, . 1590 
 
 Total for 17 Counties and County 
 
 Boroughs, .... .28,111
 
 90 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 11. 
 
 Other agencies for Secondary Education. It 
 
 is not only with respect to scholarships that the work 
 of Local Authorities and of the Science and Art 
 Department has of late years encroached upon the 
 domain of secondary education. 
 
 The grants of the Science and Art Department 
 on the results of examinations have recently been 
 supplemented by capitation grants of IDS. a head (to 
 be raised to .1 a head after next May) on pupils 
 attending an efficient ' Organised Science School,' 
 the curriculum of which follows the lines laid down 
 by the Department. The schools which have thus 
 arisen correspond in the age of their scholars to the 
 'third-grade' schools of the Charity Commissioners, 
 but in their course of instruction they lay special stress 
 on science and drawing, and sometimes on manual 
 instruction. Some of these schools are managed by 
 School Boards, and are called ' Higher Elementary 
 Schools.' Such are the Central School at Leeds, the 
 Deansgate School at Manchester, and the higher 
 grade schools at Sheffield, Gateshead, Birmingham, 
 and elsewhere. Others form the day departments of 
 technical schools, as at Bradford Technical College, 
 the Bristol ' Merchant Venturers' ' School, and the 
 Drapers' School at the People's Palace in East 
 London. Particulars as to the work of some of 
 these schools will be found in later chapters. Though 
 they can never really cover the field of secondary 
 education, their rapid rise during the last few years 
 is a noteworthy indication of the unsatisfied demand 
 for continuation schools throughout the country. At 
 present there are 43 Organised Science Schools in 
 England educating about 6000 day pupils.
 
 i. RECENT PROGRESS IN ENGLAND 91 
 
 Turning to Local Authorities, we find that in 
 Wales the part of the kingdom worst provided with 
 endowments an organised system of secondary 
 schools is being established by County Councils, 
 under the special powers conferred by the Welsh 
 Intermediate Education Act. The operations in 
 progress under this Act are of sufficient importance 
 to be described in detail in a separate chapter. 
 
 But in England, also, the powers given to County 
 Councils under the Technical Instruction Acts are in 
 many counties being vigorously used, so far as they 
 go, for the advancement of secondary education. 
 Only schools supplying technical instruction can 
 be dealt with under these Acts, but a large number 
 of secondary schools come under this head, owing to 
 the wide definition of technical instruction. There 
 is, however, at present no power of handling or con- 
 solidating endowments, and there are great difficul- 
 ties in the way of founding new secondary schools 
 by County Councils. The mode in which the new 
 powers are being used by County Councils, and the 
 limitations by which at present they are hampered, 
 will be seen from the account given in the following 
 chapter of the progress made in Somerset during 
 the past eighteen months. 
 
 We must not omit notice of other phases of edu- 
 cational activity. Proprietary schools have of late 
 years increased in number, especially proprietary 
 schools for girls. There are several limited com- 
 panies managing a number of such schools, often with 
 considerable success. But there is no reason to 
 modify the conclusions arrived at by the Schools 
 Inquiry Commission, that self-supporting schools,
 
 92 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION n. 
 
 whether private or proprietary, can never fill the 
 gap. Probably private schools have not increased 
 in number of late years. 
 
 There has been a great increase lately in the activity 
 of the chief examining agencies, such as the Uni- 
 versities' Local Examinations, the Oxford and Cam- 
 bridge Joint-Board, the College of Preceptors, and the 
 Science and Art Department. But while good teach- 
 ing has thus been stimulated, the schools which most 
 need improvement are often not reached by these 
 agencies, and the dangers against which the Schools 
 Inquiry Commissioners warned us in cases where the 
 ' schools follow the examination, and not the ex- 
 amination the school,' remain in full force. 
 
 The various federations of schoolmasters and 
 mistresses for discussion and mutual information, 
 such as the various Headmasters' Associations, the 
 Teachers' Guild, and College of Preceptors, are 
 undoubtedly doing good work in forming a body 
 of expert opinion on educational questions of the 
 day. Lastly, the movement for the registration of 
 teachers has been gradually gathering strength, 
 and has recently been the subject of inquiry by a 
 Select Committee of the House of Commons. All 
 these movements are in the direction of more effi- 
 cient organisation of the work of secondary schools, 
 and, consciously or unconsciously, are paving the way 
 for the work of construction which remains to be 
 accomplished. 
 
 A strong case was presented to the Select Com- 
 mittee on the Endowed Schools Acts (1886) in favour 
 of giving more power to the Charity Commission to 
 insist on the due execution of their schemes, and of
 
 i. RECENT PROGRESS IN ENGLAND 93 
 
 enabling them by an increase of clerical staff to keep 
 themselves thoroughly informed of the state of the 
 schools, the statutes of which they had reformed. 
 The need for continuous public supervision is as great 
 now as then, though the remarkable development of 
 public interest in education, which has marked the 
 last few years, has necessarily modified our views as 
 to the best machinery for the purpose. In 1887 the 
 Select Committee on the Endowed Schools Acts 
 reported that, 'legislation dealing with County 
 Government in a large sense would have to pro- 
 vide, among other objects, for the adequate local 
 support, organisation and control of the higher 
 education in each district,' and thought that ' it is 
 expedient to associate in some formal manner with 
 the central authority in the preparation and ad- 
 ministration of schemes, provincial or municipal 
 bodies of a representative character.' 2 These recom- 
 mendations reflect the growing local interest in 
 education, the absence of which the Schools Inquiry 
 Commission deplored. Since then further advance 
 has been made. The possibility of arousing local 
 activity, which the Schools Inquiry Commission 
 rightly doubted twenty-five years ago, can be 
 doubted no longer ; County Councils and even County 
 Education Boards are an existing fact, and though 
 a central office will probably be always required, 
 everything indicates that, in the main, our future 
 educational policy will be one of decentralisation. 
 
 1 Report, p. 10. 2 Ibid. p. 13.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE WORKING OF THE TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 
 ACTS IN SOMERSET 
 
 SOMERSET is a typical rural county, about sixty 
 miles long and thirty miles broad, with a population 
 in 1891 of 386,861. It has no really large centres of 
 population, Bristol and Bath being outside the county 
 for administrative purposes. There are a few manu- 
 facturing towns, and a small coal-field, but with these 
 exceptions it consists almost entirely of sparsely 
 populated agricultural districts, interspersed with 
 market-towns, few of which have a population of 
 more than 5000. Distances are long, roads bad in 
 winter, and railway communication very inconvenient. 
 There is, moreover, no one county town central in 
 position, like Gloucester or Exeter, in the adjoining 
 counties, which would serve for the headquarters 
 of educational light and leading. 
 
 Position of Secondary and Technical Education 
 in 1890. An educational map of the county, pre- 
 pared for the Technical Instruction Committee of the 
 County Council last spring, shows at a glance the com- 
 parative barrenness of the land. Taking first the inter- 
 mediate schools, giving a general education to either 
 boys or girls, we find fifteen public foundations already 
 in existence. These are mostly old grammar-schools, 
 
 94
 
 II. TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN SOMERSET 95 
 
 all endowed (some very meagrely), and nine of the 
 fifteen are regulated by schemes made under the 
 Endowed Schools Acts, the rest being foundations as 
 yet unreformed. 
 
 These intermediate schools are fairly distributed 
 over most parts of the county, except the north- 
 east and north-west. Only three are girls' schools 
 one a charity school, training the pupils, without 
 charge, for domestic service ; the other two giving a 
 general education to about a hundred day scholars 
 and six boarders, at a charge of .3 to >6 for 
 tuition, and 30 for boarding. 
 
 The remainder are schools for boys, educating 
 in all about 500 day scholars and 100 boarders, the 
 tuition fees ranging from 3 to 10, the boarders' 
 charges from 20 to ^45, and the ages from seven 
 to seventeen. Classics are taught in most of the 
 grammar-schools, and the technical subjects are, as 
 a rule, confined to drawing, geometry, and other 
 mathematics, mensuration, French, commercial geo- 
 graphy, and some elementary natural science. With 
 the exception, of one school under a recent founda- 
 tion, where a chemical laboratory, and workshops 
 are being erected, and land provided for horticultural 
 and other teaching, there is an almost entire absence 
 of proper facilities for practical instruction in scientific 
 and technical subjects. 
 
 Besides these existing schools, provision has been 
 made for a ' County ' school by a recent scheme of 
 the Charity Commissioners, to give a special practical 
 education of an agricultural character to farmers' 
 sons, but this is not yet in existence for want of suffi- 
 cient funds. There is also a technical school of the
 
 96 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION n. 
 
 first rank, situated close to the borders of the county, 
 and actually available for Somersetshire boys and 
 adults, namely, the Merchant Venturers' School, at 
 Bristol. 
 
 Passing next to science and art institutions, we 
 find seven schools and five classes for adults, estab- 
 lished under the Science and Art Department, in 
 urban or semi-urban places, in which 238 pupils were 
 instructed in science and 565 in art in 1890. There 
 were, besides these, evening classes for adults held 
 at about twenty small towns and villages in connec- 
 tion with the ' Home Arts and Industries ' and the 
 ' Recreative Evening Schools ' Associations. The 
 subjects principally taught in these classes were 
 drawing, wood-carving, leather-work, iron-work and 
 wicker-work, carpentry, book-keeping, and short- 
 hand. 
 
 If we add the migratory butter and cheese or 
 dairy schools, successfully conducted for the last few 
 years by the Bath and West of England Agricultural 
 Society ; one or two courses of cookery instruction 
 given principally to schoolmistresses ; a few lectures 
 on butter-making and other farm subjects provided 
 by local agricultural societies ; and a few courses of 
 University Extension lectures at town centres (hitherto 
 chiefly of a historical and literary character), we have 
 completed the survey of secondary and technical 
 instruction as it existed in Somerset in the spring of 
 1891. 
 
 Scheme and Operation of County Education 
 Committee. The County Council of Somerset, like 
 most other county authorities in England, wisely
 
 II. TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN SOMERSET 97 
 
 resolved to devote the whole of its new fund under 
 the Local Taxation Act, 1890, amounting to about 
 1 2,000 a year, to promoting technical education. At 
 its April meeting, 1891, it adopted a Report 1 of the 
 Technical Instruction Committee as the scheme on 
 which to work, and appointed an executive Educa- 
 tion Committee, under the Technical Instruction Act, 
 1889, consisting partly of members of the Council, 
 partly of others (including women) co-opted by them, 
 to carry out this scheme. The leading principle of the 
 scheme is ' to have eventually a permanent institution 
 for secondary instruction within the reach of every 
 district, to serve as a centre of educational light and 
 activity. Where possible, this should be a properly- 
 equipped intermediate school, with sufficient scientific 
 staff to be available for the technical instruction both 
 of young people and adults. ... In some places a 
 preferable alternative to such an intermediate school 
 would be found in a good school of science and art, 
 equipped with permanent buildings, and a proper 
 plant and staff.' 
 
 It will be observed that this is a decentralising 
 scheme, and does not contemplate establishing any 
 one college or large technical institution for the 
 whole county, it being thought impossible to reach 
 the scattered populations of the rural districts without 
 multiplying the centres of instruction. 
 
 Two great difficulties at once present themselves 
 in attaining the end in view : first, the absence of 
 
 1 This report, which was originally drawn up by Mr. A. J. Good- 
 ford and myself, was published in the second series of schemes issued 
 by the National Association for the Promotion of Technical and Second- 
 ary Education. 
 
 G
 
 98 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION n. 
 
 legal control over the secondary schools, and 
 secondly, the want of sufficient funds to establish 
 new schools. Without an Intermediate Education 
 Act, such as Wales has got, a county authority is 
 almost powerless to initiate proposals for the reform 
 or improvement of the endowed schools, though 
 many of these might, with the alteration of their 
 schemes, and the addition of technical buildings, 
 appliances and staff, be converted into such centres 
 as we require. To set up rival schools by their side 
 would be an unwise and unjust proceeding, even if 
 lack of funds did not hinder it. If only legal powers 
 were given by the passing of a satisfactory Inter- 
 mediate Education Act for England, it would not be 
 difficult, I believe, to move both the Charity Com- 
 missioners and the governing bodies in the right 
 direction, with such inducements in the way of 
 grants and scholarships as could be then offered out of 
 county funds. As matters now stand, all that can be 
 done is to assist the few schools which are ready to 
 develop an efficient technical side, and to allow the 
 county scholarships to be tenable only at schools 
 which satisfy the Education Committee in this re- 
 spect As regards funds they are, unfortunately, 
 limited by the unwillingness of the county, as a 
 whole, to be rated under the Technical Instruction 
 Act. If the county were to rate itself under this 
 Act, a penny rate would bring in about .10,000. 
 At present only ^300 has been raised out of rates 
 in two urban places. Possibly, as the desire for better 
 secondary education advances, the English counties 
 may be willing to follow the lead of the Welsh. 
 Meanwhile, we can only encourage the few urban
 
 II. TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN SOMERSET 99 
 
 authorities who have resolved to rate themselves 
 by contributing a proportionate amount in each case, 
 out of the County Education Fund. 
 
 During the few months that have elapsed since 
 the adoption of the county scheme, building grants 
 have been made to several urban centres to found 
 permanent science and art schools, these grants 
 being, as a rule, supplementary to subscriptions 
 collected locally, and grants from the department at 
 South Kensington. Similar assistance has been 
 given to one endowed school, and promised to 
 another school which has hitherto been a private 
 foundation, but now proposes to lease its buildings 
 to a public body, partly appointed by the county 
 authority. In each case it is stipulated that the 
 institution aided, when properly equipped, shall be 
 available as a centre of technical instruction for the 
 adjoining Union district. 
 
 Before leaving the subject of the endowed schools, 
 it should be mentioned that the County Council have 
 resolved to found sixty-six ' County Scholarships ' for 
 boys (being one for every County Council electoral 
 division), to be tenable for three years at a school 
 within or adjoining the county, approved by the 
 Education Committee of the county as giving effi- 
 cient technical instruction. 
 
 Each scholarship is of the value of .15 a year, 
 and is open to boys of ten to thirteen years of age, 
 who have regularly attended a public elementary 
 school in the county for the three years preceding 
 the examination. Twenty-three of these scholarships 
 have been awarded this autumn at the first examina- 
 tion, for which there were 207 entries. Where boys
 
 ioo STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION n. 
 
 cannot attend as day scholars, funds are to be pro- 
 vided out of district funds for enabling them to 
 board. There are also proposals for granting senior 
 scholarships in future years, tenable at a first-class 
 technical school or college, to boys who have been 
 educated for two years at one of our approved in- 
 termediate schools. 
 
 It is hoped that by this scholarship system three 
 advantages will be secured. A clever boy of the 
 wage-earning, as well as of the trading or farming 
 class, will be able, without any serious expense 
 to his parents, to get a thoroughly practical and 
 scientific education, up to the age of seventeen ; 
 the superior elementary schools will be induced to 
 take up such class subjects as elementary science, 
 or physical or commercial geography ; and the in- 
 termediate schools may be induced to give improved 
 instruction in science, art, mensuration, book-keeping, 
 etc., in order that they may be approved by the 
 County Education Committee. 
 
 Besides establishing and organising permanent 
 educational institutions, the scheme further aims at 
 giving a large and miscellaneous amount of what 
 may be called 'peripatetic instruction.' The com- 
 mittee have unanimously resolved to contract (at a 
 cost not exceeding 1000 a year) with the Bath and 
 West of England Agricultural Society to maintain 
 in Somersetshire both a Butter and a Cheese School 
 of a migratory character. The Butter School visits 
 one market-town after another, remaining several 
 weeks at each place, until the supply of pupils is ex- 
 hausted. The Cheese School, being of a more costly 
 and permanent character, is established at one centre
 
 II. TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN SOMERSET 101 
 
 for the whole of the cheese-making season. These 
 dairy schools are being thoroughly well-managed, and 
 giving, as they do, first-rate instruction at moderate 
 fees, have been much appreciated, especially by the 
 farmers' daughters and dairymaids. 
 
 A kindred domestic subject, that of cookery, is 
 being extensively taught in our country towns and 
 villages, by teachers engaged by the County or 
 District Committees. The artisan and cottage 
 lessons are of a thoroughly simple character, and 
 very low fees (id. or 2d. per lesson) are charged. It 
 is hoped, also, hereafter to educate young women 
 in simple dressmaking, laundry work, nursing, and 
 domestic economy. 
 
 The great and sudden demand which has recently 
 arisen throughout the country for teachers in science 
 and art, renders peripatetic instruction in the rural 
 districts difficult and costly to obtain. With a view 
 of providing a local supply of instructors, ' teachers' 
 classes ' are being set up at convenient centres, and 
 with specially low fees. At present, these have been 
 confined to drawing and cookery ; but it is proposed 
 to extend them, as occasion and funds permit, to 
 such subjects as modelling, carpentry, iron-work, 
 land-surveying, mensuration, elementary mechanics, 
 physics, botany, and agricultural science. The draw- 
 ing classes, which are held either on Saturdays, or 
 on some evening in the week, are being attended 
 by 878 students, of whom 622 are teachers of ele- 
 mentary schools. 
 
 In order to awaken popular interest in scientific 
 subjects, and to lay the foundation for further 
 instruction, the committee resolved to follow the
 
 102 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION n. 
 
 example of Devonshire, and to commence by giving 
 courses of lectures on 'The Chemistry of Common 
 Life ' and its relation to agriculture, sanitation and 
 other matters. These lectures are delivered by Ox- 
 ford University Extension lecturers, and are followed 
 by classes and examinations, in accordance with 
 their ordinary system. The County Committee have 
 insisted that they should be of a thoroughly practical 
 character, well illustrated by experiments, and should 
 be brought within the reach of the poorest, at the 
 very low fee, id. or 2d. per lecture. The lectures 
 are now being given at twenty different centres, the 
 average attendance varying from 30 to 120 or more. 
 
 Besides the instruction mentioned, which is pro- 
 vided for the county as a whole, various other sub- 
 jects are allowed to be taught by the District Com- 
 mittees out of the funds specially allotted to the 
 districts. Thus, in the Somerset coal-fields, lectures, 
 followed by classes, are to be given at six centres on 
 mining and mechanical engineering, the geology of 
 the coal-measures, ventilation of mines, dangerous 
 gases, and the like. In agricultural districts instruc- 
 tion is offered on fruit and vegetable culture, soils, 
 manures, feeding and diseases of animals, insect 
 pests, bee-keeping, botany, etc. In some towns and 
 villages, electricity, mechanics, navigation, iron and 
 leather work, wood-carving, clay modelling, book- 
 keeping, shorthand, and ambulance work may be 
 taught. In the manufacturing centres the application 
 of science and art to local industries will be promoted 
 by instruction in dyeing, wicker-work, and other 
 subjects. As a rule, these subjects are only taught 
 in the places that specially desire them, under the
 
 ii. TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN SOMERSET 103 
 
 superintendence of a Local Committee, who under- 
 take to provide accommodation and bear certain 
 charges in connection with the classes. 
 
 County and District Organisation. In order to 
 complete this review of the work, it seems necessary 
 to explain shortly the system of administration 
 adopted, which is somewhat different from that in 
 most other counties. The central executive (i.e. the 
 County Education Committee) consists of fifteen 
 members of the County Council, eight outside edu- 
 cationalists, including two ladies, a Government In- 
 spector, a Diocesan Inspector of schools, and a re- 
 presentative of each Urban Sanitary Authority that 
 raises a rate of not less than a halfpenny in the pound 
 under the Technical Instruction Act. It has engaged 
 an organising secretary, and sub-committees have 
 been appointed to deal with the special subjects of 
 agricultural work, mining, scholarships, peripatetic lec- 
 tures, cookery, and teachers' classes. The Education 
 Fund (about ; 12,000 a year) is divided into three 
 portions. One portion (about ^4000) forms the 
 County Fund, from which are defrayed the office and 
 other expenses of the County Committee, those of 
 the migratory dairy schools, the university lecturers, 
 and (during the first year) of teachers' classes. This 
 fund is liable, also, to support such schools and in- 
 stitutions as are considered of importance to the 
 county as a whole. 
 
 A sum of 5000 a year forms the District Fund, 
 which is allotted among the various Poor Law Union 
 Districts in proportion to their population. 
 
 The remainder (about 3000 a year) forms the
 
 104 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION II. 
 
 District Reserve Fund, which is devoted to the founda- 
 tion of scholarships, to the encouragement of mining 
 and other special district industries, to meeting rates 
 and contributions offered by particular districts, and 
 to securing the proper utilisation of educational en- 
 dowments of district importance. 
 
 The object of this arrangement (which may seem 
 at first sight somewhat complicated) is, on the one 
 hand, to retain central control for general county pur- 
 poses, and, on the other, to stimulate local activity and 
 zeal in the various parts of the county, while secur- 
 ing for each part, however backward, some share in the 
 County Education Fund. In practice it has been 
 found to work remarkably well, as no district can get 
 its allotted share until it has appointed a responsible 
 committee, representative of the various local and 
 educational authorities in the district. Every por- 
 tion of this extensive and somewhat disjointed 
 county has been stimulated into activity ; such 
 energetic educationalists as we possess have come 
 to the front ; a great variety of schemes have been 
 drawn up locally, approved or referred back for 
 further consideration by the County Committee, and 
 adapted in every case to the needs of the rural 
 districts as well as the towns. Wherever a district 
 can show special claims to consideration, or a valuable 
 endowment can be utilised for technical instruction, 
 special grants are made from the District Reserve 
 Fund. A more centralised scheme, however well 
 suited for counties with a more compact population 
 and better railway communications, would have cer- 
 tainly failed in awakening in Somerset such general 
 interest, local activity, and wholesome rivalry, as is
 
 II. TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN SOMERSET 105 
 
 now being displayed in the cause of education in all 
 corners of the county. Our problem being to bring 
 instruction as near as possible to the doors of the 
 people in each village, we gain more than we lose 
 by multiplying district and local committees. Of 
 course, there are drawbacks in this particularism : 
 more clerks to pay, more correspondence and print- 
 ing, difficulties in finding teachers, a want of uni- 
 formity and a variety of experiment, alarming to the 
 mind of the systematic organiser. But, on the whole, 
 the money is being well spent, and every one, from 
 the school-boy or dairy-maid up to the county coun- 
 cillor himself, is gaining knowledge and experience 
 by the new movement, whether it be in the elements 
 of science and art, or in organisation and local 
 government. 
 
 Future Progress. Looking to the future and to 
 the need (already alluded to) of some Act enabling 
 provision to be systematically made for secondary 
 education, it is interesting to observe how much money 
 is available in the county under old endowments, 
 and how much under the Acts of Parliament of 1889 
 and 1890. The total annual income of the endowed 
 intermediate schodls of the county is about .3400 ; 
 under the Technical Instruction Act of 1889 a penny 
 rate would produce about ^10,000; under the Local 
 Taxation Act, 1890, 12,000 is available ; and if, like 
 the Welsh counties, Somersetshire could levy a half- 
 penny rate for intermediate education, 5000 more 
 could be raised. Thus, even after counting as endow- 
 ments the existing school buildings, it is clear that in 
 any organised scheme for starting secondary schools
 
 1 06 S TUDIES IN SECOND AR Y ED UCA TION 1 1 . 
 
 as centres of instruction in the county under a new 
 Act of Parliament, the new money would count for 
 much more than the present endowments. The 
 population of Somersetshire is not much smaller 
 than that of the six counties of North Wales, and 
 the endowments of North Wales are considerably 
 greater than those of Somersetshire. Yet it was on 
 the plea of scantiness of endowment, as compared 
 with England, that Wales obtained its special In- 
 termediate Education Act. Besides its endowments, 
 North Wales has at its disposal about 5000 from 
 its special Intermediate Education rate, with an 
 equivalent grant of 5000 from the Treasury, and 
 about 10,000 from the Beer and Spirits duties, 
 without counting the grants (another possible 
 10,000) under the Technical Instruction Acts. 
 From similar sources, when the proper time arrives, 
 Somersetshire will be able to build up an excellent 
 system of cheap secondary schools suited to the 
 needs of the county in its various parts.
 
 CHAPTER III* 
 
 THE WORKING OF THE INTERMEDIATE 
 EDUCATION ACT IN WALES 
 
 A SKETCH of the steps which have led up to the 
 adoption of an Intermediate Education Act for 
 Wales (including Monmouthshire), and some account 
 of the present working of the Act, should be of 
 interest for others than those who are directly in- 
 terested in Wales itself. By the passing of this Act, 
 the Government of this country has for the first time 
 recognised the need of systematic and organised 
 provision of secondary schools by public money. 
 The happy accident, if it may so be called, that 
 Wales was extremely ill-provided with endowments 
 for intermediate education, and the earnest desire of 
 her people for such education, have led to a very 
 interesting educational experiment, which already is 
 full of promise. It cannot be doubted that the 
 organised work which Wales is now carrying out 
 under her Act, and in which she possesses at present 
 an undoubted advantage over the rest of the United 
 Kingdom, will form an interesting precedent worthy 
 of careful study. 
 
 Schools Inquiry Commission. The first public 
 reports which it is necessary here to notice are those 
 of the Assistant Commissioners who visited existing 
 
 107
 
 io8 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION n. 
 
 endowed grammar-schools in Wales and Monmouth- 
 shire in 1865 and 1866. They will be found in 
 vols. viii. and xxi. of the Schools Inquiry Commission 
 Report. The Assistant Commissioners were Mr. 
 H. M. Bompas and Mr. J. Bryce (now M.P. for 
 Aberdeen). According to the returns in these 
 volumes there were thirty-six places with grammar- 
 school endowments for boys, the net annual income 
 of which was 7576. There were 1136 scholars in 
 the schools, of whom 706 scholars were in classical 
 schools. There were two endowed schools for girls, 
 the Howell's Schools at Denbigh and Llandaff, with a 
 gross annual income of 5435. The population of 
 Wales and Monmouthshire was then estimated at 
 1,286,413. Besides the grammar-school endowments, 
 there were 123 endowments with an income of .8000, 
 wholly or partly applied to primary instruction for the 
 poor. The net annual sum applied from these to 
 education was reckoned at ^"2800. Scholarships and 
 exhibitions from Wales, tenable at Jesus College, 
 Oxford, were reckoned at .2520. 
 
 The general result of the Assistant Commissioners' 
 Reports is to show how lamentably inadequate the 
 provision of grammar-schools was in most parts of 
 Wales, and yet, at the same time, to indicate that, as 
 Mr. Bompas said a quarter of a century ago, 'the 
 Welsh are distinguished by a great love of know- 
 ledge.' 'Among the common miners,' he says, 
 ' there are many well acquainted with the highest 
 parts of mathematics, and it is quite usual for 
 servants and labourers to compose essays and poems 
 for the various Eisteddfods.' That which was noticed 
 then is, it need hardly be said, much more prevalent
 
 log 
 
 now in consequence of the improvement of elementary 
 education. The Commissioners, in their General 
 Report (vol. i. p. 423), pointed out that of thirty- 
 eight towns, twenty, with a united population of 
 226,567, had no grammar-school endowments at all. 
 
 Foundation of Aberystwyth College. Before 
 dealing with the next step taken by Government to 
 cause further inquiry to be made into the educational 
 condition of Wales, it will be well to notice a move- 
 ment, the early stages of which had taken rise before 
 the Schools Inquiry Commission Report which has 
 been spoken of. The late Sir Hugh Owen, whose 
 services in the cause of Welsh education should 
 never be forgotten, gave interesting evidence on this 
 subject in 1880. He and others had for many years 
 been making efforts for the improvement of educa- 
 tion. The first result of their work was the founda- 
 tion of the normal college for elementary school- 
 masters at Bangor in 1862. They next undertook a 
 systematic collection of money for the purpose of 
 founding a college in which secondary and higher 
 education should be given. They chose Aberystwyth 
 as their site, with the view of meeting the needs, if 
 possible, of North and South Wales alike. The 
 college at Aberystwyth was opened in 1872. It may 
 be well to add a short account of this movement as 
 nearly as possible in Sir Hugh Owen's own words, 
 and to supplement this by a further statement, giving 
 an account of the position of the college in 1880. 
 
 In the month of April 1854 a proposal was sub- 
 mitted by Sir Hugh Owen to a private meeting held 
 in London, for providing Wales with one or more
 
 no STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION n. 
 
 Queen's Colleges, similar to those which had a few 
 years previously been established in Ireland. The 
 sources from which it was hoped funds might be 
 obtained for carrying out the proposed undertaking 
 were Parliamentary grants, certain existing endow- 
 ments, and voluntary contributions. But it was felt 
 that an application to Parliament for assistance, 
 pending the war with Russia, would be inopportune, 
 and action in the matter was consequently suspended. 
 During the period of suspension, the provision of 
 teachers for the British schools that were then 
 rapidly multiplying in Wales had become an urgent 
 necessity, as the training college in the Borough 
 Road could not accommodate Welsh students, and it 
 was therefore determined to take immediate measures 
 for establishing a college in Wales for the purpose of 
 training male teachers for the elementary schools. 
 The promoters of the proposed Queen's Colleges 
 were also to a great extent the promoters of the 
 training college, and, as the latter object was the 
 more pressing of the two, it was deemed expedient 
 to defer action in regard to the former until the 
 training college was established. The collection of 
 funds, and the erection of the building, now the 
 Bangor Normal College, were not completed till 
 1862. Soon after the opening of this college, public 
 attention was called to the subject of higher educa- 
 tion in Wales in a series of very able letters, ad- 
 dressed by the late Dr. Thomas Nicholas to the 
 Cambrian Daily Leader. Dr. Nicholas prepared a 
 paper on the subject for the Social Science Section 
 of the Swansea Eisteddfod of 1863. Several meetings 
 of persons interested in the question which followed,
 
 in. INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION IN WALES in 
 
 resulted in the adoption of measures for obtaining a 
 University College for Wales. Dr. Nicholas was 
 appointed secretary, Mr. Osborne Morgan and Sir 
 Hugh Owen, honorary secretaries, and Mr. Morgan 
 Lloyd, sub-treasurer. The amount collected for 
 this purpose during the period from December 1863 
 to October 1872, when the Aberystwyth College was 
 opened, was 12,034, iis. 3d. Out of the sum of 
 12,034, us. 3d., 1088, 45. id. was invested, the sum 
 of 4901, os. pd. was expended in payments on 
 account of the principal and interest owing in respect 
 of the present Aberystwyth College building, which 
 was purchased in 1867 for 10,000, the sum of 
 2036, 133. 7d. was expended in new works on the 
 building, and the balance (4008, I2s. lod.) was 
 absorbed by the salaries and travelling expenses of the 
 secretaries, and other incidental expenses. Between 
 1863 and 1880, the total amount received on account of 
 the college was about 65,000, of which sum 50,000 
 consisted of voluntary subscriptions, the remainder 
 being made up from students' fees, room rents, and 
 miscellaneous receipts. The movement was alto- 
 gether unsectarian ; members of all religious de- 
 nominations were amongst the contributors ; thirty- 
 three per cent, of the subscriptions were obtained from 
 Churchmen, twenty-nine per cent, from Calvinistic 
 Methodists ; twenty-four per cent, from Indepen- 
 dents, and the remainder from other communities. 
 The subscribers belonged to all classes, and it 
 deserves to be noted that a large amount was 
 contributed in very small sums by persons in very 
 humble circumstances. The number of students who 
 had passed through the college during the eight
 
 1 1 2 STUDIES IN SECOND AR Y EDUCA TION \ i. 
 
 years of its existence up to 1880 was 313, drawn 
 from all the counties of Wales, but in much the 
 largest proportion from Cardiganshire. The highest 
 number in attendance at one time was, according to 
 the principal of the college, ninety-three, exclusive 
 of those who were students of music only. The 
 number in attendance at the date of the inquiry was 
 fifty-seven. The average age of the students was 
 stated to be twenty years ; twenty of the whole 
 number being between the ages of fifteen and 
 eighteen, seventeen between the ages of nineteen and 
 twenty-three, and twenty between the ages of twenty- 
 four and twenty-nine. There was a large and able 
 staff of professors, adequate for the instruction of a 
 much more numerous body of students. The fee 
 charged to the students for the instruction given was 
 10 a year ; the cost to the college of educating each 
 student, apart from board, was stated by Sir Hugh 
 Owen to be 53 a year; so that rather more than 
 four-fifths of the whole cost had to be provided by 
 the supporters of the college, and had, up to 1880, 
 been met by subscriptions, donations, and collections 
 in various places of worship. 
 
 The Committee on Intermediate Education of 
 1881. While this movement was going on, it was 
 becoming more clear than ever that University 
 Colleges could not do really efficient service unless 
 better provision were made for the preparation of 
 their students before coming to college. The 
 demand for improved intermediate education 
 throughout the principality was steadily growing, 
 and in 1880, when Lord Spencer was President,
 
 in. INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION IN WALES 113 
 
 and Mr. Mundella Vice-President of the Council, 
 a committee was appointed to inquire into the 
 condition of intermediate and higher education 
 in Wales, and to make recommendations. The 
 Committee consisted of Lord Aberdare (Chairman), 
 Lord Emlyn, M.P., Prebendary Robinson, Mr. 
 Richard, M.P., Professor Rhys, and Mr. Lewis Morris. 
 After taking much evidence, some of which may 
 still be read with great interest in the large Blue 
 Book containing it, the Committee, with great promp- 
 titude, produced a very valuable report within twelve 
 months from their appointment 
 
 As to the provision afforded by endowed, pro- 
 prietary, and private schools, the Committee say : 
 
 ' The number of endowed schools at present conducted as 
 grammar schools in Wales and Monmouthshire is twenty- 
 seven, of which thirteen are in North Wales, eleven in South 
 Wales, and three in Monmouthshire. There are also a few 
 schools which, though by foundation grammar-schools, have, 
 from deficiency of funds or other causes, either fallen into 
 abeyance or into the condition of merely elementary schools. 
 Such are the foundations at Newmarket, in Flintshire ; Llane- 
 gryn, in Merioneth ; Cwm Toyddwr, in Radnorshire ; and a 
 few others. As nearly as we have been able to estimate, the 
 aggregate endowments of existing grammar schools amount to 
 about ^12,788, of which North Wales has ^4352, South Wales 
 .4665, and Monmouthshire 3771. The provision made by 
 the above endowments is at present available for the education 
 of boys only. For the education of girls there are but three 
 endowed schools in the whole principality, viz. : those at 
 Denbigh and Llandaff, supported out of the funds of Howell's 
 charity, the gross income of which amounts to ^6500, and the 
 school at Dolgelly, created by a scheme under the Endowed 
 Schools Acts, and maintained with funds provided out of the 
 charity of Dr. Daniel Williams, and amounting to about ^300 
 a year. 
 
 H
 
 1 1 4 STUDIES IN SECOND A R Y ED UCA TION \ \ . 
 
 f From a review of these details it appears that the whole 
 number of boys attending the endowed grammar schools of 
 Wales and Monmouthshire at the date of the inquiry was 1 540, 
 of whom probably 1200 (for the returns do not in any case 
 supply full information on this point) may be set down as 
 natives of the country. It is remarkable that, whereas three- 
 fourths of the population according to some estimates, and a 
 larger proportion according to others, are Nonconformists, the 
 returns showed that two-thirds of the scholars attending the 
 grammar schools were members of the church of England. 
 
 ' The number of proprietary schools, i.e. of schools estab- 
 lished by companies of shareholders, is very small in Wales, 
 and those which exist are, so far as our information extends, 
 all situated in the county of Glamorgan. 
 
 ' From the information obtained by the committee in re- 
 sponse to the circulars addressed to the teachers of private 
 schools, it would appear that a large proportion of the children 
 in Wales who are receiving education other than elementary 
 are receiving it in schools of that kind. The returns 
 received represent 152 private schools in Wales and Mon- 
 mouthshire, educating in the aggregate 4158 children. Of 
 these, seventy-nine were boys' schools with an attendance of 
 2287, and seventy-three were girls' schools with an attendance 
 of 1871. It will be seen that the number of scholars in each of 
 the boys' schools included in the returns does not reach an 
 average of twenty-nine, nor in each of the girls' schools an 
 average of twenty-six. Again, it appears that the tuition fee 
 paid on behalf of scholars attending these schools does not 
 exceed 6 yearly on the average. Even assuming, as we are 
 hardly justified in doing, that the proprietors of these schools 
 are for the most part efficient teachers, it is difficult to under- 
 stand how, under such conditions, the necessary requirements 
 of a sound intermediate education can be satisfactorily met.' 
 
 In their summary of general results the Com- 
 mittee add : 
 
 ' In the report of the Schools Inquiry Commissioners, 
 estimates are given which indicate that about sixteen boys in 
 every thousand of the population should be receiving education
 
 HI. INTERMEDIA TE ED UCA TION IN WALES 1 1 5 
 
 higher than elementary. Taking the population of Wales and 
 Monmouthshire to be about 1,570,000, and reducing the esti- 
 mate in consideration of the exceptional condition of Wales 
 from sixteen to ten per thousand, intermediate school ac- 
 commodation should be provided for 15,700 boys, and that 
 number ought to be in attendance. In contrast to this our 
 returns show accommodation in the public schools for less 
 than 3000, and that accommodation to a great extent unsatis- 
 factory. They also show an attendance of less than 1600. After 
 taking into account the trifling provision made by the pro- 
 prietary schools referred to above, and the numbers in attend- 
 ance in private schools, as to the efficiency of which, in respect 
 of accommodation and instruction, we have no complete infor- 
 mation, there still remains a great and deplorable difference 
 between the number who ought to be receiving intermediate 
 education and the number who are in receipt of it.' 
 
 With reference to. the sources from which the 
 necessary funds might be obtained, the Committee 
 say: 
 
 ' It was stated t>y competent witnesses that the existing 
 endowments for intermediate and higher education in Wales 
 are inadequate to provide the schools to which they belong 
 with suitable accommodation, or to ensure their efficient 
 maintenance. Still less could recourse be had to them for the 
 means of establishing any additional schools, or for funds to be 
 applied in founding and maintaining colleges, or in promoting 
 higher education by other means. If then intermediate and 
 higher education is to be placed on a satisfactory footing in 
 Wales, and the admitted needs of the principality in this re- 
 spect to be adequately provided for, funds from other sources 
 must be forthcoming. On this point there was practical una- 
 nimity amongst the witnesses examined. The opinion was 
 almost equally unanimous that assistance to some extent must 
 be sought from the national exchequer. It was, however, 
 generally admitted that, in the first place, all funds at present 
 available should be utilised and turned to the best possible 
 account. In the course of the inquiry the question was raised 
 whether recourse might be had to a county rate, to assist
 
 u6 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION H. 
 
 F" 
 
 either in improving the buildings of existing schools or in found- 
 ing new ones. A somewhat uncertain sound was given in 
 response ; but it was admitted that if it were proposed to 
 assist intermediate and higher education by a Government 
 grant, the condition might fairly and properly be insisted on, 
 that such grant should be met by a proportionate sum raised 
 locally by means of a rate or by voluntary contributions. 
 
 In considering the special circumstances and 
 characteristics of Wales, the committee lay great 
 stress on the fact that Wales has a distinct Nation- 
 ality of its own which cannot be ignored, and they 
 urge that this is a reason for securing within the 
 limits of Wales itself, a system of intermediate and 
 higher education in harmony with the distinctive 
 peculiarities of the country. They allude also to the 
 powerful hold which the Welsh language has upon 
 the Welsh people, and say that there is every appear- 
 ance that the Welsh language will long be cherished 
 by the large majority of the Welsh people. 
 
 The poverty of Wales in the matter of educational 
 endowments is indicated by figures which show that 
 England has, relatively to population, about three 
 times as much endowment as Wales. 
 
 In their concluding chapter, the committee recom- 
 mend that the schools should be undenominational 
 in character, and that the governing bodies shall be 
 popularly chosen : they say that, in their opinion, re- 
 course must be had to a local rate or to a Parliament- 
 ary grant, or both, for buildings or other purposes in 
 the case of the existing schools, and for the provision 
 of the additional schools which will be required. 
 They dwell especially upon the absence of proper 
 educational opportunities for girls ; they deal with the
 
 in. INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION IN WALES 117 
 
 question of exhibitions and scholarships, and they 
 lay stress on the importance of 'some organised 
 machinery for the periodical inspection and supervi- 
 sion ' of the schools. 
 
 With reference to higher education, they recom- 
 mend that a Parliamentary grant should be given 
 to a University College at Cardiff or Swansea for 
 South Wales, and to a College for North Wales, 
 whether retained at Aberystwyth or removed to Car- 
 narvon or Bangor. 
 
 Such are some of the most important recommen- 
 dations of this committee, whose work in helping 
 forward the intermediate education movement was of 
 the highest value. Eight years were still to elapse 
 before the passing of an Intermediate Education Act, 
 and it is necessary now to trace very briefly what 
 took place between the report of the committee in 
 1 88 1, and the passing of the Act in 1889. 
 
 Progress of the Movement from 1881 to 1889. 
 
 After the report of the Committee in 1881, the popu- 
 lar demand for an Act embodying its chief recom- 
 mendations became continually more persistent and 
 wide-spread. Nearly all the public bodies of Wales, 
 educational, municipal, and local, and many re- 
 ligious bodies and political meetings passed resolu- 
 tions or sent petitions to Parliament on the subject. 
 Meantime the question of founding colleges in North 
 and South Wales came more to the front, and the 
 movement was ultimately attended with success in 
 both cases. The University College of South Wales 
 and Monmouthshire was opened at Cardiff in October 
 1883. The University College of North Wales was
 
 n8 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 11. 
 
 opened at Bangor in October 1884. Large sums 
 were raised by voluntary subscriptions, and to both 
 Colleges an annual grant of 4000 from Government 
 is made. 
 
 Some of those whose interests were centred in 
 Cardiff and Bangor lost faith in Aberystwyth College, 
 whose numbers and successes in examination, how- 
 ever, steadily increased after 1881. It was suggested 
 that it should be extinguished, or converted into a 
 girls' school. But many of its old students came to 
 its support, urged the council to ask for a grant 
 from Government, and drew up a very strong and 
 influential memorial on the subject. The sum for 
 which the council asked, i.e. 2500, was conceded in 
 i884,andwas subsequently increased to 4000 in 1886. 
 
 An Intermediate Education Bill for Wales was 
 promised in 1884, and was finally introduced by Mr. 
 Mundella in June 1885, shortly before the fall of Mr. 
 Gladstone's Government. At this time the Govern- 
 ment sanctioned a Treasury Grant of ; 14,000, but 
 the Bill was not proceeded with. 
 
 Nothing was done during the disturbed session 
 of 1886, but in 1887 two Bills were introduced, one 
 by Mr. Mundella after full discussion by the Welsh 
 liberal members, and one by Mr. Kenyon. The 
 Government undertook to deal with the question in 
 the following year. In 1888 the two Bills were again 
 introduced, but the Government were unable to fulfil 
 their promise. In 1889 Mr. Stuart Rendel secured 
 a good place in the Ballot in the House of Commons 
 for the Bill. The organisation for carrying out the 
 proposals, which had been for some years now before 
 Parliament, had been made easier by the establishment
 
 in. INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION IN WALES 119 
 
 of County Councils in 1888. When the Bill came on 
 for debate on Wednesday, May I4th, as a private 
 member's Bill, the Government were strongly urged to 
 assent to the second reading, a plea which was 
 earnestly supported by Mr. Gladstone, and by Welsh 
 members on both sides of the House. 
 
 Finally, the Government assented to the second 
 reading, and undertook to introduce amendments of 
 their own. Two of the amendments the proposal to 
 exclude Monmouthshire, and the proposal that the 
 Government nominees on the Joint Committees should 
 be equal in number to those of the County Councils 
 were resisted by the Welsh members, and were 
 withdrawn. Others were incorporated in the Bill, 
 which passed into law. The chief provisions of 
 the Act are described below. 
 
 Provisions of the Welsh Intermediate Educa- 
 tion Act, 1889. 'The Welsh Intermediate Education Act is 
 intended to facilitate the provision of Intermediate and Technical 
 Education for both sexes in Wales, including Monmouth. (See 
 Endowed Schools Act, 1869, 9.) Broadly speaking, the effect 
 of the Act is to supplement the deficiency due to lack of endow- 
 ments by providing for aid where necessary from the rates and 
 from Imperial Grants. Rate aid is to be treated as endowment 
 for the purpose of the Endowed Schools Acts, and schemes 
 will be framed for Rate-aided Schools, and inspection carried 
 on as if they were Endowed Schools. The measure is there- 
 fore to be read in conjunction with the Endowed Schools Acts 
 of 1869, 1873, an< i 1874. There are, however, important differ- 
 ences, which will be alluded to later, between the procedure in 
 drawing up schemes under this Act and the procedure under 
 the principal Acts. 
 
 By Intermediate Education is meant all education above 
 the rank of the elementary school. The definition (which is 
 borrowed with modifications from the definition of higher class
 
 120 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION n. 
 
 schools in the Scotch Act of 1872) is as follows : "A course 
 of education which does not consist chiefly of elementary in- 
 struction in reading, writing, and arithmetic, but which includes 
 instruction in Latin, Greek, the Welsh and English language 
 and literature, modern languages, mathematics, natural and 
 applied science, or in some of such studies, and generally in 
 the higher branches of knowledge." 
 
 Technical Education is separately defined in the Act. The 
 definition includes, besides the subjects of the Science and Art 
 Department's Directory, manual training in wood-work, metal 
 work, modelling, etc., commercial subjects, and any other sub- 
 jects applicable to agriculture, industry, trade, or commerce, 
 which may be specified in a proposed scheme as suited to the 
 needs of the district. 
 
 The procedure under the Act is as follows : In every 
 county a joint education committee of five members is to be 
 constituted, consisting of three members nominated by the 
 County Council and two by the Lord President of the Council. 
 In choosing these two members, the Lord President is to give 
 preference to residents in the county. 
 
 The joint education committees of two or more counties 
 may, if they please, combine together to carry out the provi- 
 sions of the Act. 
 
 It is the duty of the joint education committees to inquire 
 into the state of intermediate and technical education in their 
 counties, and the endowments which might be used for the 
 purpose. 
 
 On the basis of this inquiry they will draw up schemes for 
 the education of the inhabitants of the county and submit them 
 to the Charity Commissioners. The County Council will de- 
 termine whether or not the schemes shall contain provision for 
 rate aid, and no such rate may exceed the sum of one halfpenny 
 in the pound. Subject to this limit, the amount of the rate con- 
 tribution under any scheme may be either a fixed annual sum 
 or a sum determined annually in some manner specified by the 
 scheme and not exceeding a certain amount. The schemes so 
 submitted to the Charity Commissioners will be treated by 
 them just as if they were draft schemes prepared by themselves 
 or submitted to them under the Endowed Schools Acts.
 
 HI. INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION IN WALES 121 
 
 The two important changes here made are 
 
 (1) Rate aid is treated as if it were endowment. 
 
 (2) The drafting of schemes is left in the hands of the 
 
 Joint Education Committee. 
 
 The Charity Commissioners, however, are willing to draw 
 up schemes themselves if it be so desired, and for this purpose 
 a Joint Education Committee may submit proposals for a 
 scheme to be drawn up by the Charity Commission. 
 
 Any scheme drawn up in this way must receive the ap- 
 proval of the Joint Education Committee, and is then to be 
 treated as though it emanated from them. The powers of the 
 Committee are to be exercised for three years, during which 
 time the ordinary powers of the Charity Commissioners (in- 
 dependent of any scheme submitted by a Committee) are 
 suspended. 
 
 Where any assistance is given from the rates to a school, 
 or for the purpose of founding scholarships, the County Council 
 must be adequately represented on the governing body of the 
 school. 
 
 An Imperial Grant will be made to meet local contribu- 
 tions, the total Treasury Grant to the schools in any one county 
 not to exceed the amount raised by the rates under the Act. 
 The grant will be distributed in proportion to the efficiency of 
 the various schools, as ascertained by annual inspection. 
 
 No Religious Catechism or formulary distinctive of any 
 particular religious denomination may be taught to a day 
 scholar attending any school established or regulated under 
 the Act, and the times of religious observance or instruction 
 must be conveniently arranged, so that any day scholar may be 
 withdrawn if desired. 
 
 Provision is made in the Act for the attendance of a repre- 
 sentative of the Charity Commission at the meetings of the 
 Joint Committees.' 1 
 
 There was no doubt much that might seem 
 cumbrous in the adoption of the lengthy and un- 
 
 1 Leaflet on the Welsh Intermediate Education Act, published by 
 the National Association for the Promotion of Technical and Secondary 
 Education.
 
 1 22 STUDIES IN SECOND A R Y ED UCA TION 11. 
 
 satisfactory procedure of the Charity Commission 
 under the Endowed Schools Acts for the purpose of 
 carrying out a workable plan of intermediate educa- 
 tion for Wales. There was room for doubt whether 
 the County Councils or the Lord President of the 
 Council representing a great political party would 
 always choose the men best fitted to carry out the 
 important work intrusted to them. There were 
 various other criticisms of the method and machinery 
 of the Bill. But it was strongly felt by many that 
 the opportunity was too valuable to be lost, and that, 
 in spite of difficulties, a good beginning could be 
 made under the Act, if those who had to conduct the 
 work were in earnest. At the first formal County 
 Council meetings under the Act, in November 1889, 
 in nearly every county in Wales the halfpenny rate 
 was recommended for the purposes of the Act, and 
 the three nominees of the County Council appointed. 
 Within a few weeks, the nominees of the Government 
 were appointed, and some of the Joint Committees 
 were able to hold their first meetings in December. 
 
 Funds at the disposal of the Joint Committees. 
 The amount which stood at the disposal of the Joint 
 Committees for the purpose of their schemes may be 
 estimated in round numbers as follows : 
 
 Educational Endowments (very unequally 
 
 distributed), about .... ^20,000 o o 
 
 Halfpenny Rate under Intermediate Educa- 
 tion Act, I5>5o o 
 
 Equivalent Grant from Treasury (equal to 
 
 above), 15,500 o o 
 
 ;5i,ooo o o 
 
 It is true that, under the Technical Instruction
 
 ill. INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION IN WALES 123 
 
 Act of 1889, a penny rate could be levied equal to 
 30,000, but it was not possible to anticipate for the 
 purpose of the schemes that any large portion of this 
 sum would be available for the intermediate schools 
 in the first instance. 
 
 If it be estimated roughly that schools should be 
 provided for twenty per 1000 of the population (say 
 twelve boys and eight girls), this would mean on a 
 population of one-and-a-half millions, accommodation 
 for 30,000 children (20,000 in South Wales, and 10,000 
 in North Wales). If it be further estimated that at 
 least an income of 8 per pupil must be provided, of 
 which the parents could not provide more than half, 
 this would show that .120,000 a year would be 
 required, besides what was needed for buildings, and 
 not half of this sum was forthcoming. It will 
 be imagined, therefore, that the task of the Joint 
 Committees seemed a difficult one, and that they 
 were greatly relieved when, in 1890, the totally unex- 
 pected sum of 34,000 per year (intended at first 
 as compensation-money for the extinction of public- 
 house licences) became available under the Local 
 Taxation Act for intermediate education. 
 
 The Working of the Act of 1889. (i.) Local 
 Public Inquiries. As soon as the Joint Committees 
 of five in each county were appointed, the first step 
 taken, after they had ascertained what funds and 
 endowments they had at their disposal, was to find 
 out in detail what was the feeling of their county in 
 its various parts, as to its educational needs, and the 
 means for their supply. Thus most committees, at 
 a very early stage, began making public inquiries
 
 I2 4 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION n. 
 
 throughout the counties. These inquiries were con- 
 ducted either by receiving deputations from various 
 districts interested to urge their claims, or by visits 
 of the committee to the localities concerned, these 
 visits being advertised beforehand, and full publicity 
 invited. The Carnarvonshire committee, for example, 
 held in the first few months of its work inquiries 
 at Pwllheli, Criccieth, Portmadoc, Penygroes, Beth- 
 esda, Llanberis,Conway (for Conway and Llandudno), 
 Carnarvon, Bangor (two meetings), besides special 
 meetings to inquire into the working of the endowed 
 school at Bottwnog, and the Friars' School, Bangor. 
 At nearly all these meetings Mr. Bruce, the Assis- 
 tant Charity Commissioner, was present. It is ob- 
 vious that such a method of inquiry was of the 
 highest possible value, and much information of an 
 interesting kind was the result. No such opportunity 
 had ever been given before by any Act bearing on 
 secondary education in this country. Now, for the 
 first time, each district could feel that it had a claim 
 upon public money to which it contributed, and the 
 only ground for deciding in favour of one locality 
 as against another was the convenience of the in- 
 habitants as a whole, and not the casual choice of 
 the 'pious founder,' since whose time the circum- 
 stances of the case might have wholly changed. The 
 question of how the few existing endowments in each 
 county should be dealt with has been no doubt a 
 matter of difficulty, requiring delicate and careful 
 treatment, but its relative importance was entirely 
 altered as compared with the time when the Charity 
 Commissioners had no other question before them. 
 The testimony of those who are qualified to judge
 
 in. INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION IN WALES 125 
 
 as to the value of these public inquiries in educating 
 public opinion is universal. 
 
 (2.) Conferences of Joint Committees. While the 
 Joint Committees were busily occupied with the con- 
 sideration of the needs of their own counties, there 
 had been from the first a movement in favour of joint 
 action between the committees with a view of ob- 
 taining that new light upon the varied duties of the 
 committees, which a comparison of the different 
 circumstances to be dealt with, and of the experience 
 obtained in each county, might bring. The existence 
 of certain charities which were available for the 
 whole of Wales, such as the Betton Charity and the 
 Meyrick Fund, rendered it specially desirable that 
 such conferences should be arranged. A strong 
 belief also was held by many that for the benefit of 
 the new schools, and in order to prevent isolation or 
 decay in future, some provincial organisation would 
 be necessary, such as had been recommended by the 
 Schools Inquiry Commissioners more than twenty 
 years before. This point was insisted on in the 
 introductory note to an edition of the Intermediate 
 Education Act for Wales, 1889, published by the 
 National Association for the promotion of Technical 
 and Secondary Education, 1 from which the following 
 extract is taken : 
 
 ' In speaking of the want of good schools above the primary 
 schools, the Schools Inquiry Commission says : " But this 
 last deficiency is closely dependent upon a larger and more 
 general want, namely, good local organisation, guided by the 
 
 1 A Manual of the Intermediate Education ( Wales) Act, 1889. 
 Thomas Ellis, M.P., and Ellis Griffith, with Introductory Notes by 
 W. Rathbone, M.P., and Arthur H. D. Acland, M.P.
 
 126 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION n. 
 
 supervision of a higher authority." Now, it is quite clear that 
 if Wales is going to spend a considerable sum out of the rates, 
 she must provide her own guarantees for efficiency, her own 
 local organisation, and her own supervising authorities. If 
 each of her new schools were to become an isolated unit with- 
 out any supervision and without the stimulus which the public 
 encouragement and approval of the county or the principality 
 could give, we might revert to the old state of things that the 
 Schools Inquiry Commissioners so often found, where endow- 
 ment was a curse and not a blessing. What would seem to be 
 required is (a) a body of local governors appointed on a popular 
 basis ; (b] a county committee [which would be largely assisted 
 by the reports of c\ to satisfy the rating authority and the 
 public that the schools were doing well ; (<:) a provincial board 
 representing a group of counties or the whole of Wales, which 
 would be able, with far greater economy and efficiency than 
 single counties, to provide adequate inspection, and, while 
 leaving ample liberty to teachers, to give that honourable 
 mention of good work done which would be both an honour 
 and a stimulus to further improvement. 
 
 The provincial authority, either of Wales as a whole, or of 
 North and South Wales separately, in addition to the work 
 suggested already, might, with skilled assistance, do much of 
 the work laid down for the Educational Council, spoken of by 
 the Commissioners (p. 651) : "The Council would do a very 
 great service to education by making an annual report, giving 
 as complete a picture as possible of what was being done, and 
 of what is still needed to be done. Such a report should also 
 contain complete statistical information of all the schools, a 
 full account of all exhibitions and scholarships open to com- 
 petition, and of the conditions required for obtaining them ; 
 the register of all who had obtained certificates of competency 
 as teachers ; and all such information as could be of use to 
 any who were concerned with schools. An annual report of 
 this kind would be of great use, not to the schools only, but 
 to the nation. It would lay before the public year after year 
 whatever was done, and keep alive the general interest. It 
 would probably do a good deal towards what is very much 
 wanted, accustoming the public to understand the subject."
 
 in. INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION IN WALES 127 
 
 Again, the Welsh provincial authority would probably 
 exactly fulfil the advantages which the Commissioners indicate 
 (p. 638) : " It is plain that a local board has some very great 
 advantages over a central authority. It can act from personal 
 knowledge of the district, and consequently can consult the 
 feelings and peculiarities of the people. It can inquire into 
 all important endowments on the spot, and give every person 
 interested an opportunity of being thoroughly heard. If in 
 any substantial degree it represents the people, it carries a 
 force with it which it is impossible to secure in any other 
 way." 
 
 "The example of foreign countries points strongly in the 
 same direction. France, in spite of its centralisation, is broken 
 up for educational purposes into eighteen thousand academical 
 divisions. Prussia is divided into eight provinces for the 
 purposes of secondary education, with a provincial board at 
 the head of the schools in each province. The Canton of 
 Zurich is divided into eleven districts, with a school com- 
 mittee in each. In France this is done for administrative 
 convenience ; but in Prussia and in Switzerland, not only for 
 that reason, but also to enable the people to take a more direct 
 interest in the welfare and management of the schools. And, 
 undoubtedly, much of the success of the educational system in 
 these countries is due to this careful division of labour." 
 
 The " force " of which the Commissioners speak, which 
 would result from a good provincial board, must be con- 
 tinuous and permanent. To drop all supervising work and 
 leave each school isolated, when its scheme was complete, 
 without that stimulus and encouragement from above, which 
 Wales, and Wales alone, could give, would be to lose <nore than 
 half the value of the Act.' 
 
 At its first meeting after the passing of the Act, 
 the Carnarvonshire Joint Committee passed a resolu- 
 tion suggesting a conference of the six Joint Com- 
 mittees of North Wales. This proposal was accepted 
 by the five other counties, and the first Conference 
 was held on April 12, 1890, at Chester. Represen-
 
 128 STUDIES IN SECOND AR Y EDUCA TION n. 
 
 tatives from every county (Anglesey, Carnarvonshire, 
 Denbighshire, Flintshire, Merionethshire, Mont- 
 gomeryshire) were present, and also Mr. Bruce, the 
 Assistant Charity Commissioner. At the opening 
 of the meeting a careful account was given by 
 Mr. Bruce, of the general charities available for the 
 whole of Wales, after which the conference was 
 occupied with discussions on such matters as the 
 special needs of thinly-populated districts, and the 
 form of organisation for the counties of North Wales, 
 or if necessary for the whole Principality, which would 
 be ultimately required for the benefit of all such 
 intermediate schools as might be founded. 
 In the end the conference resolved : 
 
 ' That, with the view of giving the fullest effect to the Inter- 
 mediate Education Act, there should be permanently estab- 
 lished in each county a county committee, which should have 
 a certain amount of control over all the schools within the 
 county ; that there should also be a local governing body ; and 
 that it would be of great service to have a central body for 
 North Wales for educational purposes ; that the conference, 
 however, at the present time, leaves the suggested powers of 
 such bodies entirely undefined.' 
 
 The desirability of retaining a definite number of 
 first-grade classical schools in North Wales was then 
 considered, and a valuable paper on girls' education 
 and the best means of providing it in intermediate 
 schools was read by Mr. Reichel, Principal of the 
 North Wales University College, Bangor. Other 
 subjects were also discussed. This was the first of 
 a series of most useful conferences, by means of 
 which much light was thrown on many matters of 
 importance, and invaluable guidance was afforded
 
 in. INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION IN WALES 129 
 
 to the members of the Joint Committees throughout 
 Wales. 
 
 Three conferences were held in North Wales, and 
 at the third conference it was resolved to suggest to 
 the other counties that conferences for the whole of 
 Wales should be held. 
 
 The Joint Committees of South Wales and 
 Monmouthshire accepted the invitation, and up to 
 the present date five conferences of all the Joint 
 Committees of the Welsh Counties have been held. 
 
 The full series of conferences is as follows : 
 
 First Conference for North Wales, Chester, April 12, 1890. 
 
 Second Conference for North Wales, Rhyl, June 7, 1890. 
 
 Third Conference for North Wales, Chester, July 19, 1890. 
 
 First Conference for Wales and Monmouthshire, Shrewsbury, 
 September 19, 1890. 
 
 Second Conference for Wales and Monmouthshire, Shrews- 
 bury, November 28, 1890. 
 
 Third Conference for Wales and Monmouthshire, Shrews- 
 bury, January 30, 1891. 
 
 Fourth Conference for Wales and Monmouthshire, Shrews- 
 bury, May 29, 1891. 
 
 Fifth Conference for Wales and Monmouthshire, Shrews- 
 bury, January 22, 1892. 
 
 It is not possible here to give a detailed account 
 of the work of these conferences, but it cannot be 
 doubted that they have performed a great service to 
 the cause of education in Wales, and that the easy 
 working of the Act has been largely assisted by 
 them. The discussions were entirely of a practical 
 character, and very few controversial discussions 
 arose. The reports of the conferences have been 
 printed verbatim, 1 and they provide a fund of in- 
 1 To be obtained from Hughes & Son, Hope Street, Wrexham. 
 I
 
 130 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION \\. 
 
 formation for those who are anxious to understand 
 the problems which will have to be faced when any 
 Act similar to that for Wales may be passed for 
 other parts of the United Kingdom. 
 
 The curriculum, the fees to be charged, the age 
 of entrance, the character of the examination for 
 admission, the composition of the governing bodies 
 for the county and its districts, the form in which 
 schemes should be presented to the Charity Commis- 
 sioners, the plans of buildings for intermediate 
 schools, the nature of and the provision for exhibi- 
 tions and scholarships, the training of masters and 
 mistresses for intermediate schools, pensions for 
 teachers in the school, religious instruction in the 
 schools to be founded, the method of appointment 
 and dismissal of head and assistant teachers, manual 
 instruction, the provision of gymnasia and of school 
 museums : these and other subjects were discussed 
 by the conferences. 
 
 (3.) A Central Educational Board. A special com- 
 mittee was appointed at the third Shrewsbury con- 
 ference to consider the composition and functions of 
 a Central Educational Board for Wales, whose report 
 has been presented and referred to the Joint Com- 
 mittees. There is no reason to doubt that a Central 
 Board will be formed under a scheme, that it will be 
 supported by contributions from each county, as well 
 as by existing endowments, and that its work will 
 include the inspection and examination of schools, 
 the regulation of scholarships and exhibitions, the 
 organisation of a system of training, and of pensions 
 for teachers, and the provision, when necessary, of 
 books, apparatus, maps, etc., for the special use of 
 Welsh schools.
 
 ill. INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION IN WALES i 
 
 For these purposes it is probable that a sum 
 of not less than ^"4000 will have to be provided, 
 the salary of the Chief Inspector being estimated at 
 about 800, besides travelling expenses. This sum 
 could be provided by raising ^"1000 by means of a 
 capitation fee for examination of about 2s. 66. a head 
 for eighty schools, with an average of 100 pupils each, 
 and by a contribution from the counties of about ten 
 per cent, of the unexpected grant provided under the 
 Local Taxation Act, which would amount to over 
 .3000. The constitution of the Central Board will 
 be no doubt the subject of considerable discussion, 
 but it is not improbable that there will be a large 
 board of sixty or seventy members, including repre- 
 sentatives of the University Colleges as well as of the 
 County Councils, and a smaller executive committee 
 which will transact the routine business. It may be 
 hoped that reasonable travelling expenses will be 
 paid to those who have to give much time to the work 
 of the board. 
 
 This formation of a Central Educational Board 
 for Wales, the first, but it may be hoped not the 
 last Provincial Intermediate Education Board in the 
 United Kingdom, is a matter of the highest interest 
 and importance. The service of such a board to the 
 cause of Welsh education in the future will, without 
 doubt, be very great. 
 
 (4.) The Drafting of Schemes by the Joint Com- 
 mittees. The Joint Committees which have been 
 assembling in conference from time to time in the 
 manner already described, have in the meantime been 
 steadily proceeding with their proposals for their own 
 county schemes. It is provided in the Act that the
 
 132 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION n. 
 
 Joint Committees may submit their proposals to the 
 Charity Commission, and invite the Commission to 
 draft them in legal form as a scheme. Each of the 
 committees which have hitherto sent in their schemes 
 have acted on this plan ; and confidential correspon- 
 dence between each committee and the Charity 
 Commission has arisen on the details of the scheme 
 before publication, as provided by the Endowed 
 Schools Acts, the procedure of which is embodied in 
 the Intermediate Education Act for Wales. Several 
 schemes have now been published by the Charity 
 Commission for criticism by those who are interested, 
 during the period of two months provided by the 
 Acts. The outline of the first scheme which was sent 
 in to be drafted by the Commissioners (that of the 
 County of Carnarvon), is given as a specimen of the 
 way in which the question is being dealt with in a 
 medium-sized county of over 100,000 population, in a 
 Note to this chapter. 
 
 It will be observed in connection with this scheme 
 that the Joint Committee propose to distribute a 
 certain portion of the income of two endowments 
 (Bangor and Bottwnog) over the county generally. 
 This, in itself, is a new departure of an important kind. 
 The method of allowing certain districts which have 
 not a large population a period of five years to see 
 how far the new schools in the neighbourhood may 
 supply their wants, seems a sensible proposal. The 
 demand that each district that requires a school must 
 provide a site and ^13 per scholar towards a build- 
 ing, is made in order that some real evidence may be 
 forthcoming, that the people of the district desire to 
 have a school of their own. It will be seen that full
 
 in. INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION IN WALES 133 
 
 provision is made for girls, and that in several districts 
 dual schools under one roof are contemplated. If an 
 average fee of 4 a year is paid by the parents, an 
 annual income of about 9 a pupil will be received by 
 each school, which, when compared with the available 
 income in many good schools, gives a very ample 
 provision for the kind of intermediate school, largely 
 fed from elementary schools, which will be usually 
 provided under the Welsh Act The whole popula- 
 tion of the county is so divided that nearly every 
 parish falls into one or other of the districts. There 
 arises here, no doubt, one of those difficulties which 
 are caused by our present system of local govern- 
 ment. New districts are being formed under this 
 Act, which do not correspond with any district recog- 
 nised at the present time. 
 
 The provision made under the Act, in the more 
 populous parts of South Wales, is of a somewhat 
 different character from that which has just been 
 alluded to. The following instance may be given : 
 In Glamorganshire the county is divided into thirteen 
 school districts, with eleven dual schools, two boys' 
 schools and two girls' schools, besides the endowed 
 school for girls at Llandaff, with a separate endow- 
 ment of over 2000 a year. The money from rates, 
 endowments, and the Treasury grant available for 
 these schools, will exceed 17,500 a year. 
 
 A large part of the cost of the buildings in this 
 county will be defrayed out of money raised under 
 the Technical Instruction Act, the buildings to be 
 available for the purposes of both Acts. Most of the 
 schools in this populous industrial county will be of 
 a modern and scientific character, suitable for boys
 
 134 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION \\. 
 
 and girls up to the age of sixteen ; but in two or 
 three there will be special provision for classics and 
 for the most advanced type of secondary instruction. 
 It must be remembered that the geographical county 
 of Glamorgan includes the county boroughs of Cardiff 
 and Swansea, each with their own independent 
 county schemes, under. which provision will be made 
 for the higher branches of secondary education. 
 
 General Remarks. It is not possible to present 
 any adequate picture in a few pages of a movement 
 so varied in its character, as that now under our con- 
 sideration. But it may be said that, on the whole, 
 the work of the two years which have elapsed 
 since the committees were constituted is full of 
 promise. The mechanical or constructive stage is 
 not yet over, and it will be some time before the 
 cumbrous processes under the Endowed Schools Acts 
 are completed. But there is ample reason to believe 
 that the Welsh people intend to make their schools 
 a success. Already, more than ^100,000 has been 
 promised by subscriptions from the people themselves, 
 much of it in very small sums, towards the sites and 
 buildings which will be required. Already the Joint 
 Committees are proposing, in their new schemes, that 
 about seventy new schools shall be provided in the 
 Principality, with an ample supply of scholarships. 
 There is every reason to believe that these schools 
 will be well filled with scholars, that the buildings 
 will be substantial and well designed, that the organ- 
 isation will be such as to evoke local and popular 
 interest, and that the income will be ample to secure 
 success if the people are determined to support their
 
 in. INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION IN WALES 135 
 
 schools. The turning-point which gave the Joint 
 Committees new vigour and encouragement, was no 
 doubt the fortunate accident in 1890, which enabled 
 a sum of .34,000 a year, the residue of the proceeds 
 of the increased Beer and Spirit Duties, to be applied 
 to Intermediate and Technical Education. The 
 power was permissive only, but nearly every Welsh 
 County Council has voted all the money for educa- 
 tional purposes. 
 
 If one may venture to forecast the future, it may 
 be said that the enthusiasm of the Welsh people will 
 overcome the difficulties that may yet stand in the 
 way of a completely and effectively organised system 
 of secondary education. Difficulties there will be. 
 Some friction may arise over the proposed application 
 of a few of the endowments. The Charity Commis- 
 sion, whose representative has already done admir- 
 able service by his courtesy and good sense during 
 his attendance at more than 200 meetings of Joint 
 Committees in all parts of Wales, may soften down 
 most causes of difficulties if, as is to be hoped, they 
 continue to act cordially with the Committees. 
 Should they take too rigid a view of the importance 
 of their own traditions, and undervalue the indepen- 
 dent local knowledge of the Committees, strained re- 
 lations between the Committees and the Commission 
 may arise, and therewith appeals to the Privy Council, 
 or debates in the House of Commons. But there is 
 not much reason, from their past attitude, to antici- 
 pate difficulties of this sort. In another year or two 
 the new schools will begin to be opened, and before 
 the century is out we may fairly expect that at least 
 5000 boys and 3000 girls will be found in the new
 
 1 36 STUDIES IN SECOND A R Y ED UCA TION 11. 
 
 public schools, instead of the 1 500 pupils that were 
 found in endowed schools ten years ago. Within 
 another quarter of a century that number may be 
 doubled, or more than doubled. Only experience 
 can show how best the schools may be adapted to 
 the needs of agricultural, mining, commercial towns 
 and districts. There must be elasticity of method, 
 and the relation of each school to the elementary 
 schools below, and the University Colleges above 
 should be carefully considered and modified as occa- 
 sions demand by each County Governing Body. The 
 development of experiments in manual and technical 
 instruction will be watched with much interest, and 
 it may be hoped that the failures of the small gram- 
 mar-schools in England, which have too tenaciously 
 clung to an education that was mainly classical, will 
 not be repeated. The forethought and careful de- 
 liberations of which the conferences have given evi- 
 dence are a guarantee that there is a sincere desire to 
 assist each school by friendly counsel and support 
 so far as lies in the power of a Central Council, 
 to provide for a good' supply of teachers, to avoid 
 isolation and the mistakes that so often arise from 
 want of knowledge. It cannot be long before the 
 university for Wales is founded, with the three 
 University Colleges of Wales at Aberystwyth, 
 Bangor, and Cardiff, as its principal members. Its 
 services to the intermediate schools may be great, 
 and they too in their turn are certain largely to in- 
 crease the number of Welsh university students. 
 The remarkably interesting movement now taking 
 place in Wales, which is here described, but which 
 has hitherto attracted too little attention in England,
 
 in. INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION IN WALES 137 
 
 is not only full of promise for the future of education 
 in the Principality, but of the utmost value as an 
 example to other parts of the United Kingdom. 
 
 NOTE 
 
 Outline of the principal provisions of the Scheme 
 proposed by the Joint Education Committee 
 of the County of Carnarvon, and published by 
 the Charity Commission in accordance with 
 the Welsh Intermediate Education Act, 1889. 
 
 This outline is prepared for the convenience of members of 
 the County Council and others by the Joint Education Com- 
 mittee. It is not authoritative, and includes only the principal 
 points of interest. For all details, therefore, the scheme, as 
 published by the Charity Commissioners, must be consulted. 
 
 The general object of the scheme is to make provisions 
 which shall be somewhat elastic, and which shall not necessi- 
 tate the building of schools in every district at once, but shall 
 give full freedom to certain districts to see, in the first instance, 
 how far a generous provision of scholarships will meet their 
 needs. The share of money to which each district is entitled 
 will be retained for it for five years, so that those districts which 
 are not certain whether they need a school will not be hurried 
 into building. 
 
 It is assumed that the schools will be mainly day-schools, 
 but provision is made for lodging-houses or hostels. 
 
 It is assumed that buildings will be provided for both boys 
 and girls, and that, as a rule, this will be met by the erection of 
 dual schools for boys and girls, the schools to be under the 
 same roof, but with separate class-rooms, play-grounds, etc., 
 for the boys and the girls, who may be taught together in any 
 classes, if the Local Governing Body so arrange.
 
 138 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION \\. 
 
 i. INCOME AVAILABLE FOR DISTRIBUTION FROM FUNDS 
 AND SUCH ENDOWMENTS AS ARE DEALT WITH UNDER 
 THE PRESENT SCHEME. 
 
 County Rate (halfpenny rate), .... 1070 
 Grant under Local Taxation Act, 1890, . .2171 
 Deduct for Central Educational Body of 
 Wales for its work of examination, and in- 
 spection of the County Schools, etc., . 171 
 
 - 2000 
 Endowments ( i ) Bangor esti- 
 
 mated income, . . ^770 
 Reserve for the special 
 use of Bangor, . . 220 
 
 (2) Bottwnog esti- 
 
 mated income, . . 300 } 700 
 
 Reserve for the special 
 use of Bottwnog, . 150 
 
 - 150, 
 
 [Total amount under this head, ^431 1.] 377 
 
 (For Table of Proposed Distribution of Income, see page 144.) 
 
 2. PROPOSED BUILDING GRANTS. 
 
 The Committee recommend that the amount of the money 
 under the Local Taxation Act, 1890, that will be due at Mid- 
 summer, 1892, say ^4900, shall be used as grants-in-aid to the 
 Committees that may build schools. The grant is to be divided 
 among the districts as follows, and retained for five years, if 
 necessary, for the benefit of each district, so that if at any time 
 during the next five years any district proposes to build, the 
 building grant-in-aid will be forthcoming. The distribution 
 proposed is as follows: Carnarvon, ^1050; Pwllheli, ^850; 
 Portmadoc, Pen-y-Groes, Llanberis, Bethesda, and the Llan- 
 dudno-Conway district, ^560 each ; Bottwnog, 2<x>. 1 
 
 1 The case of a site and buildings for a boys' school at Bangor is 
 already provided for. A building grant-in-aid towards the girls' school 
 may be provided from that part of the money realised from the sale of 
 the present site of Friars' School, which may be devoted to the benefit 
 of the girls' school.
 
 in. INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION IN WALES 139 
 
 The conditions on which the grant-in-aid will be made are : 
 that a suitable freehold site must be provided, with about three 
 acres of ground for recreation, to be rented or otherwise pro- 
 vided, and that a sum of not less than ^13 per scholar, for whom 
 accommodation is to be provided, must be raised in the locality, 
 and lodged in the bank or guaranteed by a responsible com- 
 mittee. 
 
 3. PROPOSED GOVERNING BODIES. 
 
 It is proposed to form a County Governing Body for the 
 county, and a Local Governing Body for each district. 
 
 (A) FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNING BODIES. 
 
 i. Functions of County Governing Body. 
 
 Administration of public funds and report thereon 
 to County Council. 
 
 Examination and inspection of schools with assist- 
 ance from Central Educational Body for Wales. 
 
 Arrangements for scholarships, bursaries, and ex- 
 hibitions provided by public funds, with assistance 
 of Local Governing Bodies. 
 
 Arrangements for travelling teachers for schools in 
 the county. 
 
 Appointment and dismissal of head masters or head 
 mistresses of schools, in concert with special re- 
 presentatives of Local Governing Bodies. 
 
 Management of the estates of existing endowments 
 which will come under the scheme, and of gifts 
 and bequests which shall be hereafter made. 
 
 Other functions. 
 
 ii. Functions of Local Governing Bodies. 
 
 Provision of buildings. 
 
 Maintenance of buildings. 
 
 Arrangements of curriculum in concert with head- 
 master. 
 
 Arrangements as to amount of fees, lodging-houses, 
 if any, boarders, if any, length of holidays, and 
 other matters.
 
 140 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION ir. 
 
 Arrangements as to religious instruction, subject to 
 
 the provisions of the scheme. 
 Control of gifts and bequests given after the date of 
 
 the scheme. 
 Control of local finance and presentation of annual 
 
 balance-sheet to County Committee. 
 Appointment and dismissal of assistant masters and 
 
 mistresses, in concert with head masters and head 
 
 mistresses. 
 Other functions. 
 
 (B) COMPOSITION OF GOVERNING BODIES. 
 
 i. County Governing Body. 
 REPRESENTATIVES OF NUMBER. 
 
 The County Council . . . I i6 
 
 The Local Governing Bodies of 
 the Schools (one representative 
 from each) .... 9 
 
 The North Wales University Col- 
 lege (Senate and Council) . 2 
 
 The School Boards in the County i 
 
 Managers of Voluntary Schools 
 in non-School-Board Districts i 
 
 Governors co-opted by the Go- r(of whom one shall 
 
 verning Body . . . . 2-1 x 
 
 ^ be a woman). 
 
 ii. Local Governing Body. 
 
 (Bangor Boys' 
 School has two 
 by City Council ; 
 one by Board of 
 Guardians ; one 
 by University 
 College ; one by 
 Dean and Chap- 
 ter). 
 
 1 Provision is to be made that, in any case, the representatives of 
 the County Council are to be in a majority on the Governing Body. 
 
 Urban and Rural Sanitary Autho- 
 rities (Town Councils, Local 6 
 Boards, Boards of Guardians)
 
 in. INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION IN WALES 141 
 
 REPRESENTATIVES OF NUMBER. 
 
 f (of whom one shall 
 School Boards . . . . 2 | be a woman). 
 
 Managers of Voluntary Schools 
 in non-School-Board Districts i 
 
 County Council .... 2 
 
 Head Masters and Head Mis- 
 tresses of Public Elementary 
 Schools (from their own 
 
 number) J(of whom one shall 
 
 ^ be a woman). 
 
 , -V. c r ( (each governor to 
 
 Subscribers of 10 and upwards^ 1 v 
 
 , .. ,. , ,r c represent not 
 
 to the Building Fund (for five }- 3< 
 
 N 1 less than ten 
 
 years) J I ., . 
 
 \ subscribers). 
 
 Parents of Scholars at the School i 
 
 The Head Master or Head Mis- 
 tress of the School l . . i 
 
 Governors co-opted by the Go- r(ofwhomone sha ll 
 vermngBody. . . . a( be a woman) . 
 
 In the case of Bangor Boys' School and Bottwnog, the first 
 five co-opted Governors (five for Bangor and three for Bottwnog), 
 shall be appointed by the existing Governors. The Bangor 
 Girls' School will have a separate Governing Body for at least 
 five years after its foundation, consisting of two by City Council, 
 two by University College, two by School Board, one by 
 Managers of Voluntary Schools, two by County Council, one 
 by Subscribers, and one by Parents. 
 
 In every election of representatives by any of the above- 
 named bodies, either women or men may be elected. In the 
 case of Bangor School for Girls, special provision for additional 
 
 1 The head master or head mistress shall take all part that other 
 governors can take in the business, but without the right to vote. They 
 shall retire only when the subject of their dismissal is under discussion. 
 The head master or head mistress will be appointed by the County 
 Governing Body, acting in concert with special representatives of each 
 Local Governing Body. They will receive a fixed stipend of 120 a 
 year (^150 at Bangor Boys' School), and a capitation-fee varying from 
 i, IDS. to ^4 per scholar.
 
 1 42 5 TUDIES IN SEC ON DA R Y ED UCA TION \ I . 
 
 women representatives is made. In the case of districts which 
 do not have a school, these districts shall be specially repre- 
 sented by two representatives on the Governing Body of the 
 nearest school. 
 
 The representative governors will sit for three years, one- 
 third retiring each year, the co-optative governors will sit for 
 five years. There will be a quorum when more than a third 
 are present. 
 
 4. SCHOLARSHIPS, BURSARIES, AND EXHIBITIONS. 
 
 It is proposed that SCHOLARSHIPS shall be of different 
 kinds (i) free tuition, with a small sum of money in addition ; 
 (2) free tuition only ; (3) half the tuition fee. 
 
 FREE TRAVELLING will be provided from districts which 
 have no school to neighbouring schools by what will be called 
 BURSARIES, for a certain number of scholars, and especially 
 those who most need this help. 
 
 EXHIBITIONS will be provided by the County Governing 
 Body of not less than 10, or more than 20, a year, to be taken 
 by boys or girls of the intermediate schools to some higher 
 place of education. 
 
 Scholarships and bursaries will be awarded, as a rule, to 
 scholars at public elementary schools only, and will be dis- 
 tributed in reasonable proportion among the schools of the 
 district. Scholars already in the school, whether coming from 
 elementary schools or not, will be eligible for a limited number 
 of half tuition fee scholarships. 
 
 5. FEES. 
 
 The fees will be fixed by the Local Governing Body, at 
 the rate of not less than ^3 a year, and not more than 8 a 
 year (10 in Bangor Boys' School). 
 
 6. AGE AND TERMS OF ADMISSION AND AGE OF 
 LEAVING. 
 
 No scholar under ten years of age is to be admitted to an 
 intermediate school. Every scholar before admission must 
 have passed at least the 5th Standard, or an equivalent exami- 
 nation.
 
 ill. INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION IN WALES 143 
 
 In ordinary cases scholars will not be retained after com- 
 pleting their seventeenth year, but in special cases scholars may 
 be retained up to nineteen, by special permission of the Go- 
 verning Body, upon the written recommendation of the head 
 master or head mistress. 
 
 7. RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION AND CURRICULUM. 
 
 Religious instruction (including Scripture History) is to be 
 given in each school, subject to the provisions of the Act that 
 no catechism or formulary shall be taught, and that scholars 
 may be withheld from religious instruction. In boarding- 
 houses or hostels, undenominational family worship shall be 
 held. The regulations on this subject for day boys or boarders 
 are to be made by the Local Governing Bodies. Neither the 
 places of worship attended by boarders, nor their religious 
 teachers, shall be such as their parents disapprove. 
 
 Instruction shall also be given in the schools in the follow- 
 ing subjects, besides Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic : 
 Geography and History, including Scripture History ; English 
 Grammar, Composition and Literature ; Mathematics ; Latin ; 
 at least one modern Foreign European language ; Natural 
 Science, with special attention to the industries of the district ; 
 Manual Instruction, either in working Wood or Iron, or in 
 Moulding, or in Modelling in Clay ; Drawing ; Vocal Music ; 
 and Drill. 
 
 For girls there shall be added : Domestic Economy and 
 the Laws of Health ; Cookery ; Needlework ; Cutting-out ; 
 Laundry-work. 
 
 Instruction may also be given in the following subjects : 
 Greek ; Welsh Grammar, Composition, and Literature ; the 
 Principles of Agriculture ; Navigation ; Shorthand ; and such 
 other subjects of intermediate or technical education as the 
 Local Governing Body, after consultation with the County 
 Governing Body, may think fit to introduce. 
 
 Classes in Mechanics, Physics, Chemistry, and Agriculture 
 shall in all cases be associated with sufficient experimental 
 demonstration and practical teaching. 
 
 Instrumental Music may be taught, on the written request 
 of a parent, but at an extra fee of not less than $ a year.
 
 144 
 
 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
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 PART III 
 STUDIES OF SPECIAL DISTRICTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (BOYS) 
 
 UNDER the existing conditions of industry, the 
 vast majority of children in London, as in other 
 parts of the Kingdom, leave school at the age of 
 twelve or thirteen. The highly-organised system of 
 primary schools, providing for the wants of those 
 who finish their school education at this early age, lies 
 outside the scope of this chapter, which deals ex- 
 clusively with schools and institutions which carry 
 on the education of a small minority of children 
 beyond that age. They may be roughly divided 
 under two heads evening classes, designed to afford 
 an opportunity to those who have already left school 
 to continue their education, and day-schools, with a 
 curriculum adapted to pupils who will finish their 
 education at an age varying from fourteen to eigh- 
 teen, and often connected with primary schools by 
 scholarships and exhibitions. All this system of 
 higher day and evening schools may be included 
 under the head of ' secondary ' education. 
 
 K
 
 1 46 S7 'UDIES IN SECOND A KY ED UCA TION in. 
 
 Legally, it is true that the greater number of even- 
 ing classes in London are ' elementary schools,' 
 being conducted by the London School Board. But 
 under the new Code this term is fast becoming a 
 legal fiction, and under the operation of recent Acts 
 of Parliament which authorise the establishment of 
 what are practically ' secondary ' departments in ele- 
 mentary schools, the time seems to be drawing near 
 when the term ' elementary school ' will have little 
 reference to the character of the instruction or the 
 age of the scholars, but will merely mean a publicly 
 supervised school open to Her Majesty's Inspector, 
 and conforming to the requirements of the Education 
 Acts. 1 In other words, the action of School Boards 
 with regard to education has burst the bounds of 
 elementary instruction, and any complete account of 
 the organisation of secondary education ought now 
 to include the continuation classes subsidised by the 
 Education Department. 
 
 The present chapter, however, will be confined 
 to the more important class of day schools de- 
 signed for boys who can stay at school until an age 
 varying from fourteen to eighteen. There is as yet 
 nothing which can be called an organised system of 
 such schools in London, but a considerable number 
 of endowed schools are scattered irregularly over the 
 metropolitan area, and the gaps are partly filled by 
 ' proprietary ' schools managed by joint-stock com- 
 panies, partly by private adventure schools. 
 
 It will thus be seen that the distinction between 
 secondary and primary schools is, in the first instance, 
 educational rather than social. To quote the words 
 
 1 This is especially the case as regards evening schools.
 
 I. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (BOYS] 147 
 
 of the official report on London schools for the 
 Schools Inquiry Commission, ' the definition of the 
 middle-class child for the purpose of this inquiry 
 disregards in the main the occupation or social 
 position of his parents or next friends, and considers 
 simply up to what age he is intended to be educated.' 
 Of course, under existing conditions, this distinc- 
 tion carries with it to a great extent a class dis- 
 tinction, so that we may say roughly that at present 
 secondary schools mean schools in which the children 
 of clerks, tradesmen, managers, manufacturers, and 
 professional men receive their education. But this 
 is not a fundamental definition, being merely an 
 accident of the existing distribution of wealth, which 
 may cease to hold good when secondary and primary 
 schools are brought fully into touch with each other. 
 
 Endowed Secondary Schools. In importance, 
 though not in number, endowed schools rank first 
 among the secondary schools of London. They are 
 the only class subject directly to any kind of public 
 control, falling under the partial supervision of the 
 Charity Commissioners under two aspects (i) as 
 charities (under the Charitable Trusts Acts), (2) as 
 educational endowments (under the Endowed Schools 
 Acts). 
 
 There are at present thirty-six endowed secondary 
 schools for boys in London attended by 12,500 boys. 
 Twenty-six are working under schemes drawn by the 
 Endowed Schools Department of the Charity Com- 
 mission, a few others are in a state of transition 
 pending new schemes, and the remainder have not 
 yet been reorganised, or are outside the scope of
 
 148 STUDIES IN SECOND AR Y EDUCA TION HI. 
 
 the Department. 1 There are, besides, a considerable 
 number of un-reformed educational endowments, 
 especially in the City parishes, which at present 
 support ' Parochial,' ' Charity,' or ' Ward ' schools, 
 and which will, doubtless, in due time become the 
 nucleus of secondary schools under future schemes. 
 
 Proprietary Secondary Schools. These are 
 schools managed by limited companies. They 
 are a connecting link between public and private 
 schools, being conducted with no view to the profit 
 of the headmaster, but in some cases paying a divi- 
 dend to the shareholders. Sometimes (as in the case 
 of the Church Day Schools Company) the dividend 
 may not exceed 5 per cent, and the surplus yielded 
 by the high fee schools is used as a kind of quasi- 
 endowment of those with lower fees. Sometimes (as 
 at Blackheath) no dividend is payable, all surplus 
 funds being applicable to the benefit of the schools. 
 
 In other cases, however, the line is very difficult 
 to draw which separates them from schools conducted 
 for private profit. There are at present ten proprie- 
 tary schools for boys in London, the names of which 
 can be found in the tables on pages 190 to 197, edu- 
 cating about 1800 boys. This is exclusive of a con- 
 siderable number of denominational schools, and 
 schools for special classes of children, which can 
 hardly be classed as public secondary schools. Such 
 are schools for the sons of missionaries, for the sons 
 of poor clergymen, and the like, which clearly do not 
 
 1 Some of these, as will be seen from the table on pp. 190-197, 
 have been dealt with by the Court of Chancery before the appointment 
 of the Endowed Schools Commission.
 
 i. SECONDARY EDUCA T10N IN LONDON (BO YS) 149 
 
 form part of the general local school supply ; ' German 
 Protestant' schools, in which the fee is reduced to 
 sons of pew-holders, and other ' middle-class ' schools 
 attached to churches, chapels, and synagogues, which 
 give certain privileges to attenders at those places of 
 worship. We also exclude, of course, institutions 
 for purely professional instruction. 
 
 Private Adventure Schools. In addition to 
 these there are no fewer than 450 private adventure 
 schools l (for boys or girls) enumerated in the London 
 Directory, besides those in the more suburban parts 
 of the metropolitan area, which are the paradise of 
 the 'academies' and 'collegiate establishments,' where 
 the youth of a large, though decreasing, section of the 
 middle class receive such education as they ever get. 
 
 Distribution of Public Secondary Schools. 
 
 The distribution throughout London of secondary 
 boys' schools under some kind of [public or semi- 
 public control is shown in detail in the tables on 
 pages 190 to 197. 
 
 The results may be thus summarised : 
 
 
 Endowed. 
 
 Proprietary. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Per looo of 
 population. 
 
 District. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Accom- 
 
 Attend- 
 
 Accom- 
 
 Attend. 
 
 Accom- 
 
 Attend. 
 
 Accom- 
 
 Attend- 
 
 
 modation. 
 
 ance. 
 
 modation. 
 
 ance. 
 
 modation. 
 
 ance. 
 
 modation. 
 
 ance. 
 
 City . . . 
 
 '2,250 
 
 2,218 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 2,250 
 
 2,218 
 
 53'5 
 
 SO'I 
 
 Westminster 
 
 1,53 
 
 1,351 
 
 500 
 
 294 
 
 2,030 
 
 1,645 
 
 9-8 
 
 7-6 
 
 Chelsea . . 
 
 1,450 
 
 1,191 
 
 
 
 1,450 
 
 1,191 
 
 3'3 
 
 2-7 
 
 Marylebone 
 
 i ,000 
 
 613 
 
 1,180 
 
 827 
 
 2,180 
 
 1,440 
 
 3'7 
 
 2'4 
 
 Finsbury . 
 
 1,360 
 
 1,35 
 
 300 
 
 1 20 
 
 1,660 
 
 1,470 
 
 3-2 
 
 2*8 
 
 28 
 
 Tower Hamlets 
 
 1,500 
 
 1,151 
 
 
 
 
 
 1,500 
 
 1,151 
 
 3 '4 
 
 2'5 
 
 Southwark . 
 
 500 
 
 35 
 
 
 
 
 
 500 
 
 305 
 
 2 "2 
 
 i '3 
 
 W. Lambeth 
 
 720 
 
 7S 
 
 1 60 
 
 145 
 
 880 
 
 850 
 
 i '5 
 
 i '4 
 
 E. Lambeth 
 
 i>530 
 
 1,450 
 
 
 
 
 i,530 
 
 1,450 
 
 4'3 
 
 4'o 
 
 Greenwich . 
 
 1,260 
 
 926 
 
 5o 
 
 284 
 
 i,770 
 
 1,210 
 
 4'5 
 
 3-0 
 
 Not all really 'secondary' schools.
 
 150 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 Thus the City is by far the best provided with 
 opportunities for secondary education in proportion 
 to the population. Next follows (at a great distance), 
 the School Board district of Westminster, while in 
 great parts of South, North- West, and East London 
 public secondary schools may be said to be practi- 
 cally non-existent. 
 
 The distribution of schools does not, however, 
 correspond accurately to the distribution of scholars 
 taking advantage of these schools. In these days of 
 easy communication many of the boys travel a con- 
 siderable distance to school. This is especially the 
 case where a low-fee'd school has become unsuited to 
 the district in which it is situated (as in the case of 
 the Coopers' Grammar School, in the midst of Ratcliff 
 slums l ), or of the schools in the City, which is de- 
 creasing rapidly in population. 
 
 The City schools, including the great middle-class 
 school in Cowper Street, and the old Mercers' School 
 on College Hill, are mainly fed from a distance, and 
 in any computation of the cost of the education to 
 the parents, travelling expenses should be added to 
 the school fee. In residential districts, however, the 
 secondary schools are mainly local in their character, 
 and in several cases actual preference is given by 
 scheme to pupils from neighbouring parishes. Thus, 
 to take the Eastern District of the Towe/ Hamlets 
 and Bethnal Green, the residences of the pupils at 
 five out of the six public secondary schools are given 
 below : 
 
 1 Just moved to Bow.
 
 i. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (BOYS) 151 
 
 
 Parmiter's 
 
 George 
 
 Prisca 
 
 People's 
 
 White- 
 
 Residence of Pupils. 
 
 School 
 (Bethnal 
 
 Green 
 Schools 
 
 Coborn 
 School 
 
 Palace 
 School 
 
 chapel 
 Foundation 
 
 
 Green). 
 
 (Poplar). 
 
 (Bow). 
 
 (Mile End). 
 
 School. 
 
 Bethnal Green . 
 
 101 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 13 
 
 2 
 
 Poplar. . . . 
 
 
 
 90 
 
 5 
 
 27 
 
 
 
 Bo wand Bromley 
 
 II 
 
 3 
 
 104 
 
 90 
 
 2 
 
 Mile End . . 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 36 
 
 52 
 
 7 
 
 Whitechapel . 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 44 
 
 Stepney . . . 
 
 
 
 29 
 
 8 
 
 40 
 
 6 
 
 St. George's-in- \ 
 the-East . / 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 Hackney . . . 
 
 1 80 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 31 
 
 
 
 Essex .... 
 
 22 
 
 SI 
 
 45 
 
 77 
 
 8 
 
 Elsewhere . . 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 9 
 
 43 
 
 
 321 
 
 1 80 
 
 200 
 
 344 
 
 112 
 
 Thus these schools appear to be mostly local, 
 except the People's Palace school, which draws from 
 a wide area by means of scholarships. 
 
 Of the boys here enumerated, 568 live in the Tower 
 Hamlets, and if we make a conjectural allowance for 
 the school for which no returns are forthcoming, 1 and 
 for boys going to schools outside the district, the 
 following rough estimate may be made of the number 
 of boys resident in each district of the Tower Hamlets 
 who there or elsewhere, attend a public secondary 
 school of some kind : 2 
 
 1 The old Coopers' School. 
 
 2 The Tower Hamlets only are included in this estimate, since so 
 many outside schools are so easily accessible to boys living in Hackney, 
 Shoreditch, etc., that if we included those districts the estimate would 
 be merely conjectural. As it is, we can only roughly guess the number 
 of Whitechapel boys attending schools in the City.
 
 152 S TUDIES IN SE CON DA RY ED UCA TION 1 1 1 . 
 
 Whitechapel 100 
 
 St. George's-in-the-East ... 20 
 
 Stepney 15 
 
 Mile End Old Town . . . . 1 50 
 
 Bow and Bromley .... 300 
 
 Poplar 200 
 
 920 
 
 This is a very small proportion of the children of 
 suitable ages. The total number of boys attending 
 such schools within the Tower Hamlets is 1151, the 
 difference being mainly accounted for by an influx 
 to East London schools from neighbouring parts of 
 Essex. 
 
 History of Endowments. Such being the ex- 
 isting state of facts, we have next to examine more 
 closely the social and economic causes which have 
 led to the present irregular distribution of opportuni- 
 ties for secondary education. Let us glance at the 
 history of a typical endowment. 
 
 One day, towards the end of the sixteenth century, 
 as Mistress Alice Wilkes was walking abroad in the 
 fields at Islington, she observed a woman milking, 
 and had a mind to try whether she could milk. ' At 
 her withdrawing from the cow,' so the story continues, 
 'an arrow was shot through the crown of her hat, 
 which so startled her that she then declared if she 
 lived she would erect something on that spot of 
 ground to commemorate the great mercy shown by 
 the Almighty in that astonishing deliverance.' Ac- 
 cordingly, in 1609, after completing the romance 
 by marrying the archer (who turned out to be Sir
 
 I. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (BOYS} 153 
 
 Thomas Owen), she granted certain lands, called the 
 Ermitage fields in Islington and Clerkenwell, to the 
 Brewers' Company, for the support of ten poor 
 widows. Four years later she expanded the charity 
 by providing for a ' free ' school as well as alms- 
 houses, and set apart a farm of forty-one acres in 
 Essex for the endowment of the school, to provide 
 instruction for thirty children, twenty-four from 
 Islington and six from Clerkenwell, in 'grammar, 
 fair writing, cyphering, and casting of accounts.' 
 
 To this incident in the life of Lady Owen the 
 districts of Islington and Clerkenwell are indebted 
 for the possession of one of the most efficient secon- 
 dary schools in London. Had the narrow escape 
 occurred on any other spot, Islington might now be 
 as ill-provided as regards secondary schools as the 
 most neglected regions in the North-West of London, 
 while some other districts would be enjoying the 
 educational advantages of ' Dame Alice Owen's 
 School.' 
 
 The total endowment of school and almshouses 
 amounted at first to about 50 a year, of which 
 roughly two-fifths arose from the Essex farm, and 
 was devoted to the school ; while the remainder, the 
 proceeds of the Islington land, supported the ten 
 widows. But with the lapse of time the two endow- 
 ments grew unequally, land in London rising in 
 value far more than in Essex, until there was far too 
 much for the almshouses, and far too little for the 
 school. Accordingly, in 1830, the first re-adjustment 
 took place, the Master of the Rolls ordering that 
 two-fifths of the whole endowment should henceforth 
 be paid to the school, as at the time of the founda-
 
 154 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 tion. The school was visited in 1865 on behalf of 
 the Schools Inquiry Commission. There were then 
 in attendance 120 boys between the ages of ten and 
 fourteen, chiefly sons of tradesmen in the district. 
 The instruction was gratuitous, and 'pretty fair . . . 
 but there might be some improvement in all the 
 subjects taught.' l The endowment was between six 
 and seven hundred pounds a year. Under the 
 Endowed Schools Act of 1869, which followed the 
 report of the Commission, the school was re-organised 
 in 1878 by the Charity Commissioners. 
 
 It is now a typical, well-managed secondary 
 school, though sadly cramped for space, having 
 already outgrown the buildings erected in 1881. It 
 is attended by 373 boys, paying fees varying from 
 4, i os. to 6 a year, of whom about three quarters 
 are still drawn from Islington and Clerkenwell. 
 About one-sixth of the pupils are sons of artisans or 
 foremen, two-thirds are sons of clerks, tradesmen, 
 managers, etc., and the remaining sixth are of the 
 professional class. The school is especially successful 
 in the modern branches of education. 
 
 The history of this endowment is a good illustra- 
 tion of the way in which the secondary schools of 
 London have grown up. Endowments have been 
 scattered about in an absolutely haphazard manner, 
 according to the whim of founders, and without the 
 least relation to the wants of London as a whole. In 
 Lady Owen's time the idea of a universal system of 
 education had not arisen, and the scattered towns, 
 villages, and hamlets in the neighbourhood of the 
 Cities of London and Westminster had not been 
 
 1 Mr. Fearon's Report. ' Schools Inquiry Commission, vol. x.
 
 i. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (BOYS) 155 
 
 joined together as now into one vast London, but 
 were more or less isolated centres each to be treated 
 independently of the others. 
 
 In the story of this school, moreover, we see an 
 example of the working of the irresistible economic 
 forces which have tended in course of time to throw 
 charitable endowments still more completely out of 
 relation to the needs of their districts, and the 
 purposes for which they were devised. The changes 
 in the distribution of population and wealth which 
 have made the land of London rise in value out of 
 all proportion to that of Essex, are typical of general 
 changes under which the old unrevised endowments 
 became continually more useless for educational 
 purposes as time went on. Meanwhile many of the 
 objects for which bequests used freely to be left, such 
 as legacies for the ransom of Barbary prisoners, or 
 prayers for the soul of the benefactor, had become or 
 were becoming obsolete. 
 
 During last century the majority of the old 
 foundations shared the paralysis which fell on other 
 forms of associated effort, and on their decay rose 
 the private adventure schools in which, until the 
 recent revival of endowed schools, most boys of the 
 middle class were educated. The last blow to the 
 usefulness of the unreformed endowments was given 
 by the famous decision of Lord Eldon at the begin- 
 ning of the present century, that the principal object 
 of an endowment providing a grammar school for 
 the poor was the teaching of Latin and Greek rather 
 than the teaching of the poor ; that it was nearer the 
 intention of the founder to use the money to teach 
 Latin and Greek to some other class of pupils than
 
 156 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 to give the class for whose benefit the legacy was 
 designed an education suited to the altered circum- 
 stances of the times. 1 In the light of this strange 
 interpretation of the doctrine of cy-pres 1 *- it is easy to 
 understand the oft-repeated and not unnatural com- 
 plaints that have been made of the diversion to other 
 classes of educational charities left for the poor. 
 
 At last the growing discrepancy between endow- 
 ments and the objects for which they were intended, 
 and the failure of the Court of Chancery to provide 
 an adequate remedy, forced the community to inter- 
 fere in a more drastic manner with the process. The 
 first real step was the passing of the Charitable 
 Trusts Acts of 1853, I ^55, and 1860, which, taken 
 together, gave power to a newly-formed Charity 
 Commission to revise educational endowments in 
 common with other charities. Under these Acts 
 a considerable number of schools were reformed, 
 including several London schools, such as the 
 Levvisham Grammar School and the Godolphin 
 School, Hammersmith. The Charity Commission 
 proved far more effective than Chancery for the 
 work they had in hand ; they formed ' an amicable 
 tribunal of reconcilement rather than of litigation, ' 
 and proceedings were accelerated and reduced in 
 cost. But their jurisdiction over schools under this 
 Act was very restricted. They could inquire into 
 charities and compel the production of accounts, and 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission," vol. i. p. 452. See also Sir 
 Horace Davey's evidence before the Committee on the Endowed 
 Schools Act, 1886. 
 
 2 Cy-prts ' as near as possible.' In diverting an endowment the 
 new object must be as nearly as possible akin to the old.
 
 I. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (BOYS} 157 
 
 facilitate and simplify the procedure for the execu- 
 tion of schemes. But their power to adapt charities 
 to altered circumstances was strictly limited by the 
 doctrine of cy-pres. They were capable of ' altering 
 trusts which cannot be executed (or at any rate not 
 without manifest absurdity) ; but not of altering 
 trusts which can.' 1 Even within these limits the 
 Charity Commission could not easily take steps 
 beyond inquiry without a local initiative. 
 
 Work of the Endowed Schools and Charity 
 Commissions. These powers being insufficient, a 
 temporary Commission of three under the name of 
 the Endowed Schools Commission was appointed in 
 1869, with power to revise educational endowments 
 and with the consent of the trustees to divert to 
 education endowments the purpose of which had 
 failed. In such cases due regard was to be paid to 
 the interests of the locality and the class of persons 
 for whose benefit the endowment had been left, a 
 rather puzzling task in the case of legacies for 
 ransoming Barbary prisoners, or for destroying lady- 
 birds in Cornhill. The new Commission was un- 
 fettered by the necessity for a local initiative or by 
 the restraints of the doctrine of cy-pres. The Act 
 appointing the Endowed Schools Commission was 
 succeeded in the following year (1870) by Mr. Forster's 
 Elementary Education Act, which provided for the 
 organisation of primary education. The new Com- 
 mission and the first London School Board began 
 therefore the re-organisation of London schools about 
 the same time, and at first their functions slightly 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 632.
 
 158 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 overlapped, since endowments for elementary schools 
 came at the beginning under the purview of the 
 Commission. In the year 1873, however, an 
 amending Act was passed relieving the Endowed 
 Schools Commission of all matters relating to en- 
 dowments of less than 100 a year attached to 
 elementary schools. 
 
 In the early days of the Endowed Schools Com- 
 mission a good deal of opposition was offered to their 
 action, and a few schemes were even rejected by the 
 House of Lords. One of the most fiercely con- 
 tested schemes was that for Emanuel Hospital, 
 Clapham. In London only one endowed school 
 (Tenison's School) was revised until 1873. This 
 was the year of greatest activity in the reform of 
 London endowments, no fewer than nine important 
 boys' schools being launched on a new career with 
 revised schemes. 1 
 
 The need for ' eternal vigilance ' over endowments, 
 if they are to be an aid instead of an impediment to 
 education, is seen in the fact that six out of these 
 nine schemes have since had to be amended in detail, 
 four of them twice. Of the other three schemes one 
 has been altogether superseded, one is now in process 
 of revision, and the remaining scheme will probably 
 soon be recast. This is said less as a reflection on 
 the character of the original schemes than as a tribute 
 to the energy of the Commissioners ; but the fact 
 proves amply the necessity for a permanent depart- 
 
 1 These were : The Grocers' School, Hackney ; Sir W. St. John's 
 Upper School, Battersea ; ditto, Middle School, Battersea ; the Roan 
 School, Greenwich ; Aske's School, Hatcham ; the Haberdashers' 
 School, Hoxton ; the Prisca Coborn School, Bow ; the Emanuel 
 School, Clapham ; and the United Westminster Schools.
 
 I. SECOND AR Y EDUCA TION IN LONDON (BO YS) 1 59 
 
 ment, charged with the work of constantly adapting 
 schools to altered conditions, whether by scheme or 
 by some simpler process. The authority for this 
 purpose should, however, be local rather than central. 
 
 On the expiration of the term of office of the 
 Endowed Schools Commissioners in 1874, they were 
 not re-appointed, but their powers were transferred to 
 an Endowed Schools Department of the Charity 
 Commission. 
 
 The following table shows the progress of the 
 Charity Commission in dealing with boys' schools 
 since the change in 1874 : 
 
 Schemes approved. 
 
 1875. St. Clement Danes (Holborn Estate 
 Grammar School). 
 
 1876. St. Paul's School. Superseded 1879. 
 1878. Dame Alice Owen's School, Islington. 
 
 Amended 1879 and 1886. 
 
 1880. Camberwell Grammar School. 
 
 1882. Alleyn's School, Dulwich. 
 
 1883. St. Dunstan's College. Amended 1887. 
 
 1883. George Green Schools, Poplar. 
 
 1 884. Parmiter's Foundation School, Bethnal Green. 
 
 1887. Colfe's Grammar School, Lewisham. 
 
 1888. Stationers' School, Bolt Court, E.G. 
 1888. Whitechapel Foundation School. 
 
 1890. St. Olave's Grammar School, Southwark. 
 
 1890. Christ's Hospital. 
 
 1891. Central Foundation Schools(CowperStreet 
 Schools and certain other foundations combined). 
 
 1891. Coopers' Grammar School, Stepney ; and 
 Prisca Coborn School, Bow (united).
 
 160 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 Scheme published, but not yet in force. 
 Herold's School, Bermondsey. 
 
 There are in all 117 endowments in London sub- 
 ject to the Endowed Schools Acts, of which about 
 sixty have been revised by the Commission, and a 
 few are now in a state of transition. Those given 
 above only include boys' secondary schools. 
 
 Thus the Commissioners have now been at work 
 for twenty years striving to overtake the constantly 
 accumulating work of revision of endowments. They 
 have done much, but now that their earlier schemes 
 themselves require revision, the task has almost out- 
 grown the power of a central department. 
 
 Curriculum. The schools enumerated in 'the 
 table on pp. 190-197 provide for the most part a 
 modern or semi-classical education, the curriculum 
 consisting of the ordinary English subjects, two 
 foreign languages, e.g. French and Latin or German, 
 with mathematics, drawing, and natural science. 
 Book-keeping and shorthand are sometimes added, 
 and occasionally Greek is taught to a few of the boys. 
 On the whole, the arrangements for practical science 
 instruction are very inadequate, and manual work, 
 though contemplated in several of the later schemes, 
 has as yet made little progress, except in a few 
 cases, such as the United Westminster and Cowper 
 Street Schools. Scientific and manual departments 
 could, however, be easily grafted on to many of 
 these schools, and would as a rule be welcomed by 
 the headmasters if the necessary funds for build- 
 ing and maintenance were forthcoming. On the 
 whole, these schools, though of course vayring very
 
 I. SECOND AR Y ED UCA TION IN L ONDON (BO YS) 161 
 
 greatly among themselves in efficiency, are doing 
 a great but little recognised work among a class 
 whose education has been more neglected than that 
 of any other section of the people. The greatest 
 evils, next to the insufficiency of their number, are 
 their isolation and want of co-ordination, and the 
 irregular distribution of endowments. 
 
 The mass of the pupils are between the ages of 
 eight and fifteen. Some schools fix the lower limit 
 at seven, and a few pupils stay beyond fifteen. 
 
 Social class of Pupils of Secondary Schools. 
 
 An analysis of the occupations of the parents of 
 children in three endowed schools in the Eastern 
 district gives the following result : 
 
 
 School A. 
 
 School B. 
 
 School C. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Per- 
 centages 
 of total 
 pupils. 
 
 Professional, . 
 
 31 
 
 26 
 
 4 
 
 6l 
 
 IO 
 
 Middle class, 
 
 243 
 
 129 
 
 8? 
 
 459 
 
 74 
 
 Working class, 
 
 47 
 
 32 
 
 21 
 
 100 
 
 16 
 
 
 321 
 
 I8 7 
 
 112 
 
 620 
 
 IOO 
 
 The estimate is only rough, for it is, of course, 
 very difficult in many cases to draw the line ac- 
 curately between professional, middle, and working 
 class, since the books of the schools only record 
 occupation, and many occupations do not correspond 
 closely to a particular social class. The majority 
 of the professional class who attend such schools are 
 the sons of clergymen, doctors, accountants, and 
 
 L
 
 162 
 
 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 in. 
 
 school-masters ; while licensed victuallers are pro- 
 minent among the parents of the middle class, besides, 
 of course, clerks, shopkeepers, managers, agents, and 
 officials. 
 
 The working-class contribution to the pupils of 
 secondary schools is drawn almost purely from the 
 upper stratum, as will be seen from the following 
 analysis of occupations of parents of the boys of the 
 working class at two endowed schools : 
 
 I. (BETHNAL GREEN.) 
 
 Building Trades 
 
 Painter, 2 
 
 Plumber, 2 
 
 Sawyer, . . . . . i [ 
 Carpenter, . . . . i J 
 
 Clothing Trades 
 Silk-finisher and Weaver, . 3 "] 
 Shoemaker, . . . . 5 ' 
 Milliner and Dressmaker, 
 Tailor, .... 
 
 Other skilled Trades 
 
 Cabinetmaker and Carver, . 5 
 Coach-builder, . . . i 
 Ivory-cutter, . . . .3 
 Block-cutter, . . . . i 
 
 Printer, 3 
 
 Locksmith, . . . . i 
 Watch and Instrument-maker, 4 
 Bookbinder, . . . .2 
 Card Box-maker, . . . i 
 Cigar-maker, . . . . i 
 Drug-grinder, . . . . i 
 
 Street-sellers and Labour 
 Catsmeat-man, 
 Carman, .... 
 Dock labourer, 
 
 1-6 
 
 II. (POPLAR.) 
 
 Joiner, . . .2 
 Engineer, . . .9 
 Shipwright, . . i 
 Pilot, .... 3 
 Cooper, . . .1 
 Pattern-maker, . . i 
 Boiler-maker, . . i 
 Printer, . . .2 
 4 j r S Instrument-maker, . i 
 3 j Ship and Boat-builder, 2 
 
 Ship's Cook, 
 Fancy Box-maker, 
 Labourer, . 
 
 . i 
 
 . 2 
 . I 
 
 27 
 
 23 
 
 47
 
 i. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (BOYS) 163 
 
 Proprietary schools giving the same kind of 
 education draw their pupils purely from the pro- 
 fessional and middle class, as is only to be expected 
 since they must charge a self-supporting fee. In 
 such a school in North- West London the composi- 
 tion is as follows : Professional, twenty-nine per 
 cent. ; middle class, seventy-one per cent. 
 
 Thus the great majority of the boys attending the 
 secondary schools of London are of the middle and 
 lower middle class, with a fringe of sons of profes- 
 sional men, and (in endowed schools) a sprinkling of 
 the children of working men. 
 
 Governing Bodies. The governing bodies of 
 London endowed schools vary very greatly in their 
 composition. Ten are governed by City Companies, 
 with or without schemes of the Charity Commis- 
 sioners. A few schools not yet reorganised maintain 
 their original system of government. Until 1890, 
 when a new scheme came into force, the governors of 
 St. Olave's Grammar School, Southwark, were sixteen 
 members of the Church of England, residing, carrying 
 on business, or rated in the parish. The original six- 
 teen were appointed by letters-patent of Elizabeth, 
 and the survivors filled the vacancies ever since by 
 co-optation. The governing body of St. Saviour's 
 School, Southwark, is chosen in much the same 
 way the survivors being, however, assisted in the 
 selection of new governors by 'twelve discreet 
 parishioners ' whom they themselves nominate. 
 
 Most of the schools working under schemes of 
 the Endowed Schools or Charity Commissioners are 
 managed by mixed bodies of governors chosen in
 
 164 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 various ways, with an attempt at securing some 
 degree of popular representation. Since the report 
 of the Select Committee of 1886 on the Endowed 
 Schools Acts, 1 the policy of the Commissioners has 
 tended towards an increase in this popular element, 
 but direct election by the ratepayers has never been 
 resorted to in London. The scheme approved in 
 1888 for the Whitechapel Foundation School may 
 afford us a specimen of the present policy of the 
 Commissioners with respect to the constitution of 
 governing bodies. 
 
 The Board consists of sixteen members appointed 
 as follows : 
 
 5 by the Vestry of St. Mary, Whitechapel. 
 
 1 Tower Hamlets Members of the Lon- 
 
 don School Board. 
 
 2 Justices of the Peace for the Tower 
 
 Hamlets, 
 i Central Governing Body of the City 
 
 Parochial Charities. 
 7 by Co-optation. 
 
 Here six out of nine of the nominated members 
 are chosen by popularly-elected local boards, so that 
 a majority of popular representatives may be said to 
 be ensured on the whole governing body. 
 
 Proprietary schools are, of course, managed by 
 the directors of the company or a committee respon- 
 sible to them. 
 
 1 Report of Committee, p. 13: 'That the sympathies of localities 
 should be enlisted by giving to the people a large share in the manage- 
 ment by representation, either direct or indirect.'
 
 I. SECOND AR Y EDUCA TION IN LONDON (BO YS) 165 
 
 The Condition of Private Schools. Allusion 
 has already been made to the existence of a large 
 number of private schools conducted for the profit 
 of the master. It is impossible to speak with any ex- 
 actitude of the condition of the mass of these schools, 
 as many of them are unwilling to furnish returns, and 
 the facts given by those which supply particulars 
 cannot be regarded as representative of the whole. 
 Many of these schools are mere mushroom growths. 
 A comparison of the lists of private schools mentioned 
 in the London Directory for 1889 and 1890, respec- 
 tively, shows the disappearance of seventy-one schools 
 and the establishment of thirty-eight in the interval. 
 
 The decrease in number shows how private schools 
 are affected by the extension of Board schools on the 
 one hand, and the revival of endowed schools on the 
 other. Thirty years ago, when St. Olave's Grammar 
 School was at a low point, there were nine flourish- 
 ing private schools in the parish ; now St. Olave's 
 educates several hundreds of boys, and all the private 
 schools have disappeared. Many of the existing 
 private schools are ' dames' ' schools, preparatory to 
 entering a secondary school ; some are survivals, not 
 yet crushed out, of the private elementary school of 
 the pre- School Board age. The teachers of the latter 
 schools feel the competition of the public elementary 
 school very keenly, and cordially detest the School 
 Board. That the crushing-out process, however 
 painful, is in some cases necessary, is sufficiently 
 obvious from the following letter which I received 
 in answer to an application for information from a 
 private school, which, however, is of course not to be 
 regarded as representative of its class :
 
 166 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 'Sir, 
 
 I should feal great pleasure in sending you one of my 
 cirulars I am sorry to say my School is closed The board 
 
 shools has closed many 
 
 yours respectnly 
 
 Other private schools are preparatory institutions 
 for the great public schools. 
 
 Of the real secondary private schools many are 
 well conducted and fulfil a useful function. Such 
 schools, however, as a whole, are vastly inferior to 
 publicly- managed schools. The private school- 
 master has to maintain appearances amid increasing 
 difficulties. His fees must compete with those of 
 the endowed secondary school, and he must often 
 accommodate parents who wish to drive a hard 
 bargain for the second boy sent to the school, on 
 pain of losing the third and fourth of the family. In 
 extreme cases he may have even to arrange ' re- 
 ciprocal terms' with the butcher and grocer. 1 He 
 must consult the wishes of individual parents far 
 more than the master of a public school, and this has 
 doubtless a good side, since it prevents a private 
 schoolmaster from getting out of touch with the 
 wants of his circle of clients. But the pressure to 
 which he is liable and which he cannot afford to 
 withstand is often most unhealthy, while, as the con- 
 dition of his existence is the making of profit, there 
 is an almost irresistible temptation to raise fees, as 
 soon as the school succeeds, and so place the school 
 out of the reach of the class who need it most. 
 
 The number of subjects of instruction advertised 
 in many private school prospectuses is absurdly large, 
 and out of all proportion to the capacities of the 
 
 1 See Daily Telegraph (Educational Advertisements), April 1888.
 
 I. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (BOYS} 167 
 
 teaching staff or the possible income to be derived 
 from pupils' fees. Many of these subjects must be 
 badly taught, many never taught at all. In one case 
 the master admitted that all he could do was to refer 
 pupils who asked for some of the subjects advertised, 
 to institutions where they could obtain the instruction 
 they required. The degrees attached to the names 
 of many private schoolmasters are puzzling in the 
 extreme. Such titles as F.S.Sc. (Lond.), and other 
 wonderful permutations and combinations of letters, 
 are of frequent occurrence. A thriving trade is done 
 by agencies for the sale of degrees. While writing 
 the present article I have received an invitation to 
 become a member of a society, which in return for 
 a modest subscription of los. 6d. confers among other 
 privileges the right to use the letters ' M.S.L.' ' F.S.L.' 
 is a higher degree in this society reserved for ' active 
 members.' Diplomas, however worthless (especially 
 the more expensive kind which carry with them the 
 title of ' Doctor '), impose on a large class of parents 
 who, in the absence of any real guarantee of efficiency 
 in the schools to which they send their children, and 
 of the leisure and capacity to make investigation for 
 themselves, have no other measure of the value of the 
 teaching than the pretensions of the teacher. 
 
 Registration of teachers would do something to 
 meet this evil, which is by no means entirely confined 
 to private schools. 
 
 Cost and Fees of Secondary Schools. The cost 
 of the education given in a secondary school varies, 
 of course, with the breadth of the curriculum, the 
 standard of the instruction, and the character and
 
 168 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 position of the buildings and apparatus. It is best, 
 for the purpose of this inquiry, to exclude the upper 
 class school, where the expenditure is only limited 
 by the fancy fees which parents can be induced to 
 pay. Omitting also rent for buildings and land, 
 which varies greatly with the situation of the school, 
 and supposing that the initial cost of building has 
 been defrayed, the average annual cost of a moderate- 
 sized secondary school, as carried on at present in 
 London, appears from a comparison of the accounts 
 of a number of schools to be about 9 per head. 1 
 Doubtless, under an organised system, we should 
 be able to reduce many items of expense, the differ- 
 ence representing the waste and 'leakage,' due to 
 the absence of co-ordination. On the other hand, 
 many of the salaries paid to assistant masters are 
 wretchedly insufficient, and it would be good economy, 
 if the funds were forthcoming, to increase the ex- 
 penditure on the salaries of the permanent staff. 
 
 The cost of maintenance of the schools is met 
 from three main sources : scholars' fees, endowments 
 or subscriptions, and grants from the Science and 
 Art Department. The proportions in which these 
 three sources contribute to the school funds vary 
 greatly from school to school, and have, as will be 
 seen, a marked influence on the character of the work. 
 Some (like the schools of the Boys' Public Day 
 School Company) are self-supporting by their fees ; 
 some (like Christ's Hospital before its reorganisation) 
 are almost entirely supported by endowment ; some 
 (like the People's Palace Day School) draw a large 
 part of their income from Science and Art grants. 
 
 1 This includes rates and taxes, and repairs.
 
 i . SECOND A R Y ED UCA TION IN L ON DON (BOYS) 1 69 
 
 An examination of the accounts of six endowed 
 boys' schools working under schemes in various parts 
 of London gives the following results : 
 
 Postal District. 
 
 Total Income 
 per head. 
 
 Endowment 
 per head. 
 
 Income from 
 Scholars per head. 
 
 
 J- d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 * * 
 
 (i) E. 
 
 840 
 
 5 i o 
 
 330 
 
 (2) E. 
 
 8 10 o 
 
 610 
 
 290 
 
 (3) N.E. 
 
 10 18 o 
 
 3 15 o 
 
 730 
 
 (4) S.E. 
 
 8 10 o 
 
 o 14 o 
 
 7 16 o 
 
 (5) S.E. 
 
 8 13 o 
 
 2 17 6 
 
 5 15 6 
 
 (6) S.W. 
 
 730 
 
 190 
 
 5 14 o 
 
 In all these schools the endowments or the fees 
 are too large to allow them to earn any grant from 
 the Science and Art Department. The proportion 
 of the annual expenditure devoted to salaries of 
 masters and to other purposes is shown in the 
 following table : 
 
 Postal 
 District. 
 
 1 Expenditure 
 per head. 
 
 Expenditure 
 on Head- 
 Master's Salary. 
 
 Expenditure 
 on Assistant- 
 Master's Salary. 
 
 Expenditure 
 on other 
 purposes. 
 
 
 * d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 (i) E. 
 
 840 
 
 i 17 o 
 
 390 
 
 2 18 
 
 (2) E. 
 
 8 10 o 
 
 2 4 O 2 
 
 2 8 10 
 
 3 17 2 
 
 (3) N.E. 
 
 12 4 o 
 
 I 10 
 
 590 
 
 5 5 o 
 
 (4) S.E. 
 
 8 10 o 
 
 i 16 o 2 
 
 3 18 6 
 
 4 15 6 
 
 (5) S.E. 
 
 850 
 
 i 15 6 
 
 3 ii o 
 
 2 15 6 
 
 (6) S.W. 
 
 7 ii o 
 
 560 
 
 
 2 18 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 5 6 
 
 1 This is, as a rule, rather greater than the total income shown in 
 the preceding table, showing that the schools have been drawing on 
 their capital to a small extent. 
 
 2 In these cases the headmaster has a house, rent free, which is 
 not included in the estimate.
 
 1 70 STUDIES IN SECOND A RY ED UCA TION in. 
 
 In most cases the headmaster's salary is arranged 
 on a sliding scale, consisting of ^100 or more fixed, 
 and a capitation fee of i, los. to 2 for every boy 
 in the school a form of ' payment on results/ which 
 is free from many of the objections urged against 
 salaries based on results of examination. 
 
 Schools Dependent on Fees. Proprietary 
 schools do not differ essentially from endowed 
 schools in the amount and distribution of their 
 annual expenditure, but the income is all raised 
 from the pupils, or from annual subscriptions, while 
 in those which are a commercial speculation there 
 may be a surplus to divide among the shareholders. 
 In a school managed on commercial principles there 
 is naturally a strong incentive to economy, especially 
 in the matter of expenditure on buildings. No 
 Schools Company would be likely to imitate the 
 governors of St. Olave's Grammar School, and build 
 a splendid Elizabethan mansion, with carved stair- 
 cases, blazoned windows, and panelled rooms, but 
 without proper accommodation for teaching. Still, 
 the educational value of a beautiful building is not to 
 be ignored, and in so far as commercial management 
 leads to the erection of ugly barrack-like structures, 
 the economy has its disadvantages. And there is, 
 moreover, one fatal drawback to the self-supporting 
 secondary school considered as a link in our educa- 
 tional machinery. It cannot adapt its fees to the 
 wants of particular districts, being dependent on this 
 income entirely for its financial success. Now, with- 
 out starving the instruction, a secondary school of 
 300 boys cannot be carried on in London at an
 
 I. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (BOYS) 171 
 
 annual cost of less than 8 a head, and there is 
 abundant evidence that, in poorer districts, such as 
 nearly the whole of the eastern postal district, an 
 inclusive fee of .5 is the upper limit of the fee which 
 can be charged in order to fill the schools. 
 
 Thus the Parmiter School in Bethnal Green is 
 always crowded at a fee of 3, 155., while the George 
 Green Schools at Poplar, giving an education of the 
 same kind, planted in a district of a similar character 
 and drawing scholars from the same class, is never 
 quite full at a fee of 6. It is clear, then, that in a 
 working class district there is a considerable class of 
 parents who will pay a fee of 4, but will not pay 6. 
 If, then, it is desired to reach this class, the school 
 cannot be self-supporting by its fees, and any institu- 
 tion which attempts the task will share the failure 
 which attended the old Stepney Proprietary School. 
 Proprietary schools may, therefore, continue to form a 
 useful part of our secondary machinery for many 
 years to come in suburban and moderately well-to-do 
 districts, where parents will pay a ^9 fee, but they 
 cannot solve the problem of continuing the work of 
 elementary schools, unless, indeed, they may come to 
 share in a general system of endowment by means of 
 scholarships or otherwise. 
 
 Schools Dependent on Endowment. The de- 
 pendence, however, of proprietary schools on fees, 
 saves them at least from one danger which attends 
 permanent endowments in the absence of continual 
 and effective supervision on the part of the governing 
 body or some outside authority. The effect of such 
 endowments may be to root in a particular neighbour-
 
 172 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 hood, the conditions and wants of which are rapidly 
 changing, a school which is too little dependent on 
 fees to be compelled to change with the times. The 
 remedy lies in a greater elasticity of scheme, and the 
 free use by the Charity Commission or, still better, by 
 the local authority, of powers of altering schemes or 
 even of moving the whole endowment. The reality, 
 however, of the evil, and the length of time which may 
 elapse before it can be remedied even in flagrant cases 
 through the existing machinery, may be made clear 
 by the history of an old unreformed free school in 
 London. 
 
 It was founded early in the seventeenth century, 
 five tenements in the City being given to one of the 
 wealthiest of the City Companies out of which alms- 
 houses and a free school should be provided for the 
 boys of the neighbourhood. In spite of the enormous 
 increase of the value of the proceeds of the property, 
 the company have only devoted a very small portion 
 to the school, and an attempt to compel them to use 
 the remainder for the benefit of the parish was re- 
 fused some sixty years ago by the Court of Chancery. 
 It would seem that the fact of a surplus, however 
 small, being originally left to the company entitled 
 them legally to absorb for their own use the whole of 
 the increase. 1 
 
 In 1865, when visited on behalf of the Schools 
 Inquiry Commission, the school was far below the 
 level of a primary school, was reported to be doing 
 ' quite as much harm as good to the education of the 
 locality,' and was further described in trenchant 
 terms ; yet a short time ago a letter addressed to the 
 1 Report of Commissioners on Charities (June 3Oth, 1837).
 
 I. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (BOYS} 173 
 
 school to make inquiries, received an answer from 
 the same master who received the Commissioner, the 
 school having steadily declined during the intervening 
 quarter of a century. 1 Fortunately, the school has 
 now at last been reached by the Charity Commission, 
 and the endowment, ' enlarged out of the company's 
 corporate funds,' is about to be used for scholarships 
 to connect elementary and secondary schools in the 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 Schools Dependent on Science and Art 
 Grants. Besides fees and endowment there is a 
 third source of income mentioned above, which is 
 available for schools whose pupils belong to a class 
 in which the family income is less than 400 a year. 2 
 
 For the past forty years the Science and Art 
 Department has given grants on the results of exa- 
 mination in various branches of science and art. The 
 system was originally devised for the promotion of 
 evening schools and classes. There was, however, no 
 express refusal to aid day schools, and of late years 
 a number of day schools for boys of from twelve to 
 fourteen or fifteen have been started, basing their 
 curriculum on the syllabus of the Department so as 
 to earn a considerable proportion of the cost of main- 
 tenance by means of grants. The object of these 
 technical schools is not to train the pupils in any 
 particular trade, but to give a general ground-work of 
 scientific knowledge and proficiency in drawing and 
 other manual work which will aid them in many 
 branches of industry, and (what is still more im- 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. x. p. 82. 
 
 2 The limit was ^200 until last year.
 
 174 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 portant) give them a bias during school life towards 
 manual occupations rather than towards the career of 
 a clerk. The most conspicuous example of such a 
 school in London is the day school at the People's 
 Palace in the Mile End Road, where the curriculum 
 is almost entirely composed of subjects taken from 
 the Science and Art Directory. In that school the 
 fees are nominal, half the pupils or more being ad- 
 mitted free by scholarships. 
 
 The absorption of a large proportion of the science 
 and art grant every year by day schools of this 
 pattern was not contemplated when the scheme of 
 grants was devised, and it becomes a serious ques- 
 tion how far the system is adapted to boys of twelve 
 to fourteen. Already it has been modified to some 
 extent to meet the altered conditions, by the intro- 
 duction of capitation grants of IDS. a head for 
 schools which (like the People's Palace) provide an 
 organised system of science instruction, and these 
 grants are about to be raised to 1 a head. But the 
 main principle is still payment on results of exami- 
 nation. 
 
 It may be wondered how boys at so early an age 
 can be made to hold their own with evening students 
 of sixteen to twenty in the Science and Art Depart- 
 ment's examinations. But what they lack in age 
 they make up in the length of continuous study which 
 is possible in a day school. The result is, that a kind 
 of equilibrium is set up between the more desultory 
 evening work of older students and the continuous 
 day work of young boys. 
 
 On the whole, experience seems to show that 
 science and art grants to day schools are useful so
 
 175 
 
 long as they form a comparatively small part of a 
 school's income, the examinations being used as a 
 test of the work, rather than (primarily) as a means 
 of financial support. But as soon as these grants 
 supply the main part of a school's income, there is 
 an almost irresistible tendency to work for the 
 grant instead of considering the best interests of the 
 boys. Subjects on which grants are not forthcoming 
 are crushed out, and the curriculum, instead of form- 
 ing a really educational course, is composed of a 
 collection of science and art ' subjects ' taught ac- 
 cording to a syllabus devised for pupils of a different 
 age. 
 
 Without, therefore, denying the great amount of 
 good work done under this system, we are forced to 
 the apparently paradoxical conclusion that it is not 
 safe for any day school to rely on science and art 
 grants as a source of income unless it is in a posi- 
 tion to dispense with them. Within the next few 
 years there will probably be a radical readjustment 
 of the method on which the Imperial payments for 
 science and art instruction are distributed to day 
 schools. The present time is one of transition, when 
 the theory of the restriction of public aid to primary 
 instruction has been eaten away by the expansion of 
 the work of elementary schools on the one hand, and 
 the subsidies given to science and art teaching, and 
 to technical, commercial, and agricultural instruction 
 on the other ; without, however, the direct recognition 
 in a broad sense of any duty of the State, centrally 
 or otherwise, towards the general work of secondary 
 education. While this lasts, such schools as those we 
 are considering must occupy an anomalous position
 
 176 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 and be shorn of half their usefulness. So soon as the 
 claims of secondary education are frankly recognised, 
 the work of the Science and Art Department may 
 take its proper place in an organised scheme, and it 
 will no longer be necessary to teach applied mechanics 
 from a cram text-book to boys of thirteen, with the 
 vaguest knowledge of scientific principles, in order to 
 save a school from bankruptcy. 
 
 Scholarships and Exhibitions. Having re- 
 viewed the existing system of secondary schools in 
 London, we have still to discuss their connection with 
 elementary schools. 
 
 The principal way in which the two classes of 
 schools are linked together is by means of scholar- 
 ships and exhibitions. There are about 600 or 700 
 such scholarships for elementary scholars attached 
 to public secondary schools in London, of which 
 about half are localised, i.e. restricted, at all events 
 in the first instance, to scholars from certain specified 
 parishes. More often, however, than not, the required 
 number of applicants do not present themselves from 
 the favoured district, in which case the scholarships 
 are thrown open to candidates from other parts of 
 London, or even to boys already in the secondary 
 school. 
 
 These scholarships vary in value from mere re- 
 mission of the whole or part of the fees, up to sums 
 of 20 a year or more. 
 
 There are, in addition, a considerable number of 
 scholarships and exhibitions tenable at efficient 
 secondary schools, either on independent foundations, 
 such as ' Starling's Charity,' or attached to special
 
 I. SECOND AR Y EDUCA TION IN LONDON (BO YS) 177 
 
 elementary schools, or in the hands of the London 
 School Board. 1 Many scholarship foundations have 
 been created of late years by the Charity Commis- 
 sion, by the conversion of local endowments, too 
 small to be of real use in other ways to the districts 
 to which they are attached, into scholarships open 
 to boys in the district and tenable at schools outside. 
 In this way the foundation of Sir John Jolles, at 
 Bow, is now in process of conversion into scholarships 
 tenable at neighbouring schools. A good example 
 of these scholarship-charities is Sir William Bore- 
 man's foundation in Greenwich, which has been 
 devoted, since 1886, to providing scholarships for 
 about one hundred elementary scholars at the Upper 
 Nautical School of Greenwich Hospital. Under the 
 amended scheme (August, 1889), these scholarships 
 are restricted to candidates from the public elemen- 
 tary schools of a single parish. As a considerable 
 number of scholarship charities were established 
 under the Charitable Trusts Acts before the appoint- 
 ment of the Endowed Schools Commission, and no 
 complete list of these earlier foundations can be ob- 
 tained, it is impossible to estimate the total number 
 of scholarships at present in existence connecting 
 elementary and secondary schools in London. It is, 
 however, probably under 1000. 
 
 The foundation of scholarships has been freely 
 used by the Charity Commissioners as a means of 
 
 1 The number in the hands of the Board varies from year to year, 
 several of the scholarships being given for a single term by City Com- 
 panies, and afterwards renewed or not as the case may be. About 
 fifteen to twenty are awarded to boys each year, indicating an approxi- 
 mate total of about fifty to sixty scholarships. Many of these scholar- 
 ships are of the value of 30 a year. 
 
 M
 
 178 S TUD1ES IN SECOND A R Y ED UCA TION in. 
 
 compounding the claims of special districts and special 
 classes to the benefits of the reorganised endowments. 
 Thus the Parmiter's School, which was formerly a 
 free school for boys from Bethnal Green, and is now 
 a fee-paying school open to all comers, 1 retains some- 
 thing of its former local character, and safeguards 
 the interests of the poor, by offering eighteen scholar- 
 ships to past pupils of elementary schools in Bethnal 
 Green. 
 
 More than half the total number of elementary 
 scholarships attached to London secondary schools 
 are offered by two schools the United West- 
 minster Schools and the Draper's School at the 
 People's Palace. These institutions, therefore, far 
 more than any others, have the character of pure con- 
 tinuation schools. The People's Palace, in particular, 
 bases its curriculum on the supposition that its 
 scholars have already passed through the elementary 
 standards, and outsiders have to fit in as best they 
 may. In other schools where the number of elemen- 
 tary scholars is always a very small percentage of 
 the total number of the boys, the curriculum is ar- 
 ranged on the assumption that the boy is educated 
 at the secondary school from an early age, and though 
 special consideration is usually shown to scholarship 
 holders, they have to find their places in a system 
 constructed with a view to the requirements of a 
 different class. As we are here brought face to face 
 with the greatest difficulty in the co-ordination of 
 elementary and secondary education, some further 
 consideration of the point is necessary. 
 
 The secondary schools of past days, planted here 
 
 1 With precedence for applicants from certain parishes.
 
 I. SECOND A R Y EDUCA TION IN LONDON ( BO YS) 1 79 
 
 and there according to the whim of the charitable 
 founder, had naturally no relation with the primary 
 schools which, for the most part, were not yet in ex- 
 istence. Even now the problem of linking the various 
 grades of schools together remains to be solved, for 
 in spite of the changes introduced by the Charity 
 Commission, the old foundation schools still hang in 
 the air, with little organic connection with the vast 
 system of State-aided primary education which has 
 grown up underneath them. The truth is, that uni- 
 versal education is a modern idea, undreamt of in the 
 days of the pious founders, who only hoped to give a 
 chance of liberal education to a limited number of 
 boys in special parishes ; just as they founded the 
 almshouses, with which the schools were often con- 
 nected, with no intention of their forming part of a 
 scheme of universal pensions. It is the development 
 of universal primary education that has brought with 
 it the need for some ' capacity-catching ' machinery 
 for selecting the most promising boys from the 
 elementary schools, and carrying their education 
 to a higher point. Whether in turn this the 
 modern idea will give place to the idea of universal 
 secondary education, is a question for the future. 
 The present problem is to devise the best machinery 
 for selection. 
 
 In certain cases the best course may be to create 
 special continuation schools to collect boys who have 
 already passed through the elementary standards. 1 
 Unfortunately there are serious obstacles to the wide 
 use of this method in London, inasmuch as the 
 number of parents in any district willing to forego 
 
 1 Such as those which are now being established in Wales.
 
 i8o STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 their children's earnings for a couple of years after 
 leaving the elementary schools is hardly large enough 
 to support a local school, and the expense of travel- 
 ling makes the cost too heavy for parents at a dis- 
 tance. Where the plan has succeeded is where the 
 education offered at the higher school, being tech- 
 nical in its character, has an obvious bearing on the 
 commercial value of the boy's labour in the future. 
 
 Whether or not such special continuation schools 
 are founded, it is clear that we shall also have, at 
 least for some time to come, to utilise as continuation 
 schools the existing supply of secondary schools in 
 London, which thus have to discharge the double 
 function of higher-grade schools for the middle class, 
 and continuation schools for elementary scholars. 
 
 To construct a curriculum and time-table equally 
 suited to these two functions is not easy. In a school 
 which keeps boys from seven or eight, to fifteen, the 
 time-table is much more varied than in the elemen- 
 tary school where boys leave at twelve or thirteen. 
 The result is, that the elementary scholar on entering 
 the school at twelve is in a different position from 
 the boys of equal age who have received their 
 education there throughout. He has probably learnt 
 the 'three R.s' more thoroughly if more mechanic- 
 ally than those among whom he finds himself. They, 
 on the other hand, have laid the foundation of other 
 subjects (e.g. one or two foreign languages) of which, 
 as yet, he is innocent. 
 
 The difficulty of adjusting the two objects of the 
 school can be surmounted so long as the elementary 
 scholars are not too numerous to be dealt with in- 
 dividually. A little separate instruction in backward
 
 I. SECOND AR Y EDUCA TION IN LONDON (BO YS) 181 
 
 subjects, either out of school hours or in a special 
 class, is all that is needed, for the boys are above the 
 average in cleverness, and are anxious to place them- 
 selves on an equal footing with their fellows. So far 
 as I have been able to observe, headmasters are 
 most willing to take the necessary trouble to work 
 the scholarship system on its present small scale, 
 and the London School Board are trying to help by 
 giving special instruction to scholarship winners in' 
 the six months which often elapse between the award 
 of the scholarship and entrance into the secondary 
 school. But the problem becomes altogether differ- 
 ent when the elementary scholars form a considerable 
 percentage of the whole school ; and the existing staff 
 of masters, which is none too large, would find it 
 impossible to do justice at once to the boys coming 
 up from the lower forms, grounded in a number of 
 subjects, and those streaming in from outside, know- 
 ing a few subjects more thoroughly. 
 
 It is this, rather than any feeling of social differ- 
 ence, which lies at the root of the objection of many 
 masters of secondary schools to any wide extension 
 of the scholarship system on the existing lines. Class 
 prejudice has little play in London boys' schools far 
 less than in girls' schools ; though, doubtless, the 
 intermixture has been rendered easier by the fact 
 that the elementary scholars, who as yet have found 
 their way into London secondary schools, have been 
 the aristocracy, no less socially than intellectually, 
 of the schools from which they have been drawn. 
 This appears clearly from the following analysis of 
 the occupations of the parents of a hundred such 
 scholars in three East London secondary schools,
 
 182 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 which, from their situation in the heart of a working- 
 class district, are not likely to contain less than the 
 average proportion of the working class : 
 
 Architect, . . . i ' 
 
 Retail Tradesmen, . . 43 
 Licensed Victuallers, . . 6 
 
 Middle and Professional. 
 
 Clerks, 
 
 Commercial Travellers and 
 
 Agents, .... 3 
 
 Warehousemen, ... 2 
 
 , Managers and Foremen, . 1 1 
 f Artisans, . . . .26] 
 
 Working class j Policemen, . . . . i ! 
 
 1 Street-seller, . . . i j 3 
 
 (^Labourers, . . . 2J 
 
 Thus the social class of the majority of the boys 
 selected by scholarship does not differ very greatly 
 from that of the other pupils of secondary schools. 
 This fact, while smoothing over many practical 
 difficulties of the scholarship system, shows plainly 
 that it has as yet failed to reach more than the upper 
 fringe of the working classes. 
 
 It must not, however, be thought that the number 
 of scholarship holders is a sufficient measure of the 
 degree to which secondary schools draw from the 
 stratum beneath them. Thus, in one of the three 
 schools just alluded to, which has only admitted 
 thirty boys by scholarships since its foundation in 
 1886, no fewer than 222 boys, or forty-two per cent, 
 of the whole number, have been drawn from elemen- 
 tary schools during the same period. These boys 
 consist mainly of two classes. There is first a large 
 number who come for a single year, or even a single 
 term, after leaving the elementary school, in order 
 to get a ' finish.' They derive little or no good
 
 i. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (BOYS'] 183 
 
 educationally from the higher school, but they get 
 not only a certain social prestige, but a commercial 
 advantage when seeking a post, from being able to 
 say that they have been at a secondary school. The 
 other class consists of boys who come to the school 
 at the age of eight and nine, having used the infant 
 classes and lower standards of an elementary school 
 as a preparatory department. 
 
 Before considering what alterations are needed in 
 order to make an extension of the scholarship system 
 possible, we may inquire a little further how far it 
 works satisfactorily with regard to the limited number 
 and limited class for whom the existing scholarships 
 provide. 
 
 Here the evidence is very conflicting. In many 
 of the schools we find that as yet the number of 
 entries for scholarships leaves much to be desired. 
 At one school the offer of 'junior' scholarships (of 
 4 a year, rising to 6 after two years), open to 
 penny schools only, in the neighbourhood, produced 
 very few candidates in the first three years. On the 
 other hand, at another school, not far off, 200 candi- 
 dates are attracted by twenty to forty scholarships, 
 entitling to remission of fees. 1 
 
 The facts seem to show two things : first, that the 
 scholarship system is capable of being worked so as 
 to produce a really active competition for vacancies 
 whereby there is reasonable certainty of securing 
 scholars of exceptional ability ; and, secondly, that in 
 its present form it often fails to achieve this object. 
 
 Many reasons have been given for the failure in 
 
 1 In the last case, part of the exhibitions are open to others than 
 elementary scholars. More than two-thirds, however, are taken by 
 scholars who have been at an elementary school.
 
 184 STUDIES IN SECOND AR Y EDUCA TION in. 
 
 certain cases. It has been alleged that many ele- 
 mentary teachers are anxious not to part with their 
 best boys, and without their co-operation any scholar- 
 ship scheme must break down. But the scheme for 
 junior scholarships at the school, the failure of which 
 has been mentioned, was drawn up by the head- 
 master in consultation with the head-teachers of the 
 poor schools in question. Another explanation is 
 the want of co-operation of the London School 
 Board, who, while circulating notices of scholarships 
 to their teachers, decline to order them to be posted 
 up in the elementary schools. Doubtless some hitch 
 has occurred of this kind in certain cases, but the 
 success of the system in 'other schools which would 
 be equally affected by this obstacle proves that it is 
 not at the root of the problem, though no doubt if 
 the secondary schools were organised under public 
 control the difficulty would be lessened or removed. 
 But the real question to be solved is not merely the 
 circulation of notices, but the adaptation of the 
 scholarships to the needs of the children. No amount 
 of advertising will in the end make an unpopular 
 article ' go,' and it is to be feared that it wants much 
 more than a mere remission of fees to make higher 
 education popular in poor districts. The experience 
 of 'junior scholarships' open to penny schools in 
 such a district shows conclusively that the offer of 
 free education fails to ' catch capacity ' from among 
 the children of the poor, where the loss of a boy's 
 earnings is a serious pinch to the family. Nothing is 
 more disheartening than to find clever but poor 
 children winning scholarships, and their parents com- 
 pelled to refuse them on this ground. 
 
 Again, elementary scholars enter secondary
 
 i. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (BOYS) 185 
 
 schools at ages varying from eleven to thirteen. 
 As a rule, they do not stay at the school much 
 beyond the age of fourteen. At the date of my visit 
 to the George Green School, Poplar, there were only 
 two such scholars over this age, while the average 
 age of the elementary scholars who have left Parmiter's 
 School is only thirteen and a half. Two results follow 
 from the present system. In the first place, the boys 
 who are successful in the competition for scholar- 
 ships come from the richer homes, for by the age of 
 eleven or twelve the influence of the home atmo- 
 sphere has had time to tell to such a degree as to 
 handicap severely the boys from rougher homes 
 where there is little appreciation of education and 
 little opportunity for quiet study. Thus we get an 
 undesirable social selection. In the second place, 
 the stay in the higher school is quite insufficient to 
 enable the boys to take full advantage of the in- 
 struction, especially as the greater part of the first 
 few months must be occupied with getting abreast of 
 the other boys in subjects not taught in elementary 
 schools. 
 
 A remedy which would go to the heart of the 
 difficulty would be to tap the elementary school in the 
 middle, instead of skimming it from the top, by lower- 
 ing the age- of admission of scholarship holders to 
 ten or eleven. If this were done, probably a readjust- 
 ment of the method of selection might have to be 
 made, since children differ so much in their rapidity of 
 development that a special examination test at such 
 an age is hardly calculated to catch the best talent. 
 The method tried in connection with the United 
 Westminster Schools, where candidates are preferred 
 at the age of ten, is that of a limited competition
 
 1 86 
 
 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 among boys nominated by the head-teachers of the 
 elementary schools in the district. The chief diffi- 
 culty would lie in the possible reluctance of elemen- 
 tary schoolmasters to part with their best boys at 
 so early an age. The lowering of the age of admis- 
 sion would solve many difficulties. It would be 
 almost certain to increase the number of candidates, 
 and would give fairer play to the poorer children, 
 while to a great extent it would avoid disorganising 
 the curriculum of the higher schools. If the change 
 were carried out it would be possible largely to in- 
 crease the percentage of scholars in those schools 
 without danger. But such a reform to be effectual 
 needs to be backed up by an increase in the value of 
 the scholarships, especially in poorer districts, and a 
 lengthening of the period for which they are tenable ; 
 with or without a second examination at the end of 
 two or three years. For the first year during which 
 attendance at some school is obligatory, the remis- 
 sion of fees is all that would be necessary. After 
 that, the scholarships should increase in value from 
 year to year so as to provide a progressively increas- 
 ing inducement to parents to prolong their children's 
 education. If the age of candidates were limited to 
 ten, the scale might be constructed on something like 
 the following plan : 
 
 ist Year. 
 
 and Year. 
 
 3rd Year. 
 
 4th Year. 
 
 5th Year. 
 
 IO II 
 
 II 12 
 
 1213 
 
 1314 
 
 1415 
 
 Fees. 
 
 Fees + 5. 
 
 Fees + 7, los. 
 
 Fees + ^io. 
 
 Fees + ^12, IDS.
 
 I SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (BOYS} 187 
 
 The Problem of Continuation of Education. 
 
 Changes such as these would give new life and 
 vigour to the scholarship system, though doubtless 
 exceptional provision would be necessary for the case 
 of boys whose abilities develop later than the limit 
 of age allowed. Every improvement of machinery, 
 however, only makes it more urgent that we should 
 form a clear conception of the lines on which we 
 wish ultimately to move with regard to higher educa- 
 tion. To open up a connection between elementary 
 and higher schools does not by itself solve this 
 question. What it does is to take a few boys from 
 one class, and place them among a number of boys 
 of another class, coming from a different kind of 
 home and aiming at a different kind of career. The 
 new-comers must assimilate themselves to their new 
 surroundings under the penalty of miserable isolation 
 during their school career. They are, as a rule, 
 clever boys, and masters say they ' mix in well ' 
 that is, they readily imitate the manner and catch the 
 ideas of those around them. In other words, such 
 sons of artisans as secure scholarships tend to receive 
 in the higher school the stamp of middle-class ideas, 
 and an almost irresistible bias towards a middle-class 
 trade or profession. If this be, as it is, a perversion 
 of the aim of continuation schools, some powerful 
 corrective must be applied, and this corrective can 
 only take the form of a larger infusion of some form 
 of manual or practical instruction. One conclusion, 
 then, of this inquiry is that a great want in London 
 secondary schools, which will be increasingly felt in 
 the future, is a more practical and modern curri- 
 culum ; not necessarily a distinctively technical
 
 i88 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 course of instruction, but one which, at least, recog- 
 nises the fact that a change in the class from which 
 the pupils are drawn necessitates a corresponding 
 change in the education to be provided, and that 
 with the co-ordination of our secondary and elemen- 
 tary school systems the unbroken tradition of purely 
 literary training, which has been handed down in our 
 grammar schools from the Middle Ages, must come 
 to an end. It is but fair to the Charity Commis- 
 sion to say that, in the curricula provided in their 
 recent schemes, they have done much to recognise the 
 changes which are coming over the problem of 
 secondary education. 
 
 It is sometimes supposed that the question here 
 raised is between a ' liberal ' and ' technical ' training, 
 between the culture of the mind and the preparation 
 for a career. But this view is a narrow and partial 
 one. All school studies are, or should be, in a sense, 
 a preparation for a career, if we include under this 
 title all that raises the industrial capacity of the 
 scholar, or gives it a general bias in one direction or 
 another. In this sense the question lies between 
 pre-disposing boys towards quill-driving or towards 
 handicraft. But in another sense no school study, 
 whether literary, scientific, or manual, should aim at 
 a preparation for a career, inasmuch as the educa- 
 tional idea ought never to be sacrificed to the mere 
 acquisition of mechanical skill or ' useful knowledge.' 
 The danger, however, of such a sacrifice is by no 
 means confined to manual work, though doubtless 
 manual training is specially liable at present to 
 degenerate in this way since, in spite of Froebel's 
 work, the educational basis of such training is as yet
 
 I. SECONDARY EDUCA TION IN LONDON (BOYS) 189 
 
 very little understood in this country. It is charac- 
 teristic of our traditions that we often confine the 
 term ' liberal ' education to the study of words and 
 language, while all methods of training in other and 
 more concrete modes of expression are apt to be 
 called ' bread-studies.' 
 
 Recent changes Conclusion. In conclusion, a 
 word or two must be said of the schemes which have 
 lately come into force, or which are now pending, for 
 the increase of provision for secondary education in 
 London. In the first place, the Charity Commission 
 have succeeded, in spite of strong opposition, in re- 
 forming the great foundation of Christ's Hospital, 
 the revenues of which will in future support five 
 schools, i.e. three boarding schools (boys', girls' and 
 preparatory) and two day schools for boys and girls 
 within three miles from the city. 
 
 The boys' schools will accommodate 820 boarders, 1 
 and 600 day boys. The boarding or ' Hospital ' 
 School is intended for boys between the ages of ten 
 and seventeen, and above the preparatory depart- 
 ment is to be divided into two sections, the Mathe- 
 matical School, with a .modern curriculum, and the 
 Latin or Classical School. 
 
 The day school, accommodating 600 boys be- 
 tween the ages of eleven and seventeen, is to be 
 called the Science School, and its curriculum is to 
 include instruction in the use of tools. 
 
 Certain rights of nominating children for the 
 ' Hospital ' schools are reserved to the Donation 
 Governors; and 179 places in the Hospital School, 
 1 700 in Boys' Boarding School and 120 in Preparatory School.
 
 igo STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 and 300 in the Science School, are reserved for com- 
 petition by elementary scholars residing in specified 
 districts. Provision is made in the scheme for 
 supplementing the free scholarships, by further pay- 
 ments up to 20 a year, in the case of at least one- 
 half of the scholars admitted. 
 
 Another important scheme which has just be- 
 come law is that for the endowment of the great 
 Cowper Street Middle Class Schools, and the 
 foundation of a Higher Commercial School for 100 
 or more boys, and a girls' school for 400 girls, out 
 of the funds of Dulwich College, and the endow- 
 ments of the Bishopsgate Ward Schools, and St. 
 Ethelburga's Society. The Charity Commission have 
 also in hand, at the present time, the reform of the 
 Cass Charity in Aldgate. 
 
 These schemes of the Endowed Schools Depart- 
 ment of the Charity Commission will result in a 
 considerable and very greatly needed extension of 
 secondary school accommodation in London. More- 
 over, some at least of the new technical institutes, 
 for which schemes have been lately framed by another 
 Department of the Commission under the City 
 Parochial Charities Act, will probably include day 
 continuation schools. 
 
 But it is not to any mere reform of individual 
 endowments that London must look for the building 
 up of an adequate system of secondary schools. 
 What is wanted is not only funds, but organisation 
 and control, and, above all, that increase in popular 
 interest in education, which public control alone can 
 be expected to bring. To some extent, what is 
 wanted could be supplied under the present law if
 
 i. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (BOYS) 191 
 
 the London County Council ceased to shirk its 
 duties under the Technical Instruction Acts. 1 But 
 the condition of secondary education in London will 
 never be satisfactory until some elected public 
 authority has full powers to complete the supply of 
 secondary schools, and to bring those which exist 
 in touch with one another. 
 
 1 London is the only county in England and Wales that has not 
 hitherto aided technical and secondary education out of the funds 
 accruing to it from the Residue of the Beer and Spirits Duties. 
 
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 192 
 
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 i. SECOND A R Y EDUCA TION IN LONDON (BO YS) 193 
 
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 I. SECOND AR Y EDUCA TION IN LONDON (BO YS) 197 
 
 2-ii 1 IS 
 
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 i. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (BOYS} 199 
 
 XI v. 
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 CHAPTER II 
 
 SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (GIRLS) 
 
 THE best secondary education for girls in London 
 is provided by self-supporting, or almost self-sup- 
 porting, schools. The sisters of the boys who go to 
 the great endowed schools, such as St. Paul's, 
 Westminster, Dulwich College, Merchant Taylors', 
 and the City of London, will be found in the 
 schools of the Girls' Public Day School Company, 
 in other proprietary public schools, in private schools, 
 or at home under the tuition of governesses and 
 masters. In such schools the age at which the girls 
 generally leave is from about seventeen to nineteen. 
 The majority of the endowed schools for girls are 
 used by parents of the middle class, who either can- 
 not afford or do not care to send their daughters 
 to school for so long a period, and the age at leaving 
 is, in such schools, from fifteen to seventeen. These 
 two classes of secondary schools are generally re- 
 ferred to as High Schools and Middle Schools. Self- 
 supporting as are the majority of them, their fees 
 are generally below those of the corresponding class 
 of endowed schools for boys. 
 
 High Schools. Omitting private schools, the 
 principal High Schools in London are : 
 
 200
 
 ii. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (GIRLS) 201 
 
 District. 
 
 SCHOOLS. 
 
 Founded. 
 
 Fees. 
 
 Accom- 
 modation. 
 
 N.W. 
 
 North London Collegiate 
 
 1850 
 
 above 15 
 
 50O 
 
 
 South Hampstead (G. P. D. S. Co.) 
 
 1882 
 
 9- I 5 
 
 320 
 
 
 Baker Street (Church of England 
 
 
 12, i2s. to 
 
 2OO 
 
 
 High School) 
 
 
 18, i8s. 
 
 
 W. 
 
 Notting Hill, Bayswater (G. P. D. 
 
 1873 
 
 9, 9s- to 
 
 500 
 
 
 S. Co.) 
 
 
 ;i5> *5 S - 
 
 
 
 Maida Vale (G. P. D. S. Co. ) 
 
 1878 
 
 Do. 
 
 2OO 
 
 
 Kensington ,, 
 
 1880 
 
 Do. 
 
 300 
 
 s.w. 
 
 Wimbledon (G. P. D. S. Co.) 
 
 1880 
 
 Do. 
 
 2OO 
 
 
 Clapham ,, 
 
 1882 
 
 Do. 
 
 300 
 
 
 Brixton ,, 
 
 1887 
 
 Do. 
 
 I 5 
 
 
 Graham Street (Church of Eng- 
 
 
 i5> 15 s - to 
 
 
 
 land High School) 
 
 
 18, i8s. 
 
 
 
 Streatham (Church Schools Co. 
 
 
 9, 9s- to 
 
 
 S.E. 
 
 Dulwich (G. P. D. S. Co.) 
 
 1878 
 
 Do. 
 
 400 
 
 
 Blackheath ,, 
 
 -'1880 
 
 Do. 
 
 400 
 
 
 Sydenham ,, 
 
 1887 
 
 Do. 
 
 200 
 
 
 Mary Datchelor's : (Endowed) 
 
 1876 
 
 9 
 
 480 
 
 
 Aske's Hatcham 1 ,, 
 
 1876 
 
 9 
 
 250 
 
 E. 
 
 Claptonand Hackney(G.P.D.S.Ca) 
 
 1886 
 
 9, 9s. to 
 
 250 
 
 N. 
 
 Highbury and Islington (G.P.D.S. 
 
 I8 7 8 
 
 Do. 
 
 300 
 
 
 Co.) 
 
 
 
 
 
 Stoke Newington (Church Schs. Co.) 
 
 1886 
 
 6, 6s. to 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 
 l2, I2S. 
 
 
 
 Stroud Green ,, 
 
 1887 
 
 St l 
 
 ... 
 
 The North London Collegiate School has been 
 endowed to the extent of having its schools built for 
 it and a yearly endowment for maintenance of pre- 
 mises and for granting scholarships. It charges the 
 highest fees, but has a larger number of free scholars 
 than any other public high school, receiving, in 
 addition to its own scholars, pupils from the Camden 
 
 1 These schools both have endowments enabling them to charge 
 low fees.
 
 202 STUDIES IN SECOND A RY ED UCA TION 1 1 1 . 
 
 Middle Schools with leaving scholarships. The Girls' 
 Public Day School Company, however, which has no 
 endowment, and which pays a dividend, covers the 
 largest area with its high schools. The private schools 
 in the same districts are therefore only handicapped 
 in competition with them by the advantages and 
 economy in teaching power, resulting from the organ- 
 isation of large numbers under one management : 
 and in the West and North-West of London and 
 in the middle-class suburban districts several good 
 private schools hold their own with the public 
 schools. 
 
 Middle Schools. The public middle schools are, 
 with hardly any exception, endowed. The G. P. D. S. 
 Co. have a middle school at Clapham for about 200 
 girls. The Camden School is endowed in the same 
 way as the North London Collegiate School, several 
 scholarships being open to girls in the school to enable 
 them to pass on to the high school. The Clapham 
 middle school makes no profit, and all the other 
 public middle schools offer an education below cost 
 price. The fees are in some cases lower than the 
 endowments warrant, and the teaching staff are there- 
 fore often underpaid, and the school accommodation 
 and teaching apparatus are deficient. Such being 
 the case in these endowed schools, it is absolutely 
 impossible for any good private schools of the same 
 standing to exist in those neighbourhoods, those 
 that are to be found charging still lower fees and 
 giving nothing worthy of the name of instruction. 
 
 The principal public middle schools are those 
 regulated by schemes of the Charity Commissioners
 
 ii. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (GIRLS] 203 
 
 under the Endowed Schools Acts. The ordinary 
 fees range from 3, 155. to 8. 
 
 Numbers in 
 Schools. Attendance. 
 
 James Alleyn's, Dulwich, . . . 296 
 
 Camden, Kentish Town, . . . 427 
 
 Dame Alice Owen's, Clerkenwell, . . -255 
 
 Roan's, Greenwich, . . . -35 
 
 Lady Holies', Hackney, . . . .243 
 
 Aske's, Hoxton, ..... 226 
 
 George Green's, Poplar, .... 105 
 
 Holborn Estate, St. Clement Danes, . . 62 
 
 Burlington, Westminster, .... 220 
 Grey Coat, Westminster, . . 336 
 
 St. Martin's, Westminster, .... 196 
 Skinners' Company, Stamford Hill (opened October 1890). 
 
 The provision for girls' secondary education in 
 London has just been extended by the opening of 
 the Central Foundation School for girls in Bishops- 
 gate (with accommodation for at least 400), and of a 
 boarding school for 350 girls, and a day school for 
 400 girls, under the new scheme for Christ's Hospital. 
 
 Curriculum of Middle Schools. These middle 
 schools all send in their pupils for the Cambridge 
 or Oxford Junior Local and the South Kensington 
 examinations ; the curriculum is in most cases prac- 
 tically determined by the Cambridge authorities. 
 Religious knowledge, English grammar and litera- 
 ture and history, arithmetic, geography, and French, 
 are subjects taken up by all the pupils. Mathe- 
 matics, Latin, and German are taught in the highest 
 forms according to the judgment of the head-mistress, 
 the work done in the two latter subjects being gener- 
 ally very little. Although in some of the schools
 
 204 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 botany is well taught, and physiology to some ex- 
 tent, in connection with the laws of health, the 
 science teaching in several of them must be ad- 
 mitted to be of a very elementary as well as of an 
 unsatisfactory nature. This is partly due to the 
 expense of scientific apparatus, and partly to the 
 slight importance attached to such training by the 
 head-mistresses. 1 In the seven middle-class schools 
 visited, drawing was taught throughout in every 
 case, much importance being attached by all the 
 head-mistresses to this training of the eye. In most 
 cases the pupils are examined by the South Kensing- 
 ton Art Department. At one school, however, 
 where the teaching is very good, the head-mistress 
 objects to send her pupils in for examinations held 
 in the evening, and at the same time and place as 
 those of the boys. Theory of music is a strong 
 feature in one of the schools ; class-singing is taught 
 in all of them, and several pupils in each school pay 
 extra fees for pianoforte and a few for violin lessons. 
 The views of parents as well as of head-mistresses 
 differ very much on the question of what must be 
 called practical rather than technical education. The 
 head-mistresses in some cases consider that it is far 
 more important to give the girls the intellectual 
 training which they could never get elsewhere, than 
 to spend time on what they will be willing if neces- 
 sary to learn at home or at classes after leaving 
 
 1 One head-mistress in East London thought it would be impossible 
 to obtain botanical specimens for dissection, and also useless for London 
 girls to study botany ; another, also in East London, taught the sub- 
 ject throughout the school, and said that the girls themselves kept the 
 classes well supplied with specimens.
 
 ii. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (GIRLS} 205 
 
 school. Similarly many parents show not only an 
 unwillingness to pay extra fees for their daughters 
 to learn cooking and dressmaking, but also a posi- 
 tive dislike to their giving up their time to it in the 
 ordinary course, considering that they can learn it 
 much better elsewhere when they leave school. The 
 cost of apparatus and materials, and the small num- 
 bers that can receive practical instruction at any 
 one time, make it very difficult to establish cookery 
 classes without extra fees. 
 
 This is not, however, the universal experience. In 
 one school demonstration lessons are given to the 
 girls in the third and fourth forms, and then for one 
 
 O 
 
 week in the year two children go down into the 
 kitchen and give their whole time in the morning 
 throughout the week to cooking. A large number 
 of the children dine at the school, and therefore these 
 two help to cook the dinner. At this school tennis 
 matches are not infrequent, and the girls cook for 
 the teas given on these occasions. In a fourth school 
 cookery is taught by a teacher with a South Ken- 
 sington certificate. It is taught with the very 
 simplest apparatus, so that the girls can apply it 
 at home. Here, also, the girls frequently do the 
 cooking for the school entertainments. 
 
 Gymnastic exercise is insisted on in different de- 
 grees in all the schools but one, where it is entirely 
 neglected. It may be noted as a curious coincidence, 
 certainly not as an effect of this that the girls in 
 this school seemed to need it less than in any of the 
 other schools. All the schools suffer considerably 
 from want of sufficient accommodation, although in 
 each case where there is no gymnasium the head-
 
 2O6 
 
 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 mistress is agitating for it with fair hopes of success. 
 Swimming is very popular at two of the schools 
 which have been successful in securing the bath for 
 themselves on the day that the water is clean. 
 Two other schools would have promoted swimming 
 classes but for their failure to secure clean water. 
 
 Social Class of Pupils of Middle Schools. 
 
 The classes from which these middle schools are 
 recruited may be fairly well indicated by the follow- 
 ing list of occupations of the fathers of girls in the 
 two highest forms in one of the East End schools : 
 
 Clerk (12). Sewing machine Manager. 
 
 Wesleyan minister. maker. Workhouse master. 
 
 Farmer. Licensed Victualler. Builder. 
 
 Rate collector. 
 
 Bootmaker and 
 shopkeeper (2) 
 
 Draper (2). 
 
 Architect. 
 
 Baker. 
 
 Doctor. 
 
 Master mariner. 
 
 Auctioneer. 
 
 Milk-shop keeper. 
 
 Grocer. 
 
 Hay dealer. 
 
 Shopkeeper. 
 
 Officer (dead). 
 
 Surgeon. 
 
 Private school- 
 master. 
 
 Supercargo. 
 
 Electrical surgeon. 
 
 Chemist (2). 
 
 Potted meat manu- 
 facturer. 
 
 During the twelve years since this school was 
 started there has only been one bad debt. Not- 
 withstanding this, the head-mistress knows that 
 several of the parents have very small incomes, and 
 have more difficulty in paying the fees than many an 
 artisan. The head-mistress of a neighbouring school 
 of the same class believes that few of the parents, 
 consisting of tradesmen, managers and clerks, with 
 a sprinkling of the professional class, have less than 
 200 a year. The head-mistress of another middle 
 school, where the majority of the girls are the
 
 ii. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (GIRLS} 207 
 
 daughters of clerks, knows that several of the parents 
 do not make more than well-paid mechanics. 
 
 This cursory review of the kind of education 
 given at these middle schools has been made with 
 the special view of understanding the position of 
 children who, having received an elementary educa- 
 tion in the Board schools or voluntary schools, have 
 been enabled to pass on to the middle schools. In 
 claiming endowments for the education of girls, the 
 needs of different classes must be considered. An 
 attempt is here made to ascertain to what class of 
 society the girls belong who have gone from the 
 elementary public schools to secondary schools, the 
 length of time that they remain in the secondary 
 schools, their success in the schools themselves, and 
 the occupations that they have taken up on leaving 
 them. It has been stated in the chapter on boys' 
 education that class prejudice has less play in London 
 boys' schools than in girls' schools. This is true, but 
 the explanation is not to be found in a greater 
 snobbishness inherent in the nature of girls than 
 exists in that of boys. Social differences are more 
 keenly observed in girls' schools because the educa- 
 tion of girls is deliberately and rightly directed to 
 fitting them for the social life which they will most 
 probably lead ; a boy's education is civic, a girl's 
 domestic. The domestic needs and habits of different 
 classes vary considerably, and there may be a danger 
 that in promoting the secondary education of girls of 
 the working classes along the same lines as those 
 pursued by the girls of the middle classes, their 
 domestic happiness may be sacrificed to a theoretical 
 equality. Two problems have to be considered and
 
 208 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 treated differently. We have to consider the best 
 means for improving the education of working-class 
 girls generally, and we have also to make provision 
 for those girls whose exceptional ability is such as to 
 give them a claim to better opportunities for culti- 
 vating it. Under any circumstances these excep- 
 tional girls will have much social and domestic 
 tribulation, and the best course may be to let them 
 follow their intellectual bent and make the most of 
 their talents even at the risk of unfitting them for 
 their domestic life. 
 
 Working of the Scholarship System. As with 
 the boys, so with the girls, we find great variations 
 in the numbers of candidates for scholarships at 
 different schools. At one school, which awards 
 entrance scholarships to pupils of elementary public 
 schools, only six girls competed on one occasion 
 for three scholarships, and only three on another 
 occasion for two scholarships. At another school 
 the competition is open to boys and girls together 
 on equal terms ; large numbers compete from all 
 parts of London, and at the last award fifteen of 
 the forty scholarships were won by girls, and three 
 hundred girls competed. A third school, with a 
 very large endowment and extremely low fees, has 
 generally about eighty girls in the school holding 
 free scholarships. For some time these were awarded 
 in open competition between the pupils of all the 
 elementary public schools in the prescribed districts, 
 but this resulted in a deadlock, as the pupils of a 
 certain school always won. The other schools ob- 
 jected to competing, and the winning school objected
 
 II. SECOND A R Y EDUCA TION IN L ONDON ( GIRLS) 209 
 
 to being drained of all its best pupils. Now the 
 head-mistress of each elementary school nominates 
 three children, and the head-mistress of the middle 
 school selects one of these. The managers of this 
 school, like those of most other schools of the same 
 kind, have found that the later the age at which these 
 scholars enter the less progress they make, and no 
 children are now admitted to free scholarships above 
 the age of eleven. Opinions on the advisability of 
 this limit are almost unanimous, but while approving 
 of it two consequences must be noticed. At such an 
 early age competitive examination is of little value 
 as a test of superior ability, and precocity is liable to 
 be mistaken for talent ; for all practical purposes the 
 scholarships might as well be awarded at once to the 
 cleanest and healthiest-looking children. Another 
 result is that the head-mistress of the elementary 
 school is strongly tempted to keep back from com- 
 petition the girls who are most likely to do her 
 credit, and who would otherwise leave two years 
 before the ordinary age, though with the abolition of 
 payments on individual passes under the New Code 
 this difficulty is likely to diminish. Several schools 
 award no scholarships to elementary scholars, but 
 many girls are sent to them from elementary schools 
 at the parents' own expense. Particulars have been 
 obtained as often as possible of both classes of 
 girls. 
 
 Social Class of Scholarship-holders. Occupations 
 of fathers of girls admitted to middle schools with 
 scholarships :
 
 210 
 
 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 Railway guard. 
 
 Ship carpenter (3 
 children held 
 scholarships). 
 
 Joiner. 
 
 Gate-keeper. 
 
 Caretaker. 
 
 Wheelwright. 
 
 Ironplate worker. 
 
 Cheesemonger. 
 
 Oilskin dresser. 
 Waterproofer. 
 Board schoolmaster 
 
 (3). 
 
 Master blacksmith. 
 Printer (2). 
 Commercial traveller 
 
 (3)- 
 
 Builder. 
 Tax collector. 
 
 Jeweller (2). 
 
 Coachman. 
 
 Clerk (5). 
 
 Foreman. 
 
 Sorter, P.O. 
 
 Joiner. 
 
 Manufacturer. 
 
 Engineer. 
 
 Tailor. 
 
 Occupations of fathers of girls admitted to middle 
 schools from elementary public schools without 
 scholarships : 
 
 Butcher (2). 
 
 Superintendent Registrar. 
 
 Iron merchant. 
 
 Bank manager. 
 
 Clerk (12). 
 
 Collector to a hospital. 
 
 Inspector of Inland Revenue. 
 
 Gold eye-glass maker. 
 
 Sculptor (3). 
 
 Tailor. 
 
 Commercial traveller (4). 
 
 Manufacturer. 
 
 Gasfitter. 
 
 Engraver (3). 
 
 Builder (5). 
 
 Merchant (2). 
 
 Pianoforte dealer. 
 
 Music publisher. 
 
 Surveyor. 
 
 Draughtsman. 
 
 Pianoforte maker (2). 
 
 Upholsterer (3). 
 
 Wood-inlayer. 
 
 Chemist's assistant. 
 
 Fishmonger. 
 
 Printer (3). 
 
 Salesman. 
 
 Ironmonger's assistant. 
 
 Postmaster. 
 
 Fruiterer. 
 
 Grocer. 
 
 Farmer. 
 
 Bootmaker. 
 
 Milk contractor. 
 
 Manager of bakery. 
 
 Chartered accountant. 
 
 Writer in Law Courts. 
 
 Piano tuner. 
 
 Baker (2). 
 
 Scientific instrument-maker. 
 
 Occupations of fathers of girls admitted to high 
 schools with scholarships :
 
 n. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (GIRLS} 211 
 
 City missionary. 
 Accountant (2). 
 House decorator. 
 Blacksmith. 
 Carpenter. 
 Ship metaller. 
 Engineer. 
 Coal merchant. 
 Watchmaker. 
 
 Pianoforte maker. 
 Clerk. 
 
 Schoolmaster (4). 
 Boiler maker. 
 Stationer. 
 Barrister. 
 
 Presbyterian minister. 
 Joiner. 
 
 The girls in high schools are not admitted on 
 scholarships awarded by the schools themselves, but 
 on large scholarships open to girls in public elemen- 
 tary schools, the winners being allowed to choose the 
 schools at which they will use them. 
 
 Years spent in middle schools by free scholars 
 from elementary schools : 
 
 Years in 
 School. 
 
 Under i year 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 .1 3 
 4 
 5 
 
 Total, 
 
 Age at 
 entrance. 
 
 IO 
 II 
 12 
 13 
 
 No. 
 
 I 
 
 13 
 
 32 
 
 43 
 
 Average 
 years in 
 school. 
 
 1.0 
 
 2.66 
 
 1.83 
 1.45 
 
 1.65 
 
 No. 
 13 
 
 45 
 16 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 89 
 
 Average 
 age at 
 leaving. 
 
 II.O 
 13.66 
 
 13.83 
 
 14.45 
 
 Years spent in middle schools 
 scholars without scholarships : 
 
 13.96 
 by elementary
 
 STUDIES IN SECOND A R Y EDUCA TION in. 
 
 Years in 
 
 School. No - 
 
 1 year . . . 13 
 
 2 .22 
 
 3 .II 
 
 4 7 
 
 5 5 
 
 6 i 
 
 7 .... 2 
 
 Total, . .61 
 
 A S e at 
 entrance. 
 
 No. 
 
 7 . . 2 
 
 8 . . 2 
 
 9 . . 4 
 
 10 .2 
 
 11 . . 4 
 
 12 . . 9 
 
 13 -15 
 
 14 .12 
 
 Average 
 years in 
 school. 
 
 Average 
 age at 
 
 leaving. 
 
 5.0 . 
 
 I2.O 
 
 5.0 . 
 
 13-0 
 
 5-75 
 
 14-75 
 
 3-0 
 
 - 13-0 
 
 3-o . 
 
 14.0 
 
 2-33 
 
 14-33 
 
 2.0 
 
 I5.O 
 
 2.O 
 
 1 6.0 
 
 50 2.72 14.72 
 
 Years spent in high school by free scholars from 
 elementary schools : 
 
 Years in 
 School. 
 
 No. 
 
 2 years .... 2 
 
 3 2 
 
 4 7 
 
 5 .2 
 7 . - - .1 
 
 Total, . . 14 
 
 Now in school, . 7
 
 ii. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (GIRLS} 213 
 
 . Average Average 
 
 ~ y sS n 5S. 
 
 11 I . 4.0 . . 15.0 
 
 12 4 . 5.0 . .17.0 
 
 13 . . 5 3-5 16.5 
 
 14 . 3 . 4.0 . . 18.0 
 I6 1 i 2.0 18.0 
 
 14 3.9 16.9 
 
 There seems good reason to believe that the 
 scholarship system in its present form does not so 
 much enable workmen to send their daughters to 
 middle schools as encourage middle-class men to 
 send their daughters to Board schools in the hope 
 of obtaining scholarships. Where the competition 
 is really keen the winners are generally of the 
 middle class. The entrance scholarships offered 
 by the schools under the Charity Commissioners' 
 regulations are generally only open to pupils of the 
 public elementary schools, children in private schools 
 or children taught at home being unable to compete, 
 however poor their parents may be. The private 
 schools are extremely bad, perhaps in some ways 
 worse than they were at the time of the Schools 
 Inquiry Commission, since no good private school 
 can compete with the low rates of the Board schools, 
 and few parents in the working classes teach their 
 own children. The grievance may therefore seem 
 merely a formal one ; but as the working classes be- 
 come better educated, it is not unreasonable to hope 
 that some mothers may become competent to teach 
 
 1 Went to a middle school for three years, and then to a high 
 school.
 
 214 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 their children themselves ; and great as may be the 
 advantages of the modern public school system, it is 
 desirable that the qualities which are developed best 
 by private and individual tuition should not be entirely 
 disregarded. 
 
 Attainments of Scholarship-holders. Very few of 
 the girls who obtain the scholarships have more than 
 average ability when compared with their school- 
 fellows in the secondary schools. In one school the 
 head-mistress finds them very intelligent, taking a 
 good place, notwithstanding that they are considerably 
 handicapped by having learnt nothing but arithmetic 
 and rules of grammar ; but here these scholars ad- 
 mittedly belong to the middle classes. In another 
 school, where the number of free scholars is so large 
 that the head-mistress could not be asked to give 
 particulars about them individually, they did not take 
 at all so high a place in proportion to their numbers as 
 the other girls. One-fourth of the number are free 
 scholars ; but of the captains of the school during 
 the last sixteen years, only one held a scholarship 
 from a public elementary school ; of twenty-two 
 who passed the Cambridge Examinations between 
 1875 and 1884, two were free scholars ; of twelve 
 who passed the Cambridge Junior in the last two 
 years, two were free scholars ; of thirty-five who 
 passed the examination of the College of Preceptors 
 in the last year, six were free scholars. The small 
 proportion is partly due to the fact that they leave 
 earlier than the other girls, but partly also to the 
 fact that the girls are of very ordinary capacity. The 
 evidence of the head-mistress of a high school drawn
 
 ii. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (GIRLS] 215 
 
 up in 1886 may be quoted in this connection : 'The 
 diligence of these girls has been very satisfactory. 
 They have worked hard, and there are no cases of 
 irregularity of attendance or want of punctuality. 
 We find that they have been quiet and well-mannered, 
 and, so far as we know, have not in any way been 
 objected to by the other girls. Speaking generally 
 these girls do not develop later as much as one might 
 expect from their earlier promise. Till the numbers 
 (at this time twenty-two) are larger, this judgment 
 must not be looked on as more than an impression 
 to which it would be a mistake to attach much 
 weight. It does not, of course, affect the question 
 of the benefit derived by these girls from the higher 
 education so far as they can use it. They distinctly 
 receive great benefit socially and intellectually from 
 their admission to a higher school. Our impression 
 is that these girls are generally under-sized or other- 
 wise deficient in physique. We cannot make any 
 general statement as to the intellectual quality of the 
 School Board scholars sent to us. Some are very 
 common-place in ability, and some are not at all 
 common-place, although we do not think any, so far, 
 of first-rate capacity. One, however, attained the 
 position of head of the Sixth Form in her year, and 
 we have a very favourable impression of four or five 
 of those who are now in the school.' Of the free 
 scholars at this school eleven have passed the Cam- 
 bridge Senior Examination, four have matriculated 
 at London University, two have passed the Inter- 
 mediate Arts Examination, and one has obtained the 
 B.A. degree at London University. One of these is 
 now teaching in a high school, four are teachers in
 
 216 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION m. 
 
 board schools, five are in the post-office, two are 
 telegraph clerks, one is in a training college for 
 teachers, eight are still in the school. 
 
 Before passing to the question of the history of 
 the free scholars in middle schools, after leaving 
 school, one or two other points may be best con- 
 sidered and brought out by the evidence of a lady 
 who has had a most exceptional experience and un- 
 usual opportunities for studying the relation between 
 elementary and secondary schools. In 1864 the 
 only large elementary school in her neighbourhood 
 was one which had stringent regulations against re- 
 ligious teaching of any kind. In order to give 
 parents an opportunity of obtaining for their children 
 religious teaching on an unsectarian basis, Miss - 
 founded her elementary schools. They succeeded, 
 and new buildings were in process of erection when 
 the Act of 1870 was passed, but they were not 
 abandoned. Under the Code they were enabled to 
 take the Government grant. A second-grade school 
 was established later, being originally a continua- 
 tion of these elementary schools, and at first in a 
 wing of the same building ; it was removed to an- 
 other part of the neighbourhood two years ago, and 
 has taken up a better position as a higher grade 
 school, and has a kindergarten and elementary de- 
 partment. There are sixty-three girls in this school, 
 and most of the teachers in the elementary schools 
 have been pupils in the higher grade school at one 
 time. Two scholarships are competed for, enabling 
 two girls from the elementary school to go to the 
 middle school at half-price, the fees of the latter
 
 ii. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (GIRLS} 217 
 
 school being from 3, 35. to 8. Free scholarships 
 have never been given. About one-third of the girls 
 in the middle school have come from the elementary 
 school, their parents paying the whole expense. 
 The unusually large proportion who are allowed by 
 their parents to continue their education at a higher 
 grade school must be attributed to the close con- 
 nection between the two schools. The teachers are 
 under the same management ; those at the elemen- 
 tary school therefore do not lose sight of the children, 
 and are given credit for their after-success, and the 
 children are anxious to follow in the footsteps of 
 their sisters or old school-mates who have passed on 
 to the higher school. They are not admitted on 
 sufferance, and although their primary education has 
 been conducted on the lines laid down by the Edu- 
 cation Department, it has been more adapted to the 
 after-requirements of the middle school. One obser- 
 vation of the honorary director of these schools has 
 been confirmed by other head-mistresses, who agree 
 that it is better for girls from the elementary schools 
 to pass on to the middle schools, and then, if they 
 can hold their own there, to proceed to a high school 
 a view, it will be seen, differing from the conclu- 
 sions of the Schools Inquiry Commission with respect 
 to scholarships for boys. The transition from the 
 elementary school to the high school is often too 
 violent for the girl to make progress ; the curriculum 
 of a school adapted for girls who stay until they are 
 eighteen or nineteen necessitating a different elemen- 
 tary education from that given in the Board schools, 
 and in a lesser degree from that in the middle schools 
 where girls leave at fifteen or sixteen. The scholar-
 
 218 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 ship money would also last longer if this course were 
 pursued. 
 
 After-career of Scholarship-holders. It will be 
 seen in the list of occupations taken up after leaving 
 school that comparatively few of these girls become 
 teachers in the Board schools. They are themselves 
 disinclined to do so, and, moreover, they receive but 
 little encouragement from the Board school mistresses, 
 who in many cases positively dislike having under 
 them girls who have been at higher grade schools. 
 
 Occupations of free scholars from elementary 
 schools on leaving middle schools : a 
 
 Elementary teachers, 21 
 
 Post-office and telegraph clerks and sorters, . 18 
 
 At home, 10 
 
 Milliners, 5 
 
 Dressmakers, 6 
 
 Clerks, 4 
 
 Shop assistants, 4 
 
 Private school teachers, 3 
 
 Type writers, 2 
 
 73 
 
 The average age of the girls leaving the middle 
 schools to become elementary teachers was 13.9 
 years, and the average time spent in the middle 
 school by them was one year and two terms. The 
 brightest and most intelligent girls stayed longer, 
 and chose some other occupation, the post-office 
 being preferred. 
 
 Occupations of former elementary pupils (not free 
 scholars) after leaving middle schools : 
 
 1 List obtained from two schools only.
 
 ii. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (GIRLS} 219 
 
 At home, ....... 9 
 
 Book-keepers and clerks, .... 8 
 
 Elementary teachers, ..... 7 
 
 Post-office and telegraph clerks, ... 6 
 
 Shop assistants, ...... 5 
 
 Dressmakers, ...... 4 
 
 Kindergarten teachers, ..... I 
 
 Teaching brother and sisters, . . . i 
 
 General Conclusions. From these facts it is 
 evident that most of the middle schools in London 
 afford at present a secondary education to girls of 
 the middle and lower middle class only ; that to 
 the working classes none is offered ; that the educa- 
 tion in the middle schools is more adapted to the 
 needs of the middle class, and is not altogether of 
 the kind that would be valued by girls destined 
 for work in the factory, and for the management 
 of labouring-class homes ; and that the girls who 
 obtain scholarships and spend some time in the 
 higher grade schools are not welcomed as teachers 
 in elementary schools, and therefore benefit their 
 own class but little by their superior education, 
 although perhaps benefiting by it themselves con- 
 siderably. It is time to recognise clearly that the 
 needs of girls in the matter of education are different 
 from those of boys, though not less urgent. What 
 is needed by girls in the working classes is not so 
 much the provision of a ' ladder from the gutter to 
 the University,' as wide-spread instruction in practical 
 domestic economy, the laws of health, and acquaint- 
 ance with good literature. By practical domestic 
 economy I must not be understood to mean a training
 
 220 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 of the kind necessary for domestic service. The 
 majority of girls in East and South London will 
 never be attracted into domestic service, and their 
 home needs are of a very different order from those 
 of the servant-keeping classes. The problem is to 
 induce parents who have but one or two rooms to let 
 their children after they have left school come for an 
 hour or two in the afternoon for lessons in cottage 
 cookery, house cleaning, methods of ventilation, 
 washing and ironing, sick nursing, etc., adapted to 
 the requirements of households living under primitive 
 conditions. Between the ages of thirteen and fifteen 
 many girls are kept at home to mind the baby in 
 some cases to take the management of the home while 
 the mother goes out to work. The difficulty that at 
 once suggests itself is the disposal of the baby; but for 
 the purpose in view we have here not an qbstacle but 
 a help. In a school of the kind, which is needed in all 
 the poor districts of London, baby management should 
 be taught, and in this department at least there would 
 be no lack of apparatus for practical demonstration 
 lessons. But in all branches the apparatus should 
 be of the simplest and cheapest kind ; and, if well 
 managed, such schools would so considerably increase 
 domestic comfort that parents would see the advan- 
 tage of paying fees for such a training for their chil- 
 dren. The afternoon is the best time to choose for 
 many reasons. The girls themselves have then little 
 to do but gossip with their neighbours, and they are 
 not exposed to the dangers which make evening 
 classes but a choice between two evils. 
 
 But the intellectual education of the factory girl 
 and the child-nurse should not be neglected even for
 
 ii. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LONDON (GIRLS} 221 
 
 these more imperative and immediate wants ; and 
 that education can best be obtained through the 
 medium of good literature. 
 
 The practical conclusion, therefore, of this inquiry 
 is, that the attempt to provide for the educational 
 wants of girls (above the requirements of the ordinary 
 elementary school) by carrying on a small proportion 
 of selected pupils by scholarships to middle schools, 
 in the form in which they exist at present, is not 
 likely to meet with success commensurate with the 
 cost ; and that while the machinery of the ' ladder ' 
 system of scholarships will continue to be of value 
 in exceptional cases, the wisest course is to devote 
 energy and funds to the establishment of continua- 
 tion classes (above the compulsory standards) in 
 close connection with the elementary schools them- 
 selves. The instruction in these classes should be 
 largely of a practical character, bearing on various 
 branches of domestic economy ; but literary subjects 
 should not be excluded. The scholarship system 
 might be utilised, in a form free from many of the 
 objections urged above, to encourage girls, especially 
 those from poorer families, to attend these continua- 
 tion classes, the work of which would also require to 
 be supplemented and completed by seme such system 
 of afternoon classes for girls who have left school.
 
 SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LIVERPOOL (BOYS) 
 
 LIVERPOOL is a great city practically destitute of 
 endowed schools. It is this fact which makes it 
 important to include a picture of Liverpool schools 
 in any description of English secondary education. 
 For it is in a district like this that the theory that 
 secondary education might be made self-supporting 
 if only the unequal competition of endowed schools 
 were excluded, can be most readily tested by the 
 observation of actual results. 
 
 Inadescription of secondary education in Liverpool, 
 it is necessary to bear in mind clearly what is meant 
 by a secondary school. We may regard it either as 
 a school for the education of boys between the ages 
 of eight and eighteen, or as a school for continuing 
 the education of scholars who have satisfied the 
 compulsory requirements of Government in prirnary 
 education (i.e., in Liverpool, those who have passed 
 the 5th Standard). The first type of school is usually 
 marked off from primary schools by asocial difference, 
 the parents of the boys being well-to-do, and there- 
 fore able to contemplate keeping their children longer 
 at school ; and we also find that the course of study 
 
 222
 
 in. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LIVERPOOL (BOYS) 223 
 
 is different from that in a public elementary school, 
 classics being early introduced, while other subjects 
 may be neglected in which the child at the public ele- 
 mentary school is proficient. In the second type of 
 school, filled principally with children from the public 
 elementary schools, we find a different course of in- 
 struction prevailing, and a different social class pro- 
 vided for, classics forming no part of the curriculum. 
 It is necessary, in reading this chapter, to keep these 
 two types of secondary school in mind, as we actually 
 find in Liverpool two departments of the same school, 
 and under one roof, fulfilling these different functions 
 in the educational system of the district. 
 
 Secondary education of two distinct kinds is 
 needed : 
 
 1. For the higher education of children who have 
 
 attended elementary schools ; and 
 
 2. For the general education of children of a social 
 
 class above that which usually sends children 
 
 to public elementary schools. 
 
 The latter class is usually estimated at one-seventh 
 of the population, and the children belonging to that 
 class usually go to school later than those who attend 
 elementary schools, but remain at school a good deal 
 longer. The average school life of these children 
 might be stated as from the age of eight to sixteen 
 or seventeen, the education of children under eight 
 years of age being generally conducted by gover- 
 nesses, or in some other way. 
 
 School Requirements. The total population of 
 Liverpool, according to the 1891 census, is 517,951, 
 one-seventh of which, or 73,993 persons, may be
 
 224 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 assumed to belong to the class whose children do 
 not ordinarily attend public elementary schools. Of 
 these 17^ per cent, would be children between eight 
 and sixteen years of age, and allowing for those who 
 attend school beyond the age of sixteen, 18 per cent, 
 would probably be the proportion for whom accom- 
 modation should be provided in a properly organised 
 system of secondary schools. This estimate gives a 
 total of 13,319 children, divided about equally be- 
 tween the two sexes. 
 
 We may arrive at the estimate by another 
 method. According to Dr. Farr's calculations made 
 for the Schools Inquiry Commission, the total num- 
 ber of boys and girls between eight and sixteen of 
 the classes above those by which elementary schools 
 are usually attended, amount to 2-51 per cent, of 
 the total population. This gives the number in 
 Liverpool as exactly 13,000, a result nearly identical 
 with the number given above. 
 
 The educational needs of Liverpool are provided 
 for by twenty-two Board Schools, eighty Voluntary 
 Elementary Schools, three Proprietary Schools, the 
 St. Francis Xavier Jesuit School, and about 100 
 private adventure schools. 
 
 Of the private adventure schools, a very large 
 proportion (over sixty) are kept by ladies, and are 
 consequently either girls' schools or infant and pre- 
 paratory schools. Eighteen are elementary schools 
 under inspection by the Board. I could only find 
 nine, out of ninety-five schools investigated, that 
 carried the education of the boys up to sixteen or 
 eighteen. 
 
 The three great proprietary schools in Liverpool
 
 in. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LIVERPOOL (BOYS) 225 
 
 are the Liverpool Institute, the Liverpool College, 
 and the Royal Institution, educating respectively 
 1000, 670, and 60 boys. 
 
 The most important, therefore, of the educational 
 establishments in Liverpool from the point of view 
 of numbers is the Institute, which therefore should 
 be dealt with in detail first. 
 
 The Liverpool Institute. This organisation 
 was originally a Mechanics' Institute on a large scale, 
 and has still the remnants of a library, a hall, a few 
 evening classes, and a flourishing art school attached 
 to it, but it has practically ceased to fulfil its original 
 functions, and has become a large day school. The 
 school is divided into three, the girls' school at 
 Blackburn House, the High school for boys, and the 
 Commercial school for boys, both of the two last 
 being under the roof of the Institute in Mount Street. 
 
 In the boys' schools we find the two types of 
 secondary school already referred to under one roof. 
 
 The High School, containing 250 boys, receives 
 boys of eight or nine, and gives them a classical 
 education, charging a fee of nine guineas a year 
 for boys under eleven, and twelve guineas a year for 
 boys over eleven, the incomes of the parents being 
 from about 300 to ,500 a year. 
 
 The Commercial School, with 750 boys, while 
 receiving some boys of eight or nine, receives most 
 of its boys at twelve or thirteen from the Public 
 Elementary Schools. The education given is purely 
 scientific and commercial, and the fee 5 a year. 
 The parents seem to be clerks, small shopkeepers, 
 engineers on steamships, and skilled artisans. In a 
 
 p
 
 226 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 great many cases the boys only stay a few months in 
 the school, having come merely to get a certificate 
 from the headmaster. This enables them to say 
 that they have been to the Institute, and they are 
 better able to get posts as clerks, etc., in Liverpool 
 offices. 
 
 Boys who show special aptitude for study are 
 shifted from the Commercial to the High School, to 
 enable them to carry their education further, and 
 certain scholarships exist in the school to assist boys 
 in removing in this way. 
 
 There is no general inspection or examination of 
 the school from the outside, but a large number of 
 the boys are sent up to the Science and Art Depart- 
 ment's examinations, and, practically, the whole of 
 the top form of each school is sent up to the Oxford 
 Local examinations. 
 
 In 1889, taking both boys' schools together, 261 
 boys obtained science certificates. Of these, twenty- 
 six obtained Queen's Prizes, that is, obtained a 'first- 
 class advanced,' and two obtained Queen's Medals. 
 In all 715 certificates were obtained. The High 
 School obtained thirty-nine Oxford local certificates, 
 and the Commercial School twenty-five, while one 
 boy took the highest place on the list of the senior 
 local examination. About four boys pass out from 
 the High School to Oxford, Cambridge, or Victoria 
 University annually, and occasional scholarships, 
 usually in mathematics, are gained at the Universi- 
 ties, one scholarship and one exhibition being gained 
 in 1889. A larger number take the London Matricu- 
 lation examinations. There are four exhibitions to 
 carry boys from the school to the Universities.
 
 Hi. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LIVERPOOL (BOYS) 227 
 
 The financial position of the Institute is as 
 follows: It has no endowment, but receives the 
 buildings rent-free. The income made from fees and 
 grants more than pays the cost of the school, a surplus 
 going to help to support the girls' school and the 
 Art school in connection with the Institute. 
 
 We have here, then, under one roof and under one 
 headmaster, an ordinary high classical school, and 
 a continuation school for boys from the public ele- 
 mentary schools, a few boys passing from one to the 
 other. 
 
 Having given the external facts and figures with 
 regard to this institution, it remains to give the 
 results of my personal visit and of my conversation 
 with old pupils and others. But in doing so I would 
 carefully guard myself against being misunderstood. 
 In the first place, the description and criticism which 
 follow apply to the school as it was more than a year 
 ago. When I visited Liverpool there had recently 
 been a change of headmasters, and there were al- 
 ready signs that great alterations were being made 
 and contemplated in the working of the school. 
 Since then, doubtless, further changes have taken 
 place, 1 and there is no reason to suppose that the 
 description given presents a true picture of the 
 present condition of the school, except in so far as 
 the defects are the necessary and unavoidable result 
 of the financial difficulties under which the school 
 has to be carried on. Moreover, even as a picture 
 of a former state of things, it is rather the exposure 
 of the evils of a faulty system than a censure on 
 individual masters or managers. It is always to 
 1 See below, especially p. 232, footnote.
 
 228 STUDIES IN SECOND A R Y EDUCA TION in. 
 
 be remembered that the school is self-supporting, 
 by fees and grants, having no endowment except its 
 building. This state of things inevitably necessitates 
 economies in the teaching staff and all departments 
 of the school, for which, however deplorable in their 
 results on the efficiency of the school, the governors 
 and staff cannot justly be blamed. Again, in the 
 absence of any well-devised system (such as would 
 be afforded by the registration of teachers and a 
 certain measure of public control) whereby the effi- 
 ciency of schools can be guaranteed, the only way 
 in which a middle-class school can make parents 
 believe in its efficiency is by gaining as many suc- 
 cesses in examination as possible. Hence, even in 
 the absence of the pressure exercised by the ' pay- 
 ments on results' system of the Science and Art 
 Department, the aim of such a school must be to 
 achieve distinctions in examination, and it must be 
 confessed that the number of successes gained by 
 pupils of the Liverpool Institute proves the ability 
 with which this object has been sought and achieved. 
 If, as is suggested below, the educational consequences 
 have been lamentable, the blame attaches not to those 
 who have conducted the school, but to the conditions 
 under which they have been compelled to work. 
 
 The school is held in the Institute, a huge build- 
 ing, but ill adapted to the purpose. The passages 
 are dark and narrow, the staircases steep, and the 
 rooms, though well lighted and of fair size, have no 
 proper system of ventilation. The chemical labora- 
 tory, holding fifty-three boys, is in a very unsuitable 
 room, and when full of boys must develop a most 
 unhealthy atmosphere.
 
 in. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LIVERPOOL (BOYS) 229 
 
 There is no workshop and no gymnasium attached 
 to the school, and at the time of my visit no gym- 
 nastics were taught, though the headmaster was 
 introducing a little arm exercise. 
 
 The playground is surrounded by high walls, and 
 is so small that it is impossible for 700 boys to get 
 proper air and exercise. 
 
 The boys enter the school at nine, have an hour 
 and a half for dinner, and leave at 4.30. They 
 can have dinner provided at the school or go home, 
 but cannot possibly, in most cases, get any proper 
 exercise during this period. At the end of every 
 hour classes are changed, and the boys all run out 
 into the yard, form up, and are marched back again. 
 In this way they get a breath of fresh air and some 
 exercise in running down the stairs and marching up 
 again. The nearest park is more than a mile away, 
 and some boys go there on Wednesday and Saturday 
 half-holidays to play football or other games. For 
 some time before the South Kensington examinations, 
 it has been customary for boys who are being pre- 
 pared for these examinations to come to school at 
 8.15, and the dinner time is reduced to half-an-hour. 
 Thus these boys of thirteen or fourteen continue at 
 work nearly eight hours in ill-ventilated class-rooms. 
 The homework given takes at least three hours, 1 and 
 in some cases more, so that when the examinations 
 approach some of the boys are working nearly twelve 
 hours a day. The cause of this system is the custom 
 of allowing the masters to receive three-quarters 
 of the grants earned, and paying them miserable 
 
 1 The amount of homework has since been fixed at one and a half 
 hours.
 
 230 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 salaries. The boys are farmed out to those masters 
 who are lucky enough to teach science subjects to 
 make what they can out of them. I found one old 
 boy who had in his possession thirty science certi- 
 ficates which he had earned in less than five years, 
 thus making about 10 a. year for his teachers, when 
 he was supposed to be receiving an education. 
 
 The result of such a system on the physique of 
 the boys is only too obvious. While the boys of 
 twelve or thirteen, fresh from the public elementary 
 schools, are sturdy, healthy, and full of life, the older 
 boys are in many cases ill-formed, narrow-shouldered, 
 stooping, and suffering from weak eyesight. 
 
 In the High School there are fourteen teachers 
 and assistant teachers. Of these one has an Oxford 
 degree, one a Dublin degree, one is a London B.A., 
 and one a London B.Sc. 
 
 In the Commercial School there are twenty 
 teachers. Of these four hold London B.A. degrees. 
 The remainder, so far as I could learn, hold no 
 diplomas. 
 
 The assistant teachers are paid some .50, others 
 ;So, others a little over 100, and the highest salary 
 in the Commercial school, except that of the head- 
 master, is 200 a year. 
 
 The classes in the Commercial School are usually 
 sixty or over, and I found a drawing class of over 
 sixty being taught by one man. 
 
 As I had no authority to examine the schools, I 
 can only give such information as I have picked up 
 about the teaching. Without entering into details, I 
 may state that the outcome of my inquiries was to 
 show that a most mechanical method of teaching was
 
 in. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LIVERPOOL (BOYS) 231 
 
 adopted, the teacher confining himself principally to 
 keeping order, and the boys learning off text-books 
 by heart at home, to write them out in school, with 
 little attempt to explain or develop the subjects 
 taught. I could not find that in teaching English or 
 classics any attempt was made to interest the boys 
 in literature or history. Boys have read the Anabasis 
 without the faintest idea of what it was about, and 
 physiology is apparently taught by giving portions 
 of text-books to be learnt off by heart, with little or 
 no explanation and no practical demonstrations. 
 The mathematical teaching is apparently good. No 
 teaching of English literature is attempted. There 
 is no school library, and the boys are not taught 
 singing. Religion enters the school in one way only. 
 It is necessary to get up some Bible knowledge for 
 the Oxford Local examinations. In fact, the school 
 has been organised throughout to obtain the largest 
 possible number of South Kensington certificates, 
 and of distinctions in the Oxford Local examina- 
 tions. How far apart are real teaching, and the 
 methods used to get high examination results from 
 boys, every teacher knows. Throughout, the impres- 
 sion I obtained and confirmed afterwards was of a 
 system of most unwholesome pressure, of teaching 
 with no educational aim, and of the whole being con- 
 ducted under bad physical conditions. One of the 
 redeeming features was a voluntary class in music 
 held by the new headmaster after school hours. I 
 found also that he had started various athletic clubs 
 in the school. I should say, in conclusion, that I have 
 dwelt particularly on this school, as it is probably a 
 fair example of the large, cheap, middle-class day
 
 232 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 schools in large towns, and it has also been worked 
 up by an energetic headmaster, to the greatest 
 possible efficiency for obtaining good examination 
 results. On our approval or disapproval of such a 
 school as the Institute, depends the view we take of 
 the requirements of an organised system of secondary 
 education. 1 
 
 The Liverpool College. This school was started 
 originally in order to train boys in Church of England 
 principles, as the Institute was non-sectarian. Like 
 the Institute, it has a body of governors, and has its 
 buildings free, but no other endowment except a few 
 exhibitions. 
 
 It consists of three boys' schools and a girls' 
 school. The three boys' schools are called respec- 
 tively the Upper, Middle, and Commercial School. 
 Originally, all three schools met under one roof, 
 but the Upper School was becoming extinct, and 
 was therefore removed to the neighbourhood of the 
 parks. Here it revived, and fresh buildings are being 
 put up for it ; the old building in Shaw Street now 
 containing merely the Commercial and Middle School. 
 
 At the time of my visit the Upper School con- 
 tained 162 boys, the Middle School 145 boys, and the 
 Commercial School 230 boys. The schools now con- 
 tain 228, 174 and 288 boys respectively. The fees for 
 
 1 Since this was written matters have improved. The County 
 Council is making a grant of about ^1000 a year to the school, 
 and some salaries have been raised and some fresh masters ap- 
 pointed. Money has also been granted for workshops and laboratories. 
 Singing has been introduced throughout the school. Very much 
 larger sums are, however, necessary to put the Institute in an efficient 
 condition.
 
 in. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LIVERPOOL (BOYS) 233 
 
 the Upper School are from 15 to 24, for the 
 Middle School from 9 to 1 1 guineas, and for the 
 Commercial School from 4. to $. 
 
 The Upper and Middle School teach Classics, 
 and the masters of the Upper School are Oxford 
 or Cambridge men. 
 
 In the Middle School there are three graduates of 
 Cambridge, two of London, one of Dublin, and one 
 of Zurich. 
 
 The Commercial School gives a purely Com- 
 mercial education. Five of its teachers hold Govern- 
 ment Certificates, and two have passed the London 
 Intermediate Examination. 
 
 The salaries of assistant masters at the date of my 
 visit ranged from 215 to 120 in the Upper School; 
 from 140 to .130 in the Middle School, and from 
 ;ioo to go in the Commercial School. They have 
 now been slightly raised, the present ranges being 
 from 250 to 130 ; 160 to 120, and from 110 to 
 90 respectively. 
 
 There are certain exhibitions to enable boys to 
 pass from one school to the other, and about twenty- 
 two per cent, of the boys of the Upper School go 
 to the Universities. Some of the boys are sent in 
 for the Science and Art examinations ; the top forms 
 of the Middle and Commercial Schools for the Cam- 
 bridge Locals ; and the fifth and sixth forms of the 
 Upper School for the Oxford and Cambridge Joint 
 Board examinations. 
 
 The Upper School is a fine building, with plenty 
 of space round it. The Lower Schools have a small 
 but well-appointed laboratory, and a gymnasium. 
 All the boys spend one hour a week in the
 
 234 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 gymnasium as a part of the school course, and the 
 gymnasium is open at other times. 1 The play- 
 grounds are fairly large, and the school has a playing 
 field of its own outside Liverpool. The class-rooms 
 are large and airy, and the largest class I saw 
 contained forty boys. 
 
 All the boys are taught singing, and there is a 
 school choir, both at the Upper and at the Shaw 
 Street Schools. The latter has also a school orchestra, 
 numbering about twenty. 
 
 On the whole, this school impressed me much 
 more favourably than the Institute. The Science 
 and Art examinations were not unduly encouraged, 
 and there seemed much less pressure throughout the 
 school, while greater care was taken of the health of 
 the boys, and the singing and absence of pressure 
 produced a more humane atmosphere. 
 
 The list of salaries, however, is very instructive. 
 I know no valid reason why the masters of the 
 Commercial should receive smaller salaries than the 
 masters of the Middle School. The real cause is, 
 presumably, that the boys pay smaller fees, and yet, 
 as all the funds are put together, this does not seem 
 a sufficient reason. It is a good illustration of the 
 bad results of the attempt to make secondary educa- 
 tion self-supporting. Apparently, on the whole, the 
 salaries are a little better than those given at the 
 
 1 A grant of money having been made by the City Council to aid the 
 technical side of the Shaw Street School, the chemical laboratory has 
 been doubled in size : there being now stands for thirty boys to work at 
 once. A physical laboratory has been added, also two workshops for 
 joinery and the making of electrical apparatus respectively, the former 
 accommodating twenty-eight and the latter eighteen boys at a time.
 
 in. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LIVERPOOL (BOYS) 235 
 
 Institute, but those in the Commercial School are 
 miserably inadequate. The masters receive no 
 pension when too old for further service, and after 
 passing a certain age have no chance of bettering 
 their position. They try to eke out their income by 
 private classes, to which they naturally give their 
 best energies, and tend to grow more and more 
 hopeless and mechanical in their teaching as they 
 grow older. 
 
 These two great Liverpool schools the Institute 
 and the College are alone sufficient to condemn the 
 theory that secondary education for the poorer middle 
 classes should be self-supporting. These schools will 
 continue to fall in many respects below the level of 
 efficiency of the average Board School, until they 
 receive some kind of public recognition and control, 
 and until their teachers are required to have passed 
 through some course of training which stamps them 
 both as having sufficient knowledge, and as knowing 
 how to impart it. Unsatisfactory as the existing 
 training colleges may be, they at least guarantee a 
 minimum of knowledge and of capacity to teach. 
 There is no such guarantee regarding the assistant 
 masters of our secondary schools. 1 
 
 The Royal Institution. This is a proprietary 
 school, devoting itself principally to classics. The 
 fee charged is twenty-five guineas a year, with a 
 few trifling extras. The boys belong to the profes- 
 sional and well-to-do middle classes. Though a 
 classical school, science is taught throughout, and in 
 
 1 The headmaster informs me that all masters appointed in future 
 in the Commercial School are to be at least certificated masters.
 
 236 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION HI. 
 
 the upper forms some boys specialise entirely on 
 science. The boys are usually sent up to the Oxford 
 and Cambridge Joint Board examinations. There 
 are only sixty boys in the school, and it has of late 
 years been decreasing in numbers. This is probably 
 owing to its situation, at a considerable distance from 
 the residential quarters of the town. The opening 
 of the Lodge Lane Branch of the College in the resi- 
 dential district must also have seriously affected 
 it. It seems to be a fairly efficient and well-con- 
 ducted school, and considerable attention is given 
 to athletics. 
 
 The Private Schools of Liverpool. While it 
 
 is comparatively easy to collect information about 
 such schools as the Liverpool Institute, the private 
 schools present special difficulties, and it is impos- 
 sible even to ascertain the number of them with 
 accuracy. With a view to arriving at some results, 
 I had a list made of the private schools, given in 
 the Liverpool Directory, as being within the municipal 
 boundary. This list was kindly revised for me by 
 the School Board officials, such information as they 
 possessed being added. 
 
 A considerable number were thus removed from 
 the list as being music academies, or French or 
 German classes, or as having ceased to exist. Others 
 were marked as girls' schools, and others as elemen- 
 tary schools, under School Board inspection. The 
 amended list showed, in Liverpool boundaries, about 
 ninety-five private schools, of which eighteen were 
 elementary schools under inspection. 
 
 Over sixty of these ninety-five schools were taught
 
 in. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LIVERPOOL (BOYS) 237 
 
 by women, and were, therefore, probably either girls' 
 schools or infant and preparatory schools. These 
 were not visited, the inspection being confined to 
 twenty-five schools which were entered as being 
 taught by men. 
 
 On inspection, ten of these were found to be music 
 schools. Seven had been closed and only eight were 
 left. 
 
 As far as could be ascertained, the aggregate 
 number of boys in seven of these eight schools was 
 380, and assuming the same average for the other 
 one, we get a total of 434 boys. 
 
 Doubtless other schools had sprung up during the 
 year, the names of which were not yet in the Directory, 
 and hence were not investigated. Certainly, the 
 fact that nearly half the private secondary schools 
 mentioned in the Directory were found, on inquiry, 
 to be closed, is an indication of the fluctuating and 
 speculative character of many of these schools, and 
 in itself is an argument for better organisation. 
 
 On page 239 a table is given, containing the 
 principal facts about the private schools visited. It 
 will be noted that, of the eight headmasters, only 
 two have university degrees, and two are certificated 
 teachers, while in one case the assistant master was 
 found to be a certificated teacher. Furthermore, in 
 some cases such titles as F.R.G.S., Ass. Sc., London, 
 are put after the names of the teachers on the pro- 
 spectus, as a proof of efficiency. 
 
 The prospectuses differ considerably in merit; 
 but have this feature in common, that an enormous 
 number of subjects is apparently taught. For in- 
 stance, in one school the course of instruction includes
 
 238 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 / 
 
 religious knowledge, Latin, Greek, French, German, 
 arithmetic, book-keeping, algebra, geometry, ele- 
 ments of natural philosophy and chemistry, ancient 
 and modern history and geography, landscape, 
 model, and geometrical drawing, English grammar 
 and analysis, composition and elocution, etc. We 
 find science frequently put down as one subject 
 among many, while oil painting is a favourite branch 
 of study in the Liverpool schools. A very simple 
 calculation will show that the large staff of assistant 
 and resident masters advertised, must, as a rule, exist 
 principally in the imagination of the headmaster ; 
 for if a school contain thirty boys (a very common 
 number), paying on an average 10 a year, the 
 margin left out of the receipts for visiting masters 
 must be very small. We are consequently driven 
 to conclude that the principal is proficient in all 
 the subjects advertised. 
 
 Many of these prospectuses contain most amusing 
 information ; for instance, one school advertising the 
 successes obtained, in the Science and Art examina- 
 tion in mathematics, by some of their pupils, points 
 out that these boys competed with men of from twenty 
 to forty years of age ; whereas, of course, these ex- 
 aminations are not competitive at all. 
 
 Other examples of misleading statements could 
 easily be given which would disgrace a shopkeeper's 
 circular. On the whole, however, though it is almost 
 inconceivable that the teaching, except in one or 
 two subjects, can be efficient in these private schools, 
 yet in certain ways some of them are preferable to 
 such places as the Institute. The principal is some- 
 times a kindly man, fond of teaching, and knowing
 
 in. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LIVERPOOL (BOYS] 239 
 
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 240 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 each boy personally ; while the boys have much more 
 accommodation, relatively to their number, for games, 
 and impress one as happier and brighter, and as 
 growing up under a more humane system. It will 
 be noticed that a number of these schools have been 
 very recently closed ; which shows either that the 
 demand for private secondary education is not increas- 
 ing in Liverpool, or that the institutions supplying it 
 are very short-lived. 
 
 Suburban Schools. The suburban population 
 of Liverpool, including Birkenhead, is about 300,000. 
 Though I have only inspected schools within the 
 municipal boundary, I have collected some informa- 
 tion about suburban schools. On examining the 
 Directory, I find forty-seven schools taught by men, 
 which may be boys' secondary schools. Of these, 
 seven are in Birkenhead and three at Rockferry, 
 across the water, and ten out at Waterloo, six miles 
 from Liverpool, leaving twenty-seven in the nearer 
 suburbs. I have written to all these schools for in- 
 formation, and have received sixteen replies. They 
 seem to be all private schools, except one grammar 
 school at Wallasey, and the Merchant Taylors' School 
 at Great Crosby, Waterloo. The information, such 
 as it is, is contained in the following table. There 
 do not seem to be more of these schools than the 
 suburbs require, though, doubtless, the tendency is 
 to send boys out of the town to school. Many of 
 them take boarders, some prepare for the public 
 schools, and many charge very high fees, either in 
 the form of an inclusive fee or of extras. All 
 the private schools seem above the means of the 
 poorer middle class.
 
 in. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LIVERPOOL (BOYS) 241 
 
 
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 Day boys, .15 per ai 
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 242 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 This leads to the mention of another remarkable 
 fact in connection with secondary education in Liver- 
 pool ; the diminution in the number of boys taught 
 at the three chief schools of Liverpool, the Institute, 
 the College, and the Royal Institution. In 1864, 
 the total number of boys in the institutions amounted 
 to 1910, while at the time of my visit it was 1597.* 
 During the same period the population of Liverpool 
 has enormously increased, and when this is taken into 
 account with the facts mentioned above about the 
 private schools, we see pretty clearly that private and 
 proprietary secondary schools are diminishing in 
 popularity in Liverpool, even if we make allowance 
 for the rise of private schools outside the municipal 
 boundary. 
 
 Upper Divisions of Elementary Schools. 
 Certain facts supplied by the kindness of Mr. 
 Hance about the number of children attending the 
 upper standards in the Board Schools, are of interest 
 in connection with this matter. The following table 
 shows the increase in the number of children passing 
 the 5th, 6th, and 7th Standards respectively in the 
 last ten years. On looking at these figures it is 
 obvious that the ratio of increase is greater in the 
 6th than in the $th Standard, and in the 7th than 
 in the 6th. This points conclusively to a demand for 
 something of the nature of secondary education from 
 the Board Schools. 
 
 The following table shows the number of children 
 in the whole of the Board Schools, who were presented 
 in Standards V., VI., and VII. in the years 1879-80 
 
 1 It has now risen again to 1750.
 
 ill. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LIVERPOOL (BOYS) 243 
 
 to 1 889-90, together with the percentage which those 
 numbers form of the total number of children pre- 
 sented in all standards, viz. : 
 
 Year. 
 
 Standard 
 V. 
 
 Percentage 
 of total 
 presented. 
 
 Standard 
 VI. 
 
 Percentage 
 of total 
 presented. 
 
 Standard 
 VII. 
 
 Percentage 
 of total 
 presented. 
 
 1879-80 
 
 461 
 
 5-7 
 
 173 
 
 2.2 
 
 
 
 I 880- I 
 
 687 
 
 7.8 
 
 225 
 
 2.6 
 
 
 
 1881-2 
 
 916 
 
 9-i 
 
 320 
 
 3-2 
 
 
 
 1882-3 
 
 1048 
 
 9.8 
 
 462 
 
 4-3 
 
 
 
 1883-4 
 
 1210 
 
 10.5 
 
 433 
 
 3-8 
 
 98 
 
 0.9 
 
 1884-5 
 
 1325 
 
 10.9 
 
 567 
 
 4-7 
 
 no 
 
 0.9 
 
 1885-6 
 
 H25 
 
 11.4 
 
 600 
 
 4.8 
 
 173 
 
 I. 4 
 
 1886-7 
 
 1536 
 
 11.5 
 
 677 
 
 5-i 
 
 2OO 
 
 1-5 
 
 1887-8 
 
 1678 
 
 12.2 
 
 709 
 
 5-i 
 
 251 
 
 1.8 
 
 1888-9 
 
 1769 
 
 12.5 
 
 853 
 
 6.0 
 
 27O 
 
 i-9 
 
 1889-90 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The subjects taught to children after the fifth 
 standard include mechanics; drawing; inorganic 
 chemistry (to the boys in Standards VII. and 
 Ex. -VI I., in the case of eight schools); mathematics 
 (in the case of one school) ; magnetism and elec- 
 tricity ; animal physiology ; geology ; physiography ; 
 French (in the case of four schools) ; algebra (in the 
 case of two boys' schools). 
 
 In the case of most of these subjects the South 
 Kensington examinations are taken. 
 
 No laboratory instruction is yet given, but, with 
 regard to half the schools, manual instruction has 
 recently been introduced for all boys in Standard V. 
 and upwards. Instruction is given in bar-bell and 
 dumb-bell exercises by the teachers, who, in most
 
 244 
 
 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 in. 
 
 cases, have qualified by attendance at the Liverpool 
 gymnasium. 
 
 The relation between the number of children re- 
 maining after the fifth standard, and the income of 
 the population, is roughly shown by the following 
 table, giving the number of children presented in 
 Standards V., VI., and VII. in the seven poorest 
 Board Schools in Liverpool (viz. : Harrington, Plea- 
 sant Street, William Henry Street, North Corporation 
 Street, Roscommon Street, Ashfield Street, and 
 Beaufort Street) : 
 
 Year. 
 
 Standard V. 
 
 Standard VI. 
 
 Standard VII. 
 
 1879-80 
 
 {3.6 per cent. ^ 
 on total y 
 presented. j 
 
 ( i.i per cent. "\ 
 37 ? on total y 
 (^ presented. J 
 
 
 1 880- 1 
 
 159 
 
 41 
 
 
 1881-2 
 
 312 
 
 93 
 
 
 1882-3 
 
 328 
 
 121 
 
 
 1883-4 
 
 fio. i per cent. "\ 
 
 393 { n total 
 ^ presented. J 
 
 C 3. i per cent. ^ 
 Iig-j on total 
 ^ presented. J 
 
 ( 0.6 per cent. ^ 
 24 1 on total V 
 (^ presented. J 
 
 1884-5 
 
 426 
 
 139 
 
 18 
 
 1885-6 
 
 419 
 
 125 
 
 35 
 
 1886-7 
 
 426 
 
 148 
 
 36 
 
 1887-8 
 
 479 
 
 141 
 
 55 
 
 1888-9 
 
 fii.9 per cent.^j 
 465-1 on total 
 ^ presented. J 
 
 ( 4.7 per cent. "\ 
 183^ on total 
 ^ presented. J 
 
 f 1.2 per cent. "4 
 45-! on total y 
 ^ presented. J 
 
 1889-90 
 
 
 
 
 Of course, even in the poorest schools there are 
 some children whose parents are better off than 
 the majority, and it is possible that these supply 
 a larger proportion in Standards V., VI., and 
 VII. of the scholars who remain even in these 
 schools. 
 
 The Liverpool School Board, recognising the
 
 in. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LIVERPOOL (BOYS') 245 
 
 demand for higher education, have drawn up the 
 course of instruction already described for children in 
 the upper Standands, and for those who have passed 
 the Seventh Standard. 
 
 They have not followed the lead of some other 
 towns by starting a central school, but prefer to de- 
 velop the more advanced teaching in each Board 
 School, as they find the children are more likely to 
 stay when left with their old masters. 
 
 Evidently, then, the Liverpool School Board are 
 being forced to provide for the secondary education 
 of the children of the poorer, middle, and richer artisan 
 class, to the best of their ability, by the pressure of 
 events ; and, consequently, we may expect a great 
 increase in the children remaining at the Board 
 Schools. This, of course, must necessarily affect the 
 lower schools of the Institute and College, though 
 it will probably not affect the highest of the College 
 Schools, or the more expensive private schools, so 
 that, as far as can be judged, the tendency at present 
 in Liverpool is for the education of the poorer middle 
 class to fall more and more into the hands of the 
 School Board. 
 
 The Council of Education. This body consists 
 of wealthy Liverpool merchants and others who have 
 formed a society for the promotion of education. 
 They offer twelve scholarships every year of 20 a 
 year each, lasting for three years, to boys in the ele- 
 mentary schools, to enable them to go to the College 
 or the Institute. Usually about seven or eight boys 
 select the College, and four or five the Institute. I 
 found everywhere that those scholarships were
 
 246 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 regarded as most successful. In both schools the 
 headmasters praised the system, and said that they 
 obtained their best boys through it. The top form 
 of the Shaw Street school of the College is almost 
 entirely composed of these boys, and more of them 
 have passed on to the Universities and taken dis- 
 tinguished positions. It is worth noticing in this 
 connection that these scholarships do far more than 
 provide free education. They assist materially the 
 boys' maintenance. This is a most important feature, 
 as the parents are often too poor to keep the boy at 
 school if free education alone is provided. 
 
 There seems to be a belief firmly held by many 
 people in Liverpool and elsewhere, that while primary 
 education must be subsidised, and university educa- 
 tion must be subsidised, secondary education ought 
 to be self-supporting, and the Institute is triumphantly 
 quoted as an example of the benefits of self-support- 
 ing secondary education. 
 
 On the contrary, the Institute appears to be a 
 complete demonstration of the impossibility of making 
 secondary education both good and self-supporting, 
 except for the very wealthy, for there is not a single 
 fault in the Institute, as it exists at present, which 
 might not be removed by proper endowment or State 
 aid. At present the Institute receives about ^1000 
 from Imperial grants, but it is received in the 
 worst possible way, and accompanied by all the 
 worst evils of payment by results ; while, if it formed 
 part of a general scheme of secondary education, the 
 Institute would soon become educationally efficient. 
 I think the obvious conclusion from this inquiry is, 
 that the demand for secondary education, which is
 
 in. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LIVERPOOL (BOYS} 247 
 
 made by a large section of our poorer population 
 can only be met by State organisation. 1 
 
 In the meantime, however, much might be done 
 to improve such schools as the Institute. I would 
 like to again impress on the minds of those respon- 
 sible for large schools in great towns, the importance 
 of developing the physical health and strength of the 
 children, and of remembering that they have not 
 merely to keep things stable in this respect, but to re- 
 sist a tendency to physical deterioration, so that much 
 that may be safely neglected in a country school, is 
 of vital importance in a town like Liverpool. It is a 
 cruel system of education which barters a boy's health 
 and strength for life, even for as many as thirty 
 South Kensington certificates of proficiency in ele- 
 mentary science. 
 
 1 The first year's grant for Technical Education to the Liverpool 
 County Borough Council has been devoted principally to putting the 
 Free Library and Museum on a sound financial basis, but small sums 
 of ;6oo and ^400 respectively have been given to the College and 
 the Institute schools for apparatus, provision of workshops, and en- 
 larging the present laboratories. Some of the improvements consequent 
 on these grants have been noticed above. 
 
 Out of the second year's grant, capitation grants of l a head are 
 to be made to the principal secondary schools, such as the College and 
 Institute, providing commercial instruction. 
 
 This is well so far as it goes, but much more is required to put the 
 Institute on a thoroughly efficient basis. Fresh class-rooms, a gym- 
 nasium, workshops, and a proper laboratory are required. A larger and 
 much better paid staff is even more essential. It is not creditable to 
 Liverpool that their great secondary school should be allowed to 
 remain in its present state, even with the improvements which have 
 been lately introduced.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BIRMINGHAM 
 
 Introductory. A study of secondary education 
 in England must embrace Birmingham, not only 
 because of our large towns it is the best provided 
 with secondary schools, but because, through the 
 accident of the possession of a great endowment, 
 most of the public secondary schools are there 
 linked together and co-ordinated in a manner not 
 to be met with in any other district. The governors 
 of the King Edward's Foundation form virtually 
 a secondary education Board for Birmingham, con- 
 trolling two High Schools one for boys and one 
 for girls and seven affiliated Grammar Schools, 
 linked on the one hand to elementary schools, and on 
 the other to the High Schools, and to Mason's 
 College (the University College of Birmingham) by a 
 large number of scholarships. Thus, so far as out- 
 ward organisation goes, Birmingham forms a notable 
 exception to the general rule which prevails in most 
 parts of England, that secondary schools are isolated 
 and sporadic, with no connection with primary or 
 higher institutions. It will, indeed, be seen from the 
 following account of Birmingham schools that the 
 effective provision for continuous education still leaves 
 much to be desired that the inner or vital connection
 
 iv. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BIRMINGHAM 249 
 
 of the two orders of schools is weaker than the out- 
 ward provision for continuity would lead the observer 
 to suppose. But, none the less, Birmingham stands 
 in this respect far above the great majority of other 
 districts. 
 
 There is another reason why the study of Birming- 
 ham schools is of interest. It is here that the theories 
 of the Schools Inquiry Commissioners on the grading 
 of secondary schools have been most completely and 
 effectively tested. To Oxford men it is a matter of 
 interest that the late Professor T. H. Green, who con- 
 ducted the inquiry into Birmingham schools on behalf 
 of the Schools Inquiry Commission in 1865, had 
 much to do as a member of the Governing Body with 
 the first reconstruction of the Free School as a set of 
 schools of three distinct grades, and also with their 
 subsequent reorganisation into schools of two grades, 
 when the breakdown of the old theory of three-graded 
 secondary education had become manifest. 
 
 The bulk of the present chapter will deal with the 
 schools of the King Edward's Foundation. Outside 
 the Foundation, the secondary schools for boys are 
 too limited in number and scope to merit more than 
 a word or two of notice. There are but few private 
 adventure schools, and the Catholic Schools con- 
 nected with the Oratory (the Oratory School and 
 King Philip's Grammar School) hardly form part of 
 the general school supply of the city. 
 
 There are two important girls' High Schools out- 
 side the Foundation, one a proprietary school at 
 Edgbaston, and one a private establishment called 
 the Church of England College for girls. 
 
 But by far the larger proportion of boys and girls
 
 250 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 who receive secondary education in Birmingham 
 receive it in the King Edward's Schools. Some 
 notice, however, is also given below of the work- 
 ing of an experiment made by the Birmingham 
 School Board, at present on a limited scale, but 
 shortly to be extended, in the direction of filling 
 the gaps still left by the King Edward's Schools, 
 by means of quasi-secondary or ' higher grade ' 
 Board Schools. 1 
 
 It is impossible, in this chapter, to do more than 
 merely mention the higher institutions in Birmingham, 
 which must very largely influence the work and 
 curricula of the secondary schools. The Mason's 
 College an institution of University College rank, 
 the Midland Institute, the new Municipal Technical 
 School, and the splendid Municipal School of Art, 
 with its branch schools all over the city, bear witness 
 at once to a degree of public spirit on the part of 
 individual citizens, and of vigour of municipal life, 
 such as few English cities can show. 
 
 Historical Sketch. 
 
 The King Edward's Foundation dates from 1552, 
 xvhen a free Grammar School was endowed by letters- 
 patent of Edward VI., with lands formerly held by 
 the Guild of the Holy Cross. 
 
 Like so many endowed schools, it had sunk to 
 a low ebb at the beginning of the present century, 
 
 1 Many of the figures given below are taken from the last Report 
 of the King Edward's Schools. I must also mention my indebtedness 
 to the headmasters and mistresses of these schools, and the headmaster 
 of the Bridge Street School, and others, for valuable assistance in the 
 inquiry.
 
 iv. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BIRMINGHAM 251 
 
 and in 1828 the Commissioners of Inquiry 'found 
 1 1 5 boys, and the school buildings in a ruinous con- 
 dition.' 1 
 
 The result of investigation was a Chancery scheme 
 which, in 1831, was embodied in a special Act of 
 Parliament, providing for the building of two new 
 schools, one classical, and the other an ' English 
 school ' to teach ' the modern languages, arts and 
 sciences.' The former was built on the site of the 
 old Grammar School, from designs of Mr. (afterwards 
 Sir Charles) Barry, and with later additions it con- 
 tinues to house the boys' High School to the present 
 day. The cost, however, was so great that no money 
 was left to build the English school, which was to have 
 been in Peck Lane, and therefore under an Act of 
 1857 it was housed in the part of the classical school 
 intended by the architect for the school library. The 
 main Act of 1831 authorised the building of eight 
 elementary schools connected with the Foundation, 
 and these were erected some twenty years later. 
 
 In 1865 the schools were visited by Mr. T. H. 
 Green for the Schools Inquiry Commission, and his 
 report is a valuable mine of information as to the 
 state of secondary education in Birmingham at that 
 time.' 2 
 
 The Board of Governors of the Foundation, the 
 yearly income of which was then ,13,000 a year, had 
 been entirely appointed by co-optation since the 
 
 'Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. 502. 
 
 " For Mr. Green's General Report, see Report of ' Schools Inquiry 
 Commission,' vol. viii. p. 91. For the Special Report on the details 
 of the Foundation, see vol. xv. p. 680. The School is also described in 
 the General Report, vol. i. p. 502.
 
 252 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 original letters-patent of Edward VI. A custom had 
 been finally established of confining the membership 
 of the Board to members of the Church of England, 
 and excluding all persons connected with the munici- 
 pal government of the town. Party feeling therefore 
 ran high, the Town Council endeavouring to gain a 
 hold on the management of a Foundation so closely 
 affecting the well-being of the citizens, and from time 
 to time opposing, with all the resources of the rates, 
 any change in the government of the school proposed 
 in private Parliamentary Bills, which did not concede 
 representatives to the municipality. The governing 
 body formed a 'clique,' described by Mr. Green as 
 composed of ' conservative churchmen of good social 
 position,' antagonistic to municipal control. Many of 
 them, however, saw the necessity of some concession 
 already. Admission to the Grammar School was 
 free to inhabitants of Birmingham, by nomination 
 of the governors, the result of which system, according 
 to Mr. Green, was that while a parent 'with a 
 " genteel connection " would be pretty sure of getting 
 a nomination as soon as he wanted it,' those of 
 humbler position and with less means of approach- 
 ing the governors, had often to wait for years. 
 It was one of the planks in the platform of the 
 ' School Reform Association ' in the town, to 
 exact fees from ordinary boys, and make free educa- 
 tion a prize for those who most distinguished them- 
 selves. 
 
 As regards the character of the education given, 
 a good deal of fault was found with the English 
 School, which was housed in quarters so noisy and 
 ill-adapted for the purpose, that, in the opinion of
 
 iv. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BIRMINGHAM 253 
 
 a former master, ' teaching in the English School 
 cost double the labour that it would in a quiet 
 room, and produced only half the effect.' The under- 
 masters in both departments were most inadequately 
 paid. 
 
 As a consequence of Mr. Green's report, the Schools 
 Inquiry Commissioners in their general report pro- 
 posed a complete remodelling of the school, so as to 
 form 'a central High School with affiliated branches.' 
 It was important, in their opinion, that in any event 
 ' the one great principle of the systematic connection of 
 all the schools benefited by the endowment shall be 
 maintained, on the general model of the "graded 
 schools " of America, each school being sufficiently 
 complete for the education of those who content 
 themselves with it, but enabling any to pass freely 
 into the class next above it who may be qualified by 
 merit and fitted for it by their circumstances.' 1 
 
 Accordingly, the first reconstruction of the schools, 
 which took place soon after the passage of the 
 Endowed Schools Acts, provided for secondary 
 schools of three grades, a central High School, 
 ' middle ' schools, and ' lower middle ' schools. The 
 elementary schools were discontinued, and replaced 
 by third-grade 'lower middle' schools, in view of 
 the passage of the Elementary Education Act of 
 1870. 
 
 In Birmingham, however, as elsewhere, the Commis- 
 sioners' theory of the three-fold grading of secondary 
 schools soon proved unsatisfactory in practice. The 
 work of the lower middle schools overlapped that of 
 the middle schools, and was itself encroached on by 
 
 1 ' Schools Inquiry Commission,' vol. i. p. 511.
 
 254 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 the public elementary schools growing up around 
 them. 
 
 A revised scheme was therefore passed, by which 
 the present constitution of the schools was determined. 
 The third-grade schools were abolished and the 
 schools have since consisted of two central High 
 Schools, one for boys in New Street as before, the 
 other for girls (now in Congreve Street), and seven 
 affiliated second-grade schools (three for boys and four 
 for girls), the name of which was changed from 
 ' Middle ' to ' Grammar ' schools, in order not to sug- 
 gest any association with a particular social class. 
 The Edgbaston proprietary school for boys, which 
 had been built chiefly by the Unitarians in the old 
 days of religious exclusiveness on the part of the 
 King Edward's Governors, was now declining in 
 numbers, and was acquired for the ' Five Ways ' 
 Grammar School. Fine new buildings for boys and 
 girls were erected at Aston, and a new school for 
 boys at Camp Hill. The girls' schools at Summer 
 Hill, Bath Row, and Camp Hill, have hitherto been 
 housed in the old buildings of the 'lower middle' 
 or elementary schools, or in private houses, but a 
 new building for girls is now being erected at Camp 
 Hill. 
 
 The object of the Grammar Schools is to give an 
 education to boys and girls who will complete their 
 school course at the age of sixteen or thereabouts. 
 The High Schools are designed for those who will 
 carry it on till eighteen or nineteen. In all the 
 schools two-thirds of the pupils pay fees (3 a year 
 in the Grammar Schools, g in the girls' High School, 
 and ,12 in the boys' High School). The remaining
 
 SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BIRMINGHAM 
 
 255 
 
 third are admitted free as foundation scholars, and 
 one-half of the foundation scholarships tenable at the 
 Grammar Schools are restricted to scholars who have 
 attended public elementary schools in Birmingham 
 for two years. 
 
 The Existing State of the Schools. 
 
 Numbers of Pupils and Accommodation. The 
 Birmingham School Board area contains a popula- 
 tion of about 450,000. The following table shows 
 the maximum number of pupils in the various schools 
 of the King Edward's Foundation for 1889 and 1890 
 respectively : 
 
 (i) BOYS' SCHOOLS. 
 
 1889. 
 
 1890. 
 
 Accommoda- 
 tion fixed by 
 Statutes. 
 
 High School, 
 
 367 
 
 388 
 
 5CO 
 
 Aston Grammar School, 
 
 270 
 
 268 
 
 250 
 
 Camp Hill 
 
 260 
 
 264 
 
 250 
 
 Five Ways 
 Total, 
 
 359 
 
 363 
 
 350 
 
 1256 
 
 1283 
 
 
 (ii) GIRLS' SCHOOLS. 
 
 
 
 
 High School, 
 
 226 
 
 224 
 
 250 
 
 Aston Grammar School, 
 
 258 
 
 257 
 
 250 
 
 Bath Row 
 
 207 
 
 205 
 
 2OO 
 
 Camp Hill ' 
 
 142 
 
 142 
 
 140 
 
 Summer Hill 
 Total, 
 
 106 
 
 116 
 
 125 
 
 939 
 
 944 

 
 256 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 It will be seen from the preceding table that all 
 the schools are over full, with the exception of the 
 Summer Hill girls' school (which could take only 
 nine more pupils) and the two High Schools. The 
 boys' High School has recently been enlarged, and 
 the accommodation given above refers to the final 
 number who can be taken in the present building. 
 There would be no difficulty in filling the school 
 at once, so great is the pressure of applicants ; 
 but as this would involve a relaxation of the 
 standard of admission, and would introduce into 
 the High School boys for whom a grammar-school 
 course would be preferable, the headmaster has 
 wisely preferred to make the increase gradual. The 
 numbers have gone up at the rate of about twenty 
 to thirty a year, and in a few years the school will 
 be quite full. 
 
 Looking, then, at the supply of middle schools, 
 we find that the number of pupils in attendance is 
 forty-five more than the accommodation in the case 
 of boys, and five more than the accommodation in 
 the case of girls. The accommodation is now being 
 slightly increased by the erection of new buildings 
 for the girls' school at Camp Hill, and the enlarge- 
 ment of the Camp Hill boys' school. ' 
 
 Only one in three of the applicants registered can 
 be admitted, as is shown by the following table, 
 founded on the last report of the King Edward 
 Schools :
 
 SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BIRMINGHAM 
 
 257 
 
 BOYS' SCHOOLS. 
 
 Number 
 Registered 
 (1890). 
 
 Number 
 Admitted 
 (.890). 
 
 High School, 
 
 289 
 
 101 
 
 Aston, 
 
 280 
 
 8 4 
 
 Camp Hill, .... 
 
 384 
 
 8 9 
 
 Five Ways, .... 
 Total, 
 
 322 
 
 122 
 
 1275 
 
 396 
 
 GIRLS' SCHOOLS. 
 
 
 
 High School, 
 
 206 
 
 68 
 
 Aston, 
 
 172 
 
 67 
 
 Camp Hill, .... 
 
 235 
 
 45 
 
 Summer Hill, 
 
 H3 
 
 46 
 
 Bath Row, .... 
 Total, 
 
 140 
 
 75 
 
 866 
 
 301 
 
 It may reasonably be supposed that a certain 
 proportion of the unsuccessful registered candidates 
 could not be included under either of the two classes 
 to whom secondary education, according to our pre- 
 sent educational policy, is usually confined, i.e. the 
 children of middle-class parents who can pay fees, 
 and those of workmen who can gain scholarships. 
 Many, doubtless, were registered as candidates for 
 scholarships only, and would refuse to enter if they 
 had to pay fees. A further deduction must be made 
 for those who are registered more than once in the 
 year, those who sit for the examination as a test of 
 proficiency without intending to enter the schools, 
 and those unsuccessful candidates who are really 
 
 R
 
 258 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 unfit to profit by the education given in the schools. 
 But even excluding these, a considerable number of 
 qualified applicants are turned away each year by 
 the King Edward's Grammar Schools. Some of 
 these disappointed candidates forego secondary edu- 
 cation altogether, others have to seek it in other 
 towns or abroad ; for the magnificent endowment of 
 the King Edward's Foundation has almost killed 
 private schools. It is probable that, if the accommo- 
 dation were largely increased, all the schools would 
 be filled. 
 
 Thus, while in the supply of good secondary 
 schools Birmingham is in advance of other towns, 
 it outruns them also in the demand for such schools 
 in quite as large a measure, so that the problem of 
 completing the supply of schools is not less important 
 than in districts far less well provided. In some 
 respects, indeed, the problem for the future may be 
 more complicated and difficult than that presented 
 by districts like the Welsh counties, where endow- 
 ments are non-existent and a new system has to be 
 built up ab initio. 
 
 The King Edward's Foundation has created a 
 system of schools excellent so far as they go, but 
 inadequate in number to the total demand. A 
 committee was recently appointed by the governors 
 to consider the possibility of starting new Grammar 
 Schools, and extending those that already exist, 
 but the result of their inquiry was to show that a 
 slight increase of accommodation here and there 
 was all that could be attempted, on account of the 
 cost. 
 
 How the problem of completing the supply is
 
 iv. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BIRMINGHAM 259 
 
 being dealt with will be discussed later in this 
 chapter. 
 
 Governing Body and Organisation. The present 
 Governing Body of the Foundation is a composite 
 Board, including eight representatives nominated by 
 the City Council, one each by the Universities of 
 Oxford, Cambridge, and London, and one by the 
 teachers of the schools of the Foundation, five life 
 governors (taken over from the old co-optative Board), 
 and four co-optative governors. The headmaster of 
 the High School has a seat on the School Committee 
 of the Board, which is a strong body, including a 
 number of eminent men, and exercising a general 
 supervision over the whole of the schools of the 
 Foundation. There are no bodies of governors 
 attached to the various schools, and there is no 
 very close touch between the headmasters and head- 
 mistresses of the Grammar Schools and the Central 
 Governing Body, on which, of course, they have no 
 seat. The want of touch, however, would be very 
 much more felt were it not for the existence of a 
 Teachers' Council, consisting of all the headmasters 
 and headmistresses, which meets from time to time 
 to discuss matters of common interest, under the 
 chairmanship of the headmaster of the High School, 
 who in this and other ways can act as a medium of 
 communication between the head teachers and the 
 School Committee. The Council, though without 
 any executive powers under the scheme of the 
 Foundation, ought to exercise a most valuable in- 
 fluence in promoting the continuity of education 
 and harmonious relations among the various schools.
 
 26o 
 
 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 There is, however, still much to be said in favour of 
 the constitution of a Managing Committee for each 
 school with certain well-defined powers. 
 
 Social Class and Age of Pupils. The class of 
 pupils from whom the Grammar Schools are recruited 
 may partly be gauged by the schools which they 
 had previously attended, and partly by the occupa- 
 tions of their parents. Employing the first test, we 
 have the following particulars about the boys ad- 
 mitted to the various schools in 1890: 
 
 FEE-PAYING PUPILS. 
 
 FOUNDATION SCHOLARS. 
 
 Former Schools. 
 
 Aston. 
 
 Camp 
 Hill. 
 
 Five 
 Ways. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Aston. 
 
 Camp 
 Hill. 
 
 Five 
 Ways. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Board, 
 
 31 
 
 42 
 
 25 
 
 9 8 
 
 12 
 
 17 
 
 18 
 
 47 
 
 Other Public \ 
 Elementary, J 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 23 
 
 34 
 
 7 
 
 I 
 
 10 
 
 18 
 
 Endowed and ) 
 Proprietary, J 
 
 o 
 
 O 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 o 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 Private, . 
 
 23 
 
 14 
 
 40 
 
 77 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 Home Tuition, 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 O 
 
 10 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 i 
 
 Total, 
 
 
 
 
 221 
 
 
 
 
 73 
 
 Thus two-thirds of those admitted, and nearly 
 all the free scholars, come from public elementary 
 schools. But in Birmingham this does not imply 
 artisan parentage, for a large number of middle-class 
 parents send their children to Board Schools, and 
 some, doubtless, are induced to do so by the fact that 
 the greater part of the scholarships to the King 
 Edward's Schools are only open to pupils of ele- 
 mentary schools.
 
 SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BIRMINGHAM 
 
 261 
 
 The social class of the pupils in the Grammar 
 Schools, as indicated by the occupations of their 
 parents, does not differ greatly from that of the 
 pupils of second-grade schools in London and else- 
 where. The majority of parents are clerks, tradesmen, 
 and small manufacturers, with a sprinkling of artisans 
 and professional men. The fee-paying pupils at the 
 High Schools belong, of course, to a rather richer 
 class, but the free scholars come largely from the 
 Grammar Schools, as is seen below : 
 
 Former schools of boys admitted to High School 
 (1890) 
 
 Fee-paying. 
 
 Foundation 
 Scholars. 
 
 King Edward's Grammar School, 
 
 9 
 
 II 
 
 Other Endowed or Proprietary, . 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 Board, 
 
 4 
 
 
 Other Public Elementary, . 
 
 6 
 
 
 Private, 
 
 46 
 
 4 
 
 Home Tuition, .... 
 
 M 
 
 
 
 
 84 
 
 ; 17 
 
 The fact that ten fee-paying scholars were ad- 
 mitted last year from public elementary schools to 
 the boys' High School shows clearly that the former 
 are used to some extent by a well-to-do class. In 
 October 1891 there were four or five sons of artisans 
 in the highest class at the High School. 
 
 The elementary schools of Birmingham feed the 
 Grammar Schools, and they in turn feed the High 
 Schools. Besides this, some elementary scholars enter 
 the High Schools direct. There is some difference of 
 opinion on the relative advantages of the two courses. 
 The general policy of the Charity Commissioners
 
 262 -S TUDIES IN SECOND A RY ED UCA TION in. 
 
 is to pass scholars direct from elementary to first- 
 grade schools where possible. On the other hand, 
 where the first and second grade schools are in close 
 touch, as in Birmingham, it may be better (as is 
 certainly the opinion of the headmasters I consulted) 
 to pass them first into the Grammar School, and 
 thence as soon as sufficient promise is shown into the 
 High School. The transference to the High School, 
 however, when once determined upon, should be 
 made as early as possible. It would be a mistake 
 for a boy to stay till sixteen at the Grammar School, 
 and then have only two years at the High School. 
 That this is the view adopted in Birmingham is 
 shown by the following table of ages of boys who 
 have recently entered the High School from the 
 Grammar Schools : 
 
 AGE. 
 
 II 
 
 12 
 
 13 
 
 H 
 
 15 
 
 No. 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 5 
 
 28 
 
 Of the seventeen foundation scholars admitted to 
 the High School from all sources in 1890, four were 
 twelve years of age, four were thirteen, six were 
 fourteen, and three were fifteen. 
 
 The relation of the two grades of schools, as 
 regards the age at which pupils are admitted, is best 
 seen from the following table :
 
 iv. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BIRMINGHAM 263 
 
 BOYS. 
 
 Ages at 
 Admission, 1890. 
 
 High School 
 No. 
 
 Grammar Schools 
 No. 
 
 8 years. 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 24 
 
 10 
 
 18 
 
 61 
 
 ii 
 
 H 
 
 72 
 
 12 
 
 3 
 
 92 
 
 13 
 
 13 
 
 35 
 
 14 
 
 M 
 
 7 
 
 15 , 
 
 3 
 
 
 Over 15 , 
 
 2 
 
 
 Total, 
 
 IOI 
 
 295 
 
 GIRLS. 
 
 Ages at 
 Admission, 1890. 
 
 High School 
 No. 
 
 Grammar Schools 
 No. 
 
 8 years. 
 
 5 
 
 13 
 
 9 
 
 7 
 
 17 
 
 10 
 
 9 
 
 47 
 
 ii 
 
 15 
 
 59 
 
 12 
 
 7 
 
 59 
 
 13 
 
 6 
 
 29 
 
 14 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 Over 15 
 
 5 
 
 
 Total, . 
 
 68 
 
 233 
 
 A considerable number of boys leave the High 
 School, particularly the modern department, at the
 
 264 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 age of sixteen or seventeen. The modern side be- 
 comes rapidly smaller as we approach the top of 
 the school, showing that to some extent it serves 
 as a second-grade school similar to the Grammar 
 Schools in the matter of length of curriculum and 
 ages of boys, though superior in the quality of the 
 instruction, and attended by boys of a rather richer 
 class. The emptying of the classes of the modern 
 side by the leaving of the boys half-way up the school, 
 leads to difficulties in school organisation. These 
 difficulties would, of course, be very greatly increased 
 if, instead of the graded system of schools which at 
 present exists, the attempt were made to meet the 
 requirements of all classes of boys in schools of one 
 grade. Another objection to such a change, in the 
 opinion of the headmaster, is the fact that the boys 
 who now attend second-grade schools would then 
 almost always leave the first-grade school while still in 
 the junior classes. They would thus never feel the 
 responsibility and dignity of being at the head of 
 their school. 
 
 Linkage of Schools. So far as external organisa- 
 tion is concerned, continuity of education from the 
 Board School to the University is provided for in 
 Birmingham. Internally, the continuity leaves still 
 much to be desired. From the masters and mis- 
 tresses at the King Edward Schools, I gathered that 
 the teaching in the Board Schools (which, even in 
 Birmingham, is necessarily rather mechanical, owing 
 to the large size of the classes and the narrow train- 
 ing of the teachers), does not form by any means such
 
 iv. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BIRMINGHAM 265 
 
 a preparation for the Grammar Schools as is afforded 
 by the ' Primar-Schule ' for the ' Sekundar-Schule ' at 
 Zurich. The Birmingham School Board have made 
 a most praiseworthy attempt to introduce the teach- 
 ing of elementary science into their schools, and such 
 teaching, even under the disadvantageous conditions 
 imposed by the youth of the pupils and the size of 
 the classes, is doubtless of considerable value in itself 
 as a stimulus to thought and observation. But as a 
 grounding for the continuation of the study at a 
 higher school it is hardly successful, as is shown by 
 the following table of marks gained in science, by 
 boys from elementary schools at the admission ex- 
 amination at one of the Grammar Schools at the end 
 of 1889: 
 
 No. of Boys. 
 
 Under 10 per cent, of total marks, . . . , .14 
 
 ! to 20 , 3 
 
 201030 6 
 
 30 to 40 i 
 
 40 to 50 2 
 
 Over 50 o 
 
 Total candidates from elementary schools taking science, 26 
 
 As a rule, the subject in which scholars from 
 elementary schools are strongest is arithmetic. 
 
 The free scholarships reserved to elementary 
 scholars are open to all elementary schools in the 
 Birmingham School Board district. As a matter of 
 fact, each Grammar School draws the greater part of 
 its scholars from a comparatively small number of 
 schools in the neighbourhood. If the head teachers
 
 266 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 of these schools were to form a committee together 
 with some or ail of the Grammar School masters, 
 they might do something to bring the instruction in 
 the two classes of schools more into line. At present 
 little endeavour seems to be made to dovetail the 
 work of the elementary schools into that of the 
 Grammar Schools, except by the rather doubtful 
 expedient of holding special classes to prepare boys 
 for scholarships. 
 
 It should be stated that the Birmingham School 
 Board, as the trustees of some scholarship endow- 
 ments, offer a few ' minor ' scholarships of $ a year 
 towards the maintenance of boys who have already 
 obtained foundation scholarships at one of the King 
 Edward's Schools, and also some scholarships of .15 
 to 2$ a year, for four or five years, to enable former 
 Board School boys to pass through King Edward's 
 Schools, and then to spend two or three years at 
 Mason's College, or the Municipal School of Art or 
 Technical School. There are also six scholarships 
 tenable at the Bridge Street Seventh Standard School, 
 which is under the School Board. 
 
 On the whole, the scholarship system seems more 
 successful in the boys' than in the girls' schools, 
 where complaint is made that the scholars are not, 
 as a rule, of more than average ability, and have often 
 not been well prepared in the primary schools. The 
 evidence from Birmingham coincides with that from 
 other districts, that the ' ladder ' system is more ap- 
 plicable to boys than girls. But even in the case 
 of boys, the proportion of sons of artisans and 
 labourers benefited by the existing scholarship system
 
 iv. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BIRMINGHAM 
 
 is comparatively small. Birmingham, in fact, forms 
 no exception to the rule, which is found to obtain 
 almost universally, that the offer of free tuition is 
 not of itself enough to enable a large number of 
 boys of poor parents to continue their education 
 beyond the elementary stage. King Edward's 
 Schools provide well for the middle class and the 
 upper fringe of the better-paid artisans. If more 
 than this is desired, maintenance allowances must 
 be added to free education. 
 
 Staff and Curriculum. There are twenty masters 
 on the staff of the boys' High School, with the result 
 that the classes can be kept small, never being allowed 
 to exceed twenty-five boys. 1 The school is divided 
 into four ' blocks ' or divisions, and within the limits 
 of a block the boys are re-arranged in sets for 
 mathematics. 
 
 At the girls' High School there are fourteen on 
 the staff, and at the Grammar Schools the numbers 
 vary from eight to fourteen, besides an itinerant 
 teacher of singing. 
 
 The High School is divided into thirteen classes, 
 besides a ' Matriculation ' class. From the seventh 
 class and upwards, the classes are further divided 
 into classical and modern sides. The curriculum 
 may best be seen from the following table, showing 
 the number of hours a week given to various 
 subjects in the highest, middle, and lowest classes 
 respectively : 
 
 1 Some masters, however, are responsible for more than one class.
 
 268 
 
 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 in. 
 
 CLASS I. 
 
 CLASS VI. 
 
 CLASS 
 XIII. 
 
 Classical 
 
 Modern 
 
 Classical 
 
 Modern 
 
 Religious Instruction, etc., 2 
 English, . I 
 Greek, . ; 5 
 Latin, . 5 
 French, . 2 1 
 German, 
 Mathematics, . ; 6 
 Physical Science, 
 History, . ! 2 
 Geography, 
 
 I 
 
 6 
 16 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 4 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 "6 
 i 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 3 
 3 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 "6 
 
 2 
 I 
 
 I 
 2 
 2 
 
 Drawing, 2 . vol. 
 Physical Training, 2 
 
 vol. 
 
 2 
 
 vol. vol. 
 
 2 2 
 
 It will be seen from the above table that specialisa- 
 tion is carried out to a considerable extent in the top 
 classes, the boys on the modern side (who in these 
 classes are few in number) confining their attention 
 exclusively to science and mathematics. Drawing 
 is only a compulsory subject up to the eighth class 
 inclusive. 
 
 Great attention is paid to the physical training of 
 the boys. There is a fine gymnasium at the High 
 School, in which all boys spend two hours a week. 
 At each of the Grammar Schools there is a little 
 apparatus for gymnastics, and the boys are allowed 
 to use the High School gymnasium at certain times. 
 The distances, however, are too great for many of 
 the boys to avail themselves of this privilege. 
 
 Several cricket and football grounds are rented 
 
 1 Either French or German. 
 
 2 Three hours a week (voluntary). There are also voluntary classes 
 in Chemistry and Physics (two hours a week each).
 
 SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BIRMINGHAM 
 
 269 
 
 by the governors in different parts of the outskirts of 
 the town. They are all nominally open to boys 
 attending any of the King Edward's Schools, but in 
 practice the boys from the same school naturally go 
 to the same ground. Large play -grounds are also 
 attached to the schools. 
 
 A most elaborate system is adopted at the High 
 
 DATE. 
 
 MEASUREMENTS, ETC. 
 
 Age. 
 
 Height. 
 
 Weight. 
 
 Chest. 
 
 Fore- 
 Arm. 
 
 Upper- 
 Arm. 
 
 1884 
 
 Yr. M. 
 
 Ft. In. 
 
 St. Lb. 
 
 In. 
 
 In. 
 
 In. 
 
 April 30, 
 
 II II 
 
 4 of 
 
 4 oj 
 
 23l 7i 
 
 7 
 
 Dec. 9, 
 
 12 7 
 
 4 if 
 
 4 3 
 
 24i 7l 
 
 71 
 
 1885 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 June 9, 
 
 13 I 
 
 4 2| 
 
 4 5 
 
 24 
 
 .7* 
 
 7i 
 
 Nov. 25, 
 
 13 6 
 
 4 3 
 
 4 6 
 
 24! 
 
 7* 
 
 7* 
 
 1886 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 June 5, 
 
 14 I 
 
 4 3* 
 
 4 8* 
 
 25 
 
 7f 
 
 71 
 
 Nov. 22, 
 
 14 6 
 
 4 4j 
 
 4 i4 
 
 2 Si 
 
 7i 
 
 71 
 
 1887 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 June 27, 
 
 '5 l 
 
 4 6 
 
 5 i 
 
 26 
 
 7i 
 
 8 
 
 Dec. 2, 
 
 i5 7 
 
 4 6 
 
 S 6 
 
 26| 
 
 8i 
 
 8i 
 
 1888 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 June 5, 
 
 16 i 
 
 4 8 5 9 
 
 27 
 
 8 
 
 85 
 J,- 
 
 1889 
 
 
 
 
 
 May 28, 
 
 17 o 
 
 4 iij 6 ii 
 
 28 
 
 8 
 
 9* 
 
 Nov. 19, 
 
 17 6 
 
 5 
 
 7 3i 
 
 294 
 
 9i 
 
 10 
 
 1890 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 June 2, 
 
 18 i 
 
 5 i* 
 
 7 3i 
 
 291 
 
 9i 
 
 ioi 
 
 School of registering at intervals, the weight, chest 
 measurement, acuteness of vision (both of right and 
 left eye), and hearing of each boy. In this way a
 
 270 
 
 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 ill. 
 
 complete record is kept of the physical condition of 
 all the boys throughout their school life, which often 
 enables defects to be remedied at once instead of 
 being allowed to develop. It may, perhaps, be worth 
 while to give as an example a ' Gymnasium record,' 
 taken at random, of a boy who left school last year. 
 As an example of the curricula at the Grammar 
 
 CAMP HILL, BIRMINGHAM. 
 
 LINTH-ESCHER PLATZ, 
 ZURICH. 
 
 
 Class I. 
 (highest) 
 
 Class V. 
 
 Class X. 
 (lowest) 
 
 C V M 
 
 3"= v 
 -f~ tt 
 
 is? 
 
 1S 
 
 ^ J V 
 
 
 
 
 
 *&< 
 
 > w < 
 
 < 
 
 
 H. M. 
 
 H. M. 
 
 H. M. 
 
 H. 
 
 H. 
 
 H. 
 
 Religious 
 Instruction, 
 
 }o6 5 
 
 o 65 
 
 o 65 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Writing and 
 Shorthand, 
 
 jo 30 
 
 2 O 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 (German) 
 
 
 
 English and 
 Reading, 
 
 j I 30 
 
 2 O 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 Latin, . 
 
 3 3 
 
 4 o 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 French, 
 
 
 3 " 
 
 3 o 
 
 5 
 
 6" 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (English) 
 
 
 
 German, 
 
 3 o 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 Arithmetic & 
 Mathematics, 
 
 J6 o 
 
 C o 
 
 5 " 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 History and 
 Geography, 
 
 ( 2 
 
 3 o 
 
 4 30 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 Natural 
 
 ; 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Science, 
 
 J4 o 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Drawing, 
 
 i 30 
 
 3 3 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Singing, 
 
 o 30 
 
 o 30 
 
 o 30 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Physical In- 
 struction, . 
 
 Jo 50 
 
 o 50 
 
 o 50 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 27 25 
 
 26 55 
 
 26 55 
 
 32 
 
 35 
 
 29 
 
 Schools, I give the length of time given to each sub- 
 ject in the first, fifth, and tenth classes of the Camp
 
 iv. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BIRMINGHAM 271 
 
 Hill Boys' School ; and alongside, for the purpose of 
 comparison, the same particulars are given for the 
 corresponding classes in the famous school in the 
 Linth-Escher Platz, Ziirich. (See Table on p. 270.) 
 
 Of course, it is not possible to find a series of classes 
 in the Zurich School precisely corresponding to those 
 in the Camp Hill Grammar School in the age and 
 class of pupils educated ; but those referred to above 
 correspond nearly enough to enable a useful com- 
 parison to be drawn. 
 
 It will be seen that though the hours of study at 
 Zurich are longer, the curriculum, on the whole, is 
 lighter, through the total omission of Latin. The 
 headmaster, however, at Camp Hill would greatly 
 regret such an omission, and finds that in practice 
 the parents of the boys would not wish it. He is, in 
 fact, at the present time restoring Latin to the time- 
 table of the only class (senior remove) from which it 
 had previously been absent. 
 
 Each of the King Edward's Schools has a good 
 chemical laboratory, in which respect they are in 
 advance of the Zurich School, which has none. At 
 the High School there is also a laboratory for 
 practical physics. 
 
 Some of the boys at the Grammar Schools are 
 sent in for the Oxford Local Examinations, and for 
 those of the Science and Art Department. 
 
 Income and Expenditure. The income from the 
 endowment of the King Edward's Foundation 
 amounts to about 33,000 a year, and that from fees 
 to 6820. 
 
 The income and expenditure of each school are 
 shown in the Tables on next page.
 
 272 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCA TION 
 
 INCOME. 1 
 
 
 
 Share of 
 
 
 
 
 Fees. 
 
 Endow- 
 
 Total. 
 
 Total per 
 
 
 
 ments. 
 
 
 Scholar. 
 
 BOYS. 
 
 
 
 & 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 High School, . 
 
 2465 
 
 875 I 2 
 
 ii, 216 
 
 29 o 
 
 Aston School, 
 
 530 
 
 I9l8 
 
 2,448 
 
 9 o 
 
 Camp Hill School, 
 
 522 
 
 2056 
 
 2,578 
 
 IO 
 
 Five Ways School, 
 
 703 
 
 3815 
 
 4,518 
 
 12 IO 
 
 GIRLS. 
 
 
 
 
 
 High School, . 
 
 1214 
 
 3312 
 
 4,526 
 
 20 o 
 
 Aston School, 
 
 517 
 
 1621 
 
 2,138 
 
 8 o 
 
 Bath Row School, . 
 
 388 
 
 1276 
 
 1,664 
 
 8 o 
 
 Camp Hill School, 
 
 266 
 
 965 
 
 1,231 
 
 8 10 
 
 Summer Hill School, 
 
 215 
 
 725 
 
 940 
 
 8 o 
 
 Total, 
 
 6820 
 
 24,439 
 
 31,259 
 
 
 EXPENDITURE. 1 
 
 
 Salaries. 
 
 Scholar- 
 ships and 
 Exhibi- 
 
 Rates, 
 Taxes, 
 Furni- 
 
 Other 
 Ex- 
 
 TOTAL. 
 
 
 
 
 ture and 
 
 penses. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Repairs. 
 
 
 
 BOYS. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 High School, 
 
 7901 
 
 662 
 
 1307 
 
 1346 
 
 ii, 216 
 
 Aston School, 
 
 1712 
 
 176 
 
 63 
 
 497 
 
 2,448 
 
 Camp Hill School, 
 
 i 74 8 
 
 134 
 
 213 
 
 483 
 
 2,578 
 
 Five Ways School, 
 
 3332 
 
 172 
 
 189 
 
 825 
 
 4,518 
 
 GIRLS. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 High School, 
 
 2281 
 
 295 
 
 390 
 
 i56o 3 
 
 4,526 
 
 Aston School, 
 
 1405 
 
 143 
 
 95 
 
 494 
 
 2,137 
 
 Bath Row School, 
 
 1017 
 
 144 
 
 1 08 
 
 395 
 
 1,664 
 
 Camp Hill School, 
 
 756 
 
 147 
 
 62 
 
 266 
 
 1,231 
 
 Summer Hill School, . 
 
 566 
 
 117 
 
 4i 
 
 217 
 
 941 
 
 1 To simplify the Tables, the items are given in round numbers. 
 Including 64 special scholarship fund. 3 Including ^900 for Rent,
 
 iv. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BIRMINGHAM 273 
 
 Thus the cost of carrying on the schools per 
 head, assuming the buildings to be provided, is as 
 follows : 
 
 High School (boys), ,28 o 
 
 High School (girls), 20 o 
 
 Grammar Schools (boys), . . . 10 10 
 
 Grammar Schools (girls), .... 80 
 
 The cost of building and fitting up the Aston 
 Schools (for 250 boys and 250 girls) was about 
 18,000, including nearly 1600 for the site, while 
 the Camp Hill School for 250 boys cost about 7900, 
 exclusive of site. 
 
 Problem of the completion of the School Supply. 
 The organisation of the King Edward's Foundation 
 has proved how much may be done for secondary 
 education by the judicious action of a Central Board 
 with funds at its command. The Governing Body 
 is the nearest approach to a local Secondary Education 
 Board that can be found in England. But it also 
 exhibits the inevitable weakness of a system which 
 relies entirely on an inelastic revenue, such as that 
 derived from endowment. It is true that such a 
 revenue may increase by leaps and bounds, as 
 indeed has been the case with the King Edward's 
 Foundation at certain periods. But, on the other 
 hand, there is nothing to ensure that the income from 
 an endowment will keep pace with the growth of 
 population in the district, and at the present moment 
 the governors of the King Edward's Foundation find 
 their resources unequal to the task of completing the 
 school supply of Birmingham. 
 
 Seventh Standard Board School. Seeing this fact 
 the School Board set themselves to work to supply 
 
 s
 
 274 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION HI. 
 
 the gap, at least in part, by the establishment of a 
 ' Seventh Standard ' school in Bridge Street, where 
 boys from elementary schools could continue their 
 education for two or more years. The boys in the 
 seventh standard continue to receive instruction in 
 the ' standard ' subjects, but in addition take up several 
 subjects in connection with the Science and Art De- 
 partment. Ex-seventh standard children go through 
 a course composed of science and art subjects, and 
 manual instruction in the school workshop. The 
 number of boys in average attendance in 1890 was 
 390, of ages chiefly between 12 and 14. 
 
 The cost of the school in 1 890 was as follows : 
 
 Salaries, ...... 
 
 Books, apparatus, etc., .... 287 
 
 Other expenses, ..... 411 
 
 Total, . .2179 
 
 or 7, i os. per boy in average attendance. The ex- 
 penditure was defrayed as follows : 
 
 Science and Art Grants, . . . ^1062 
 
 Fees, ....... 175 
 
 Education Department Grant, . . 141 
 
 Books sold, etc., ..... 4 
 
 Rates, ....... 797 
 
 Total, . 2 1 79 
 
 The income from fees has now disappeared, the 
 school having been made free since the passing of the 
 Free Education Act. 
 
 It will be seen that a grant of 4, 2s. lod. is 
 earned from the Science and Art Department on 
 each boy in the school which may be a high 
 tribute to the efficiency of the teaching, but certainly
 
 iv. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BIRMINGHAM 275 
 
 does not indicate an altogether healthy state of 
 things as regards the planning of the curriculum. 
 As in other schools of this kind, the time-table is 
 arranged with a view to the maximum grants from 
 South Kensington, and it is impossible to build up a 
 secondary school on this principle without sacrificing 
 much of its educational efficiency. The school in 
 Bridge Street is most ably carried on, but is subject 
 to impossible conditions, for it can only live by dis- 
 torting its curriculum. 
 
 Whether we look then at the inability of the King 
 Edward's Schools to expand their accommodation, 
 or at the results of the indirect attempt of the 
 School Board to supply the deficiency by the crea- 
 tion of science schools, we are driven to the con- 
 clusion that nothing will be really satisfactory, short 
 of the grant of direct and full powers to some public 
 authority in the city to supply good secondary schools, 
 in addition to those already existing. But if we con- 
 clude that the method hitherto adopted by the School 
 Board of supplying secondary education is unsatis- 
 factory, it must be remembered that it has been the 
 only method which has been open to them, and the 
 energy with which all available means have been 
 utilised is a happy augury for wise and effective 
 action in the future, as soon as local authorities 
 receive the necessary power for dealing with the 
 question as a whole.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN READING 
 
 A STUDY of the secondary schools of Reading 
 may illustrate very fairly the position of secondary 
 education in many of the smaller towns of England. 
 Reading is typical of the towns with moderate ad- 
 vantages in the way of educational foundations. Each 
 of its schools is typical of a large class of schools 
 elsewhere. During recent years considerable efforts 
 have been made to advance secondary education. 
 Most important changes in the educational institu- 
 tions of the place are at this moment probably 
 impending, and are the subject of general discussion. 
 
 Reading has a population of over 60,000. It has 
 large industries, employing many workmen. It has a 
 large class of leisured inhabitants, who have chosen 
 it as an attractive residence. It is also the centre of 
 an agricultural district, and is easily accessible by 
 train on several sides. The population is growing 
 steadily. 
 
 The elementary education of Reading is fairly 
 evenly divided between voluntary and Board Schools. 
 The School Board has provided remarkably good 
 school buildings. As the standard of exemption is 
 the 5th, the years of school life last longer than in 
 
 276
 
 v. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN READING 277 
 
 many places. But the tendency to leave school as 
 soon as possible is very general. Only one Board 
 School has any considerable number in the 6th and 7th 
 standards ; thirty boys out of about 300, and sixty girls 
 out of between 400 and 500. The other Board and 
 National schools have not nearly so large a propor- 
 tion in the upper standards. The boys' department 
 of the British School, which claims to give an educa- 
 tion of a higher grade, has as many as eighty out of 
 about 280 in the 6th and /th standards, and a very 
 few have passed the yth standard. The girls' depart- 
 ment sends on a good number of pupils to the 
 Kendrick Endowed Schools for girls. The children 
 may be supposed to be sent by a somewhat richer class 
 of parents than those in other schools. There is little, 
 however, in the education given to distinguish this 
 school from the other elementary schools. It is 
 further not expected that this school, which depends 
 of course largely on subscriptions, will survive the 
 death of the principal subscriber. 
 
 None of the elementary schools have evening 
 classes ; an attempt lately made by the School Board 
 to start them failed, but it is likely to be renewed. 
 
 Thus, in Reading, the elementary school system 
 in no degree does the work of secondary education, 
 and in this respect Reading differs markedly from 
 some towns which are similarly situated. 1 
 
 In the teaching of special subjects to students no 
 longer at school good progress has been made. The 
 Science and Art School in the municipal buildings 
 
 1 In Oxford, for example, the Wesleyan School gives what may be 
 called a modern secondary education to boys, of whom a large propor- 
 tion stay to the age of fifteen.
 
 278 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 has outgrown premises which at first were thought 
 too large, and there is a flourishing University Ex- 
 tension centre. These forms of instruction, however, 
 lie outside the scope of this chapter. 
 
 Foundations for Secondary Education. The 
 
 institutions we shall have chiefly to consider are 
 the following : the Grammar School, a first-grade 
 boys' school, chiefly attended by day boys from the 
 richer families of the town ; the two Kendrick Schools 
 for boys and girls, which are second-grade day 
 schools, not very long established ; the Blue Coat 
 School and Hospital Schools for boys, and the Green 
 Girls' School, also a hospital school, in which girls 
 are trained only for domestic service, neither of 
 which form part of the general supply of secondary 
 education; lastly, there is an endowment in the hands 
 of Christ's Hospital in London, known as West's 
 Charity, expended on the education of boys from 
 Reading, Wallingford, and Newbury. 
 
 Twenty-four years ago there was, if we except 
 the hospital schools, no secondary school of a public 
 character at work in Reading at all. There was a 
 grammar school foundation existing, with the memory 
 of a great career, but in 1866, when the Assistant 
 Commissioner of the Schools Inquiry Commissioners 
 came to inspect it, he ' did not think it worth while 
 to examine the one boy just returned ' (well on in 
 term-time) ' from France.' Mr. Fearon, reporting in 
 1866 to the Schools Inquiry Commissioners, says 
 further, ' it is a remarkable fact that there is in Read- 
 ing no private school for the commercial classes that 
 is held in much repute.' A great movement was
 
 v. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN READING 279 
 
 then made to re-organise the Grammar School, under 
 a private Act passed in 1867, and with the help of 
 much private munificence. This movement was 
 directed, not to the supply of middle-class education, 
 the purpose for which a town school was most needed, 
 but to the creation of a first-grade classical school 
 for day boys or for boarders. This, undoubtedly, 
 was a benefit to many in the town, though chiefly 
 to the class best able to secure good education for 
 their children ; but the enterprising public spirit 
 then shown seems to have been governed, not so 
 much by a pure sense of educational needs, as by a 
 pride in the past fame of the Grammar School, and 
 the hope of raising up a big boarding-school which 
 would reflect credit on Reading and bring custom 
 to the town. It is said that the Grammar School 
 trustees were anxious 'to provide a sound English 
 and commercial education for those in the town 
 who required it, as well as a classical education.' 
 The Reading School Act authorised them to open 
 a lower department in connection with the Grammar 
 School with future surplus funds ; but they have 
 never had these funds to spare. An effort was, 
 however, made at the same time to make the Hos- 
 pital Foundation of the Blue Coat School more 
 generally useful in education. Its trustees were 
 offered an additional endowment, and the chance of 
 scholarships at the Grammar School for their boys, 
 if they would undertake to educate thirty day boys 
 who were to pay fees. The day boys were, however, 
 to be under a conscience clause, and this alone de- 
 termined the trustees to refuse the offer. It was not 
 till 1875 that public middle schools for boys and girls
 
 280 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 were started, under a scheme of the Charity Commis- 
 sioners, which applied to this purpose the Kendrick 
 Charity, originally left for loans to poor people. 
 
 The Grammar School. The Reading Grammar 
 School was founded in 1486 by the Abbot of Read- 
 ing, but is said to have had its origin in a much 
 older monastic school. In the earlier part of this 
 century, under Dr. Valpy, it was a school of some 
 celebrity, but twenty-four years ago it had become 
 extinct. Since its revival under the Reading School 
 Act, it has also had a chequered career. Under the 
 headmaster, who ruled it for the first six years of its 
 renewed existence, it at first grew rapidly, and the 
 pupils at one time numbered 279. The number of 
 boarders kept growing, and a new boarding house was 
 added to the two which were built at first. Then 
 disagreements arose between the trustees and the 
 headmaster, and he left. The next headmaster took 
 on the school with 142 pupils ; at the end of his stay 
 he had seventy-nine. The boarders had remained 
 a majority of the scholars down to 1883, when an 
 assistant master being appointed headmaster of 
 another school, carried off most of the boarders in 
 his house. When the second of the headmasters left 
 there were sixteen boarders, and they left with him. 
 When the present headmaster came, three years ago, 
 he found forty-eight boys in the school. He has 
 already worked up the number to 103, of whom three 
 are boarders in his house. The school is now being 
 worked principally as a day school for Reading boys. 
 The two boarding-houses, which brought about the 
 great secession from the school, are now in abeyance.
 
 SECONDARY SCHQpLS IN READING 281 
 
 It is clear that there is a demand for a day school 
 of this grade in Reading, and that some residents are 
 attracted to the town by the school. It does not 
 seem that any social friction impedes the usefulness 
 of the school, and apparently religious jealousies 
 which might otherwise arise, are prevented by the 
 fact that the headmaster is a layman. 
 
 The school is now apparently a thoroughly 
 efficient school of the classical type, with excellent 
 buildings, and fine grounds, and a staff of masters 
 with many university distinctions. There are good 
 laboratories, though the study of science does not 
 seem to be more ardently followed than at most 
 public schools. The age of admission is low, being 
 eight years. There is a modern side, and when boys 
 are fourteen, the parents are asked to choose whether 
 they shall begin Greek or go on the modern side ; 
 but it is the wish of the headmaster, as far as pos- 
 sible, to keep the boys of the two sides together in 
 their work, so as to diminish the tendency to slack- 
 ness which is common with modern sides. The 
 school has -lately taken a new departure in opening 
 a preparatory department for little boys, who are 
 put under the care of ladies. The reason given for 
 this is, that formerly the boys were badly taught, and 
 kept too long at the preparatory dames' schools in 
 Reading. 
 
 The yearly fees for day boys are ^14, 43., ^19, 
 4 s - or 24, 45., according to age ; or for boarders, 
 65 and 75 guineas. The fees were originally fixed 
 lower, but it has been found necessary to augment 
 them by a charge for teaching French, German, and 
 drawing.
 
 282 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 The school regulations provide for four scholar- 
 ships of 10 a year, to be given to day boys of 
 fifteen already in the school, alternately on the classi- 
 cal and modern sides. There are also two entrance 
 scholarships of ^10 for four years, for day boys, 
 and six entrance scholarships of 30 for four years, 
 for boarders. The fund from which these latter came 
 has also been used to send exhibitioners to the 
 university. The school has two valuable scholarships 
 at St. John's College, Oxford. 
 
 The connection between the Grammar School 
 and the Kendrick School l is slight. There are now 
 in the former several boys who have been in the 
 latter, but this does not mean that one school 
 prepares for the other. They are either boys who 
 would naturally have gone at first to the Grammar 
 School, but because it was in low water went to the 
 Kendrick School instead, or boys who, when the 
 Grammar School lately revived, were attracted into 
 it by scholarships given to help to swell its numbers. 
 It is clearly not possible that a school with the cur- 
 riculum of the Kendrick School, keeping boys till 
 nearly sixteen, should prepare many of them well 
 to go on to a higher school. The Kendrick trustees 
 are empowered to pay for the expenses of some 
 of their boys in the Grammar School. This has 
 only once been done, in the case of an artisan's 
 son, who got a scholarship from a Board School to 
 the Kendrick School ; after being sent on to the 
 Grammar School, he has gained a mathematical 
 scholarship at the university. 
 
 Here, then, is a case where a boy has worked his 
 1 See below, p. 284.
 
 v. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN READING 283 
 
 way from an elementary school to the university, 
 passing through two secondary schools of different 
 grades in his course. A boy finishes the course of a 
 middle-class school at sixteen, and goes for two years 
 to a school with quite a different course, to be pre- 
 pared for the university, knowing no Greek and little 
 Latin, but very likely well grounded in mathematics. 
 There are two things to be done : he must diligently 
 work up one of the latter subjects, so that he may 
 get a scholarship, and he must rapidly pick up that 
 not very great knowledge of Latin and Greek which 
 is required for entrance at the universities. Probably 
 the latter process is not such waste of time for him 
 as some people would think, yet it would surely be 
 better for him if he could be passed into the first- 
 grade school earlier, and get the full benefit of its 
 course. If this could be regularly done with such 
 picked boys from a middle-class school as were really 
 fit to profit by it, there would be more likelihood that 
 boys with similar gifts would rise in a similar way ; 
 and, in particular, there would be a better chance 
 than at present for a boy whose talents were not 
 mathematical. It is, no doubt, better still when there 
 is only one intermediate school bridging the gap 
 between the elementary schools and the university. 
 At Reading Grammar School the headmaster is 
 anxious that, if scholarships are founded to take 
 boys to his school from schools of a lower grade, 
 the scholars may be required to enter early, so as 
 to go through the regular course of the Grammar 
 School. 
 
 The financial position of the Grammar School is 
 a singular one. For the purchase of its grounds and
 
 284 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 trie erection of its buildings it expended nearly all 
 its original endowment, a large sum diverted to it 
 from the Kendrick Charity (bringing the capital 
 endowment to ^4200), subscriptions of 9000, and 
 a borrowed sum of 32,000. Its sole revenue since 
 has been an old payment of 10 yearly from the 
 Corporation, about 29 a year from a bequest of 
 Archbishop Laud's, and the fees of the scholars. At 
 its highest point of prosperity since its revival, the 
 school has not paid its way. It has sold part of its 
 land to pay off its debt ; to sell more would, it is 
 thought, do it some injury. By a private Act the 
 Corporation of Reading has been allowed to take 
 over the remaining debt. It was to be repaid to the 
 Corporation by the school in seventy years by instal- 
 ments, including interest, of 765 a year. For four 
 years these have not been paid, so that here is a case 
 where the ratepayers are practically contributing 
 755 1 a vear (which in this case means nearly four- 
 fifths of a penny rate) to a first-grade school. 
 
 The school has, further, been the recipient of many 
 gifts and subscriptions, for scholarships, for building 
 the new chapel, the gymnasium, etc., and towards 
 remission of debt. These, with the subscriptions 
 raised for the original building, have amounted to 
 over 13,000 in the last twenty-four years. This 
 sum would have been nearly enough to build all 
 the other endowed schools of Reading twice over. 
 
 Kendrick School for Boys. The Kendrick Boys' 
 School is a day school, admitting boys between the 
 
 1 The Corporation had previously been under an obligation to pay 
 10 a year to the school.
 
 v. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN READING 285 
 
 ages of seven and sixteen, and educating them for a 
 fee of ;$ a year, with an entrance fee of 6s., and 
 73. 6d. to 93. extra for books and stationery. It has 
 accommpdation for 240 boys or more. For the last 
 ten years it has generally had something over 200 
 boys (in one year 225), but the number had fallen to 
 170 at the end of 1890. This decline is attributed to 
 recent neglect on the part of the late headmaster, 
 who disappeared a few months ago. The numbers 
 have now risen to 185. The parents who send their 
 boys to the school are shopkeepers, clerks, railway 
 officials, licensed victuallers, farmers in the neighbour- 
 hood, and some few of the better-paid class of artisans. 
 There have been lately, also, one or two sons of pro- 
 fessional men. Thirty or forty come every day from 
 outside Reading, some come by train, one from as 
 far as Broad moor, and some drive in milk-carts. 
 About a dozen board with friends in town, and 
 the headmaster takes three private boarders. The 
 boys generally stay till they are over fifteen. About 
 thirty per cent, have been in elementary schools, 
 besides the exhibitioners from the elementary schools, 
 who are elected for three years at the rate of four or 
 five a year. All these come after they have passed 
 the fifth standard, at the age of eleven or twelve ; 
 the rest of the pupils come at eight or nine years of 
 age. The system of classes is so elastic that the 
 headmaster has not found that any difficulty arises 
 in teaching the two different sets of boys. 
 
 Curriculum. The languages taught are French 
 and Latin, and a good deal of time is given to science, 
 though the want of a laboratory must diminish its 
 educational value. About forty minutes a week are
 
 286 . S 7 'UD1ES IN SECOND A RY ED UCA TION 1 1 1 . 
 
 devoted to drawing, and shorthand has lately been 
 introduced with useful results. The number of boys 
 succeeding in the examinations by which the school 
 is tested seems to show that the subjects are well 
 taught Whether the curriculum is the best that 
 could be followed in a school of the kind it is more 
 difficult to say. To a casual observer it would 
 certainly seem that the time-table is over-loaded, 
 and that there is a want of a subject to form what 
 has been called ' the backbone of the teaching.' 
 Perhaps the chance of increasing the school's income 
 by a grant from the Science and Art Department, 
 which the school has lately been earning, has proved 
 a temptation. The present headmaster thought, when 
 he came, that the school attempted to teach too many 
 sciences, and has dropped one of them. He expresses 
 a firm belief in the value of teaching Latin. At 
 present, however, the parents of twelve boys make 
 special request that they should not be taught it. 
 The other boys get as far as reading Eutropius and 
 Ccesar. The new headmaster has not been there 
 long enough to be able to modify the curriculum 
 much. There is a prospect that the school will get 
 a grant under the Local Taxation Act of 1890, on 
 condition that something is added to the scientific or 
 technical instruction in the school. Part of this 
 money might well be applied to starting a school 
 workshop, in which the boys could go through a 
 course of manual training, and it seems most desir- 
 able that room and appliances should be provided for 
 some of the boys to do practical work in chemistry. 
 
 Staff. The staff of the school consists of a 
 headmaster and six assistant masters, besides a
 
 v. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN READING 287 
 
 visiting French master. Some of the masters are 
 graduates of London, some have been certificated 
 teachers. The salaries of the assistants vary from 
 130 to 70 without board. The headmaster last 
 year received ,336, of which 130 was fixed salary, 
 38 came from the Science and Art grant, and the 
 rest was his share of the fees. There are many ap- 
 plications for assistant-masterships, but some of the 
 letters of application give proof by their spelling and 
 grammar of the number of unqualified men who wish 
 to get a living by teaching. The school is annually 
 examined by an examiner chosen by the trustees ; a 
 large part of the school is also tested by the ex- 
 aminations of the College of Preceptors, twenty-three 
 boys having gone in last year for their second and 
 third grade examinations, and twenty having suc- 
 ceeded. A good many also go in for the Cambridge 
 Local Examinations, and five boys in the course of 
 six years have matriculated in London University. 
 This means that the master has to have his eye on 
 four or perhaps five examinations every year, a fact 
 which has an obvious moral. 
 
 Cost. The finances of the school are at present 
 bound up with those of the girls' school. The present 
 buildings with a site which would allow them to 
 be enlarged cost the endowment 3758. They are 
 fairly large and good, though far less handsome 
 than the Board School buildings. They are con- 
 veniently situated ; but a better playground is much 
 wanted. The yearly income from the endowment 
 for the two schools is only .74, and from one-half to 
 two-thirds of this goes in office expenses. The re- 
 mainder is not half equal to the amount of fees
 
 288 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUC ATI in. 
 
 remitted to exhibitioners in the two schools. Thus, 
 besides the direct expenses of education, more than 
 half the exhibitions, the maintenance of the buildings, 
 rates, taxes, etc., have all to be met out of the fees of 
 .5 a year. The school has in most years paid its 
 way, with a small surplus, which has been often 
 counterbalanced by deficits in the accounts of the 
 girls' school. 
 
 Scholarships. The scholarships given, to the 
 number of four or five a year, to scholars from ele- 
 mentary schools, consist usually in a remission of 
 half the fee. The trustees have only remitted the 
 whole fee twice. But it seems agreed that if the 
 children of ordinary working men, who are expected 
 to go to work at fourteen, are to be drawn in any 
 number into this school, the scholarships must not 
 only cover the whole fee, but add something towards 
 the maintenance of the boy. There is indeed plenty 
 of competition for the present scholarships ; fourteen, 
 nineteen, and twenty-eight boys applied for them in 
 three recent consecutive years, and many besides the 
 scholars come from elementary schools. But from 
 the parents' occupations, it seems that this does not 
 result from a demand for secondary education among 
 the poorer working classes, so much as from the 
 presence in the elementary schools of many whose 
 parents can afford to send them to other schools. 
 This in itself is an entirely satisfactory thing, where 
 the elementary schools are good. The scholarships, 
 as it is, do a good work, for the boys do well in the 
 school, and it is not to be supposed that they stand 
 in no need of such help. A secondary school cannot 
 to any great extent combat the tendency for poor
 
 v. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN READING 289 
 
 boys to go to work early in life, but it no doubt ought 
 to have means of attracting the children of the poor- 
 est in the few cases of exceptional promise, and this 
 machinery the Kendrick School does not possess. 
 
 Private Schools for Boys. Lastly, the schools 
 which come into competition with the Kendrick 
 Boys' School must be considered. There are not 
 many private boys' schools in Reading, except those 
 that are purely preparatory. There is one kept by 
 a former second master of the Kendrick school (a 
 graduate of London), who is willing to prepare for 
 the Universities, but seems chiefly to teach such 
 subjects as are taught in the Kendrick school, add- 
 ing agriculture to the curriculum. There is another 
 kept by a member of the College of Preceptors, who 
 offers to give a commercial education, but without 
 neglecting 'the more refined subjects.' They differ 
 considerably in fees, the former charging from 8 
 guineas to 12, for day boys, according to age, and 
 the other from 5 to 6, but both compete with the 
 Kendrick school, and are thought to have profited 
 by its slight decline of late. Besides these two there 
 is another establishment for a few private pupils. 
 One of the two schools has over forty, the other about 
 sixty pupils, but of these some are boarders who 
 probably come from a distance, so it seems that at 
 the lowest the Kendrick School does now considerably 
 more than three-fifths of the teaching of day boys 
 below the first grade in Reading. 
 
 Kendrick Girls' School. The principal girls' 
 school is the Kendrick Girls' School, which closely
 
 290 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION HI. 
 
 corresponds to the Kendrick Boys' School. It draws 
 its pupils mainly from the same class ; many parents 
 have children in both. But it seems to have rather 
 fewer children of poor parents ; those who would 
 wish their sons well educated for business purposes 
 might not have the same desire for their daughters. 
 And it has probably succeeded in attracting children 
 of rather richer parents. The girls from elementary 
 schools, exhibitioners and others, come chiefly from 
 the British School. The three or four exhibitions 
 given every year, consisting of the remission of 
 half the fee, and in one case of the whole, are the 
 object of some competition ; twenty-two, twenty, and 
 twenty-three girls applied for them in three consecu- 
 tive years. The girls from elementary schools come 
 at thirteen or fourteen, the others at about ten. It 
 seems that they are not in practice compelled to leave 
 at any fixed age. There is a preparatory department 
 for little girls. Of the 175 scholars, twenty or more 
 live outside Reading. The curriculum consists chiefly 
 of mathematics, English subjects, and French, the 
 only science taught being physiology. In accordance 
 with tradition, pianoforte lessons are given to nearly 
 all the girls, on a large number of whom they must 
 be wasted. It is suggested that a cookery class 
 should be started, either because of its obvious use- 
 fulness, or because it might bring in some of the 
 Local Taxation Act money. The whole school is 
 examined annually ; about a dozen girls a year are 
 sent in for the examinations of the College of Pre- 
 ceptors, one or two annually for the Cambridge Local 
 examination, and occasionally one for the Oxford 
 Local examination or for the Cambridge Higher
 
 v. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN READING 291 
 
 Local examination. Girls have been sent in for 
 Science and Art examinations, but without applica- 
 tion being made for a grant. The head-mistress 
 has a staff of seven assistant mistresses besides a 
 visiting music-master and drill instructor. Their 
 salaries range from 94 to 20 and 11. The 
 head-mistress receives 50, besides a share of fees 
 amounting now to i 14. The buildings, which cost 
 1519, are good and pleasant, but have now been 
 outgrown, and money is needed to enlarge them. 
 There is everything in the appearance of the school 
 to suggest that it is ably conducted. It has had to 
 make its way against greater difficulties than the 
 boys' school. Social exclusiveness appears to have 
 more weight in the matter of girls' education than 
 in the case of boys, and to result in a prejudice 
 against public schools for girls. The numbers of 
 the school have, however, steadily gone up, and it 
 seems now to have an assured future. Its financial 
 position has been spoken of along with that of the 
 boys' school. 
 
 The only first-grade girls' school of a public char- 
 acter in Reading is the proprietary school of the 
 Church High Schools' Company. It was started 
 four years ago and has a boarding-house attached 
 to it. It has now about forty or fifty pupils. 
 
 The fees charged vary from 12, I2s. for pupils 
 under ten up to 18, i8s. for pupils entering above 
 the age of thirteen. 
 
 Besides these two schools there appear from the 
 Directory to be fourteen private girls' schools in 
 Reading. From some of these no information has 
 been obtained. One small school gives merely an
 
 292 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 elementary education. Two or three are boarding 
 schools, charging sixty guineas a year. The rest 
 cannot well be classified in grades. The following is 
 a list of their fees for the year, and the number of 
 pupils stated to be in them last year : 
 
 A. Day pupils, 4. to 5 ; boarders, 28, 75. ; 
 thirty pupils, some of them little boys. 
 
 B. Day pupils, 4, 45. to 6 ; boarders, 28 ; 
 about forty pupils. 
 
 C. Day pupils, ,8 to 10; boarders, $2, los. ; 
 twenty-five boarders and twenty-five to thirty-five 
 day pupils. 
 
 D. Day pupils, .10 to 15 ; boarders, 27, 55. ; 
 seventy to eighty pupils. 
 
 E. Day pupils, 1 3, ios.6d.; boarders, 38,175. 6d.; 
 thirty to thirty-five pupils. 
 
 This graduated price-list suggests a nice variety 
 in the tastes of customers, though it is impossible 
 to arrange the schools in any very definite order in 
 the social scale. The first two must be very decidedly 
 competitors with the Kendrick School, the next two 
 are also said to be so, and most probably all are in 
 competition with it for some class of girls. The 
 number of day pupils is not in all cases given, but 
 the highest estimate possible would give a total of 
 185 Reading girls in schools of this class. 1 Lastly, 
 we may compare the figures that have been given 
 of the number of boys with the number of girls in 
 day schools in Reading. If, in any case of doubt 
 we allow a certain fixed proportion (say a half) of 
 the scholars to be boarders, we arrive at the result 
 
 1 There are probably also a few girls in schools not here mentioned, 
 but some of this number are boarders from elsewhere.
 
 v. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN READING 293 
 
 that the number of girls educated in secondary schools 
 in Reading itself is very nearly equal to the number 
 of boys. In each case it is about 320. The number 
 attending boarding schools outside Reading cannot 
 of course be ascertained. 
 
 Green Girls' School. The Green Girls' School 
 is an institution where twenty-one poor girls are 
 gratuitously boarded, clothed with a peculiar and 
 pretty costume, trained for domestic service, and 
 ultimately fitted out with clothes for the situations 
 found for them. It was founded in 1785 out of funds 
 collected by means of a certain course of sermons 
 preached under a charitable bequest. It has a good 
 house, bought for 1200, and the income from 
 endowment of about 350 is helped out by some 
 subscriptions, and by the sale of the girls' needle- 
 work. The school just pays its way. It seems to 
 be properly a close Church of England foundation, 
 but some children of dissenters are now said to be 
 admitted, in deference to the opinion of many in the 
 town. The girls are chosen by the governing body, 
 chiefly with regard to the poverty of their parents. 
 They come after passing the 5th standard in elemen- 
 tary schools, and stay till fifteen or sixteen. They 
 go home for short holidays, and are invited by their 
 parents on special days. , Under the tuition of the 
 matron and her daughter, the girls learn needlework, 
 and do all the work of the house, taking turns at 
 cooking. They spend about one hour and a half a 
 day in school to keep up their reading, writing, and 
 arithmetic. Reformers do not seem to be in any 
 hurry to disturb this school, which has every appear-
 
 294 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 ance of being admirably conducted. It may, how- 
 ever, be questioned whether it is well to restrict its 
 benefits to girls intended for domestic service. 
 
 Blue Coat School. The Blue Coat School is the 
 subject of hot controversy. It boards, clothes in 
 costume, and teaches forty-two boys, chosen from 
 the elementary schools, partly by examination, but 
 with a preference for the poor, and especially for 
 orphans. They come at about eleven and stay 
 till fifteen or sixteen. The buildings (costing with 
 the grounds 2566) are not large enough to hold 
 the number (fifty boys) required by the trust. 
 As it is, the dormitories are crowded, and the ac- 
 commodation in some respects is rough and hardly 
 sanitary. There were originally intended to be 
 twenty day boys, but the trust has never been able 
 to afford this. The income is about .1210, and the 
 expense of maintenance last year was 1 194, 195. 6d., 
 that is, about .30 a boy. Their education consists 
 largely in arithmetic, in which they seem to make 
 some progress, the elements of algebra, and the 
 beginning of Euclid ; they are taught some English 
 poetry by heart ; they learn physiology (that is, they 
 read a primer of physiology) ; they begin French ; 
 they spend an hour and a half a week in learning 
 Latin to the extent of construing strings of detached 
 sentences about Balbus, but without ever seeing the 
 writing of a Latin author, and they learn short-hand, 
 which is found to be useful for them. There are 
 usually about forty applications for the yearly 
 vacancies in the school, and those who leave get 
 good situations. Employers often apply to the
 
 v. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN READING 295 
 
 school for boys. The school boasts of having turned 
 out many noteworthy pupils in the past. The 
 headmaster, who lately died, seems to have been 
 a man admirably qualified for the care of the boys, 
 and strong testimony is borne to the good done to 
 many boys, in their intelligence and character, by 
 their sojourn in the school. There have been com- 
 plaints of religious exclusiveness in the election of 
 scholars. Against the charge it is pleaded, first, that 
 under the trust dissenters ought to be excluded, 
 secondly, that in fact they are not excluded, two 
 pleas which are inconsistent. The facts as to the 
 religious character of the trust are curious. The 
 school has, ever since it was actually opened in 
 1660, been treated as a Church of England school, 
 in the present usual sense of those words. It has 
 been built up by many benefactions, mainly given 
 on condition that church doctrines were taught, the 
 last of which was left no longer ago than 1888. 
 But with the original and chief endowment it is 
 otherwise. Richard Aid worth, who died in 1654, 
 and made his will in 1646, required that the boys 
 should be taught the ' catechism in the points of 
 Christian religion ; ' but though the continuous ex- 
 istence of the Church of England as a legal institution 
 was not at that period broken, its liturgy and teach- 
 ing had temporarily been changed, and the 'Cate- 
 chism in the points of Christian religion ' was quite 
 unlike the Catechism in the Book of Common Prayer. 
 The school is at present in the hands of the trustees 
 of the 'church charities' of Reading, a body of 
 gentlemen who cannot for a moment be blamed if 
 they have leanings in favour of church people, and
 
 296 STUDIES IN SECOND A R Y EDUCA TION in. 
 
 who, if they have not such leanings, are sure to be 
 suspected of them. It is further said that the en- 
 dowment ought certainly to be required to do some 
 work of wider general utility than teaching and main- 
 taining forty-two boys, though for reasons given 
 below it would be unwise to convert the institution 
 entirely into a day school. 
 
 West's Charity and other Funds applicable to 
 Education. It may be interesting to give a list of 
 the remaining charitable endowments of Reading, 
 though most of them are not applicable to purposes 
 of education. There are under the municipal trustees 
 of general charities twenty almshouses, with an in- 
 come of about 540 ; an endowment worth 30 a 
 year (left for lighting the market-place and keeping 
 an obelisk in repair), and about 6 a year left in 
 1787 to warm the county gaol, and now used by 
 the chaplain to help poor discharged prisoners. The 
 ' church charities ' consist, besides the Blue Coat 
 School, of twelve almshouses, with some ,234, an 
 educational charity, of which the part not paid to the 
 Blue Coat and Green Girls' School (38, 133. 4d.) 
 goes to the National Schools ; 219 a year given in 
 clothes at the Sunday Schools ; ^85 a year for pen- 
 sions given to old women in their homes; 124. a. 
 year from several bequests for giving money prizes 
 to ' meritorious female servants being of the Church 
 of England,' and lastly, Archbishop Laud's Charity. 
 Of this charity, with an income of 430, the part 
 now spent on charitable purposes is 19$. It is avail- 
 able for paying apprenticeship fees and poor maids' 
 marriage portions for members of the Church of
 
 v. SECOND A R Y SCHOOLS IN HEADING 297 
 
 England. Last year seven gifts of 2$ for maid- 
 servants, and three apprenticeship premiums for boys 
 leaving the Blue Coat School were paid, but it seems 
 that in two years out of three the greater part goes 
 in apprenticeship fees. There is a dispute as to the 
 good of these fees, some saying that apprenticeship 
 is for any good purpose obsolete. However this 
 may be, the trustees, whose consent would be neces- 
 sary if the money were to be applied to education, 
 object to any change. 
 
 There are, however, two large sums available for 
 the improvement of secondary education in Reading, 
 and the use that shall be made of them is under 
 consideration at the present time. The first is West's 
 Charity, an endowment held by Christ's Hospital in 
 London, and spent on the education of boys from 
 Reading, Newbury, and Wallingford at Christ's 
 Hospital. The system of patronage, by which these 
 scholars have hitherto been chosen, is said not to 
 result generally in the selection of boys who are 
 specially likely to profit by the education given at 
 the Hospital. This charity, along with the othe*-" 
 educational endowments of Reading, has been for 
 some time under the consideration of the Charity 
 Commissioners. The share of the property that falls 
 to Reading amounts to a gross income of rather over 
 1450 a year. It may be decided that this sum 
 shall be applied in connection with the schools in 
 Reading, or that it should continue to be spent at 
 Christ's Hospital. There is further the sum received 
 by Reading under the Local Taxation Act of 1890, 
 amounting to about 1250 a year, the benefit of 
 which, when applied to education, the secondary
 
 298 STUDIES IN SECOND A R Y ED UCA TION 1 1 1 . 
 
 schools of Reading may expect to share with the 
 science and art school and the local University 
 Extension centre. 
 
 Conclusion. Reading is thus approaching an 
 important crisis in its educational history. The annual 
 sum, that may now be added to the resources of 
 higher education in the town, considerably exceeds 
 the income of its existing foundations. Minor im- 
 provements that may absorb a small portion of this 
 money have already been mentioned, but it is now 
 possible to place the whole secondary education of 
 Reading on a better footing. The schools of Read- 
 ing are examples of the fact that, while first-grade 
 education is apt to be somewhat pampered, education 
 of the second grade is altogether too shabbily pro- 
 vided for. Most probably in a town like Reading, 
 it would have been better if at the outset a single 
 institution had been formed to provide education of 
 both grades for town boys. Much money might 
 have been saved ; the lower grade of education might 
 have been greatly improved. A few of the poorer 
 children, in the Kendrick Schools, might never have 
 been attracted away from the elementary schools, 
 which, however, might then have been required to 
 carry their teaching a little further. The only other 
 result would have been that a few of the richest 
 families would have sent their sons away to boarding 
 schools. As things stand now, the most important 
 object to be aimed at is to make the best of the 
 capabilities of the Kendrick Schools. It is not only 
 laboratories, an additional room or two, and suf- 
 ficiently large scholarships that are required at these
 
 v. SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN READING 299 
 
 schools. At the boys' school, a single good examina- 
 tion of the whole school ought to be substituted for 
 the present examinations. But the most important 
 requirement in these schools, as in many others of the 
 same grade, is the possession of sufficient funds to 
 improve the teaching staff. It ought not to be long 
 before schools occupying such a position obtain also 
 some of the advantages that first-grade schools 
 possess in their dignified buildings, spacious play- 
 grounds, school libraries and the like. The improve- 
 ment of teaching in schools like these may make it 
 more often possible for their scholars to pass on to 
 higher schools, and this would in turn react favour- 
 ably on education of the lower grade. Satisfactory 
 provision ought certainly to be made for scholars to 
 pass from the Kendrick Boys' School to the Grammar 
 School. A closer relation may in future grow up 
 between these schools to the advantage of both, 
 especially if the modern side of education is developed 
 at the Grammar School. It is essential that any 
 measures which may be taken to make other founda- 
 tions in the place more useful, should create no obstacle 
 to the progress of the Kendrick Schools. As Reading 
 grows, it is to be hoped it will require other second 
 grade schools in another part of the town, and it has 
 been suggested that the Blue Coat School would be 
 useful as a day-school. But it is probable that at 
 present the erection of a school of the same grade 
 as the Kendrick Schools would merely impair the 
 efficiency of the Kendrick Schools by reducing the 
 number of pupils below the minimum, which, on 
 educational as well as economical grounds, is neces- 
 sary to make a good school. The two hospital
 
 300 STUDIES IN SECOND A R Y ED UCA TION in. 
 
 schools in Reading might perhaps be made more 
 useful than at present if, while they continued to 
 board and clothe children, they sent them to the two 
 Kendrick Schools to be taught, any surplus funds 
 being diverted to educational purposes independent 
 of the Blue Coat foundation. How much can be 
 done by the Reading Secondary Schools depends on 
 how the money in the hands of Christ's Hospital is 
 disposed of. It cannot be doubted that more could 
 be done for education in Reading by applying the 
 money in the town, than by using it to take promis- 
 'ing boys to London. Such developments as have 
 here been suggested, could of course be best carried 
 out if all the foundations for secondary education in 
 the town were in the hands of one governing body. 
 For example, it would be much easier to arrive at a 
 satisfactory system of scholarships connecting the 
 Grammar and the Kendrick Schools if the two were 
 under one Board, as at Birmingham. There is much 
 in the past history of the Reading Schools which 
 illustrates the fact that the gradual working out of a 
 complete system of secondary education for any 
 town, is not likely to be accomplished, so long as 
 there is no authority whatever which has the duty of 
 considering the local needs in their entirety.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 IN the earlier chapters of this volume we have 
 traced the history of the relation of the State to 
 secondary schools in this country. In the later 
 chapters a picture has been given of the actual state 
 of secondary education as it exists to-day in various 
 typical districts. Even the worst provided of these 
 places stands probably above the average of the whole 
 of the country, in the amount and quality of school 
 provision ; for many of the more backward districts 
 have so little to show in the way of secondary schools 
 that it would scarcely be worth while to describe the 
 paltry provision that exists. The districts chosen 
 for the purposes of this volume, though not representa- 
 tive of the most backward parts of town and country, 
 are typical in their way of the various existing methods 
 of school supply and the difficulties which surround 
 them. Birmingham is a fair representative of towns 
 with large, well-ordered endowments ; Liverpool, of 
 an equally large area almost entirely destitute of such 
 foundations; London, of a vast disordered aggregation 
 of different unrelated agencies of all types and kinds ; 
 Reading, of the educational provision made in a 
 smaller country town, and of the vicissitudes which so 
 often mark the career of educational endowments. 
 
 301
 
 302 S TUDIES IN SECOND A R Y ED UCA TION in. 
 
 The picture given of the actual educational 
 conditions of these districts varies in its tones from 
 the comparatively bright colours of Birmingham to 
 the sombre grey of Liverpool. But though the 
 description of one town is more pleasant reading 
 than that of another, the main practical lesson to 
 which they all point is one and the same. In all 
 cases powers are needed by the Local Authority to 
 complete the supply of efficient secondary schools, 
 or to improve the quality of those that exist, beyond 
 what is possible under the limited powers given by 
 the Technical Instruction Acts. Birmingham is far 
 the most advanced in the matter, largely by reason 
 of the informal ' Secondary Education Board ' formed 
 by the governors of the King Edward's Foundation. 
 But even the possession of this magnificent endow- 
 ment has failed to enable them to keep pace with the 
 expanding educational demands of the town, and the 
 want of the necessary powers in the hands of some 
 Public Authority has forced the School Board into 
 an attempt to supply the gap in an indirect manner 
 open to many serious objections. 
 
 If powers to provide secondary schools are needed 
 in Birmingham, they are far more urgently wanted 
 in Liverpool, where the absence of endowment has 
 driven the chief secondary schools at once to starve 
 the instruction for the sake of economy, and to 
 supplement the fees by earning every possible 
 penny of public grants in the most objectionable 
 form in which such public money can be given, 
 namely, the grants on results of the Science and Art 
 Department. So fully alive is the Liverpool City 
 Council to the need of giving public aid to second-
 
 vi. CONCLUSION 303 
 
 ary education, that it has already made grants to 
 the College and Institute under the powers it now 
 possesses. But these powers are indirect and in- 
 adequate, and must be strengthened by a new Act 
 if a permanent and complete organisation of second- 
 ary schools is to be attained. 
 
 London is so vast that it is difficult to speak of it 
 as one district, but there is hardly a single weak- 
 ness in our secondary education system which is not 
 forcibly illustrated in one part or another of the 
 metropolis. Somerset, again, shows the extent to 
 which the wants of certain departments of second- 
 ary education are being met under the Technical 
 Instruction Acts, and how far these Acts are in- 
 adequate to grapple with the whole problem of 
 secondary education in a rural county. 
 
 Finally, we learn from Wales how a comprehensive 
 Intermediate Education Act, which has been the 
 result of the persistent demand by the Welsh people 
 that their educational needs should be attended to, 
 is enabling a part of the country, which has been 
 hitherto most backward in provision for secondary 
 education, to create an efficient and adequate system 
 of secondary schools. 
 
 The need, then, of a corresponding Act for England 
 is the universal and chief lesson of all the districts 
 examined. But there are other points which are 
 brought into strong relief in certain districts, and 
 which may serve to guide us in devising a system of 
 public secondary schools. 
 
 For example, we learn from the experience of 
 London, Birmingham, and Liverpool that the very 
 worst way in which a secondary school can receive
 
 304 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 public aid is by payments on results of examination ; 
 a fact which adds strength to the growing demand 
 that the Science and Art Department shall entirely 
 change the method on which their grants to day 
 schools are given. Organised science schools must 
 cease to mean schools organised for the earning of 
 grants, and individual examination, as a method of 
 assessing grants, must give way to efficient inspection. 
 
 In the next place, if we consider the recommenda- 
 tions of the Schools Inquiry Commission as to the 
 relation of various classes of secondary schools to one 
 another, we learn from Birmingham and elsewhere 
 that the three-fold grading of secondary schools has 
 been a failure in practice. It is clear, too, from the 
 proposals of Wales, that schools of a single grade 
 may be the best provision for secondary education 
 at all events in the smaller centres of population 
 provided that a University College is available by 
 means of scholarships for the pupils on leaving school. 
 It must be noted that the foundation of local Uni- 
 versity Colleges, since the Commissioners presented 
 their report, considerably affects their conclusions 
 both on grading and on other cognate matters. 
 
 The problem, however, of preventing the educational 
 grading of schools from being involved with the ques- 
 tion of a social distinction of classes is not yet entirely 
 solved. ' It is one of the inconveniences,' said Mr. T. 
 H. Green fifteen years ago, ' attaching to the present 
 state of society in England that all questions of 
 education are complicated by distinctions of class. 
 It embarrasses all the schemes of school reformers. 
 Such or such a course of study is settled on logical 
 grounds to be the best adapted for boys who are
 
 vi. CONCLUSION 305 
 
 being educated for a certain kind of career in life. 
 It gets the name of being the education of gentle- 
 men, and immediately the schools which give it 
 are crowded with boys not destined for such a 
 career at all ; while others, who have more real 
 aspiration for it, are virtually excluded on social 
 grounds. Another course is projected with a view 
 to a career which has to be entered upon earlier than 
 the other, and^ requiring different qualifications. It 
 gets the name of being less gentleman-like, is ticketed 
 second-grade (a term which, in the mouths of nine 
 out of ten who apply it to schools, has no educational 
 significance whatever, but purely a social one) and 
 a great part of the boys for whom it is best adapted 
 will not use it ; while of those to whom, just because 
 they make less social pretension, it is chiefly left, a 
 considerable number could turn the higher course 
 of study to account.' 
 
 Mr. Green is here alluding to the evils of cutting 
 middle-class education into two, and providing for 
 its two sections, as Mr. Matthew Arnold would have 
 said, on different planes. In the foregoing chapters 
 little has been said of the great public schools and 
 the private preparatory schools, which are for the 
 most part frequented by the sons of the wealthy. 
 In England these schools have been, and will con- 
 tinue to be, a great attraction to those who wish that 
 their sons shall, as they say, only associate with 
 gentlemen, and to those also who wish to turn their 
 sons into gentlemen if they can. There are very 
 great disadvantages in the exclusive character of 
 many of these schools, disadvantages which* leave 
 their mark on many of those who are taught in 
 
 u
 
 306 STUDIES IN SECOND A K Y ED UCA 7 'ION \\\. 
 
 them. Yet there are traditions and a sense of public 
 spirit in some of them which make up for many 
 drawbacks. 
 
 But already the monopoly of the higher education 
 by these great schools is being broken down. To 
 a large extent the organised secondary education 
 with which this book has to deal will pass them by. 
 The country is slowly making up its mind that, what- 
 ever the wealthy part of the community may do, 
 provision of a public kind shall be made for all those 
 in the middle class or the working class who demand 
 an education above the elementary schools, cheap, 
 effective, and close to their doors, with some public 
 guarantee for its efficiency. It is felt that where 
 existing endowments are required for this great 
 national purpose, to this they must be devoted. The 
 wealthy, who can well afford to pay for their children's 
 education, if they wish for schools which will exclude 
 those who are not the children of the aristocratic or 
 upper class, must make their own arrangements where 
 they do not desire to take advantage of the public 
 supply which may be available. 
 
 If this course is taken, the evil complained of by 
 Mr. Green need no longer embarrass ' all the schemes 
 of school reformers,' though some of the disadvan- 
 tages which accompany it must still affect the social 
 welfare of the nation. But another and greater diffi- 
 culty remains, namely, how to make our secondary 
 schools adequately fulfil the purpose of continua- 
 tion schools for children of artisans. The bulk of the 
 pupils of the schools described in this volume are of 
 the middle class. We do not assent to the vulgar 
 view that the liberal education of this class is a
 
 vi. CONCLUSION 307 
 
 matter outside the purview of the State. But, un- 
 doubtedly, the most urgent need of our time is to 
 provide facilities for the secondary education of 
 workmen's children, and, in the interests of all classes, 
 it is highly desirable that this education should be 
 given as far as possible in the same schools as those 
 attended by the middle class. The only machinery 
 as yet devised for securing this object is the provision 
 of scholarships for pupils of elementary schools. The 
 preceding chapters, especially those on London and 
 Birmingham, give a fair picture of the measure of 
 success or failure which has hitherto attended the 
 working of the scholarship system. The chief lesson 
 to be learned from the experience of these districts 
 is, that scholarships merely equivalent to the whole 
 or part of the school fees are not sufficient to enable 
 really poor boys to continue their school education, 
 and that if continuity is really desired, scholarships 
 must include some reasonable payment towards the 
 scholar's maintenance. The experience of London 
 further suggests that a lowering of the usual age- 
 limit is desirable. 
 
 The Local Taxation Act of 1890 and the second 
 Technical Instruction Act, passed in 1891, already 
 give ample facilities to County Councils to provide 
 for the continuation of education by means of 
 scholarships to secondary schools, and many bodies 
 are already administering scholarship schemes with 
 encouraging results. But in many districts their 
 efforts are checked by the fact that there are at 
 present no efficient schools at which such scholar- 
 ships could be tenable ; and even in better supplied 
 districts the curricula of many of the secondary 
 schools are quite unsuitable.
 
 308 STUDIES IN SECOND A R Y EDUCA TION in. 
 
 When Local Authorities take the whole matter 
 of secondary school organisation in hand, they will 
 have to deal boldly with the question of school cur- 
 riculum. The report of the Schools Inquiry Com- 
 mission makes us realise how far the choice of school 
 subjects of study is determined by the requirements 
 of the higher institutions, which form the natural 
 outlet for the best of the pupils. Now, the higher 
 institutions to which the new schools will point will 
 not, as a general rule, be the old universities, but 
 the higher provincial colleges and technical schools. 
 The medieval requirements of Oxford and Cambridge, 
 which, however stimulating to the great schools of 
 the leisured class, have often been so baneful to 
 the rural grammar-schools, must not be allowed to 
 blight the future of the new public secondary schools 
 of the country. These schools will not be technical 
 schools, but neither will they be merely literary 
 academies. We must meet the wants of a modern 
 epoch by the frank adoption of modern methods, 
 and by the careful study, though by no means the 
 servile imitation, of the best work which is being 
 done in those foreign countries which, in method 
 and organisation, are so far in advance of Great 
 Britain. 
 
 Public intervention, however, is not merely re- 
 quired in order to supply deficiencies in schools, but 
 also to secure the harmonious co-operation of existing 
 schools, which are now competing with and over- 
 lapping one another. Birmingham offers a signal 
 proof of the advantages of a common control, in the 
 harmonious working of the nine schools, subject to the 
 single governing body of the King Edward's Found-
 
 vi. CONCLUSION 309 
 
 ation. London exhibits all the evils which flow from 
 isolated action and want of continuity. How far the 
 public authority should go in the matter of regula- 
 tion is a matter for careful consideration. But it is 
 essential that such an authority should exist, and 
 that it should be local and not central. 
 
 The exact relation of the central Departments 
 to the new work is a thorny question, but one that 
 must be faced. Already the Local Taxation grants 
 of 1890 have affected, in a very marked degree, the 
 relation both of the central government and of local 
 authorities to the whole secondary education ques- 
 tion. The Science and Art Department, which till 
 lately was the sole public authority that was able to 
 give any pecuniary assistance to technical, artistic, or 
 scientific teaching in the country, finds itself surpassed 
 by the County Councils, which have at their disposal 
 a far larger sum than the Department. . Not only 
 is this the case, but the machinery for testing the 
 work done, in which the Science and Art Department 
 is far from perfect, will probably, in the future, be 
 supplied largely by local bodies. Then, if we turn 
 to the Charity Commission, which, on its educational 
 side, has been the only public body in charge of 
 intermediate education, we find that its position also 
 is being largely altered. The work which has been 
 done under the Welsh Intermediate Education Act 
 well illustrates this. The actual endowments of 
 Wales, which have been subject to schemes made by 
 the Charity Commission, form an extremely small 
 part of the total amount of public money now avail- 
 able for secondary education in Wales. Here, also, 
 the Local Taxation money, which, as we have seen
 
 310 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION m. 
 
 in an earlier chapter, has been almost wholly granted 
 by the Welsh County Councils for the purpose of 
 new secondary schools in Wales, has effected a great 
 change. The Treasury grant to these schools is 
 comparatively so small that the counties of Wales 
 feel themselves justified in organising a Central 
 Educational Board of their own, with powers of local 
 inspection, for the purpose of supervising the educa- 
 tion which is given from their own funds. It is 
 probable that the Treasury will, in ordinary cases, 
 accept the result of the inspection by this body. 
 The point, however, to be observed, is that the new 
 Welsh educational movement depends entirely for its 
 strength upon local resources. It is true that all the 
 Welsh county schemes are passing through the 
 hands of the Charity Commission with its elaborate 
 and cumbrous machinery, which may have been 
 suitable to a bygone day, when the alarms of the 
 public about charitable trusts were greater than they 
 are now, but which is quite unfitted to the present 
 time. There is something almost ridiculous in the 
 demand that Wales should hand over the Local 
 Taxation money, which English counties are dealing 
 with unfettered by the Science and Art Department, 
 to be dealt with by Charity Commission Schemes. 
 But no other method was possible at the time the 
 Local Taxation Act was passed, than to use the 
 machinery available under the Welsh Act. It is, 
 however, probable, that when once all the tedious 
 processes of the Endowed Schools Acts have been 
 passed through by the Welsh Joint Committees, 
 legislation will be demanded, which will put all 
 modifications or alterations into the hands of the
 
 vi. CONCLUSION 311 
 
 Provincial Educational Board of Wales. On the 
 other hand, England will be warned before obtaining 
 an Intermediate Education Act of her own, to secure 
 a very much simpler machinery for passing her 
 schemes into law than that to which Wales has 
 been subjected. 
 
 The changes which are probably destined to 
 some extent to put the action of the central Depart- 
 ments in the background, have, on the other hand, 
 given an entirely new life to the educational work of 
 Town and County Councils. It is to the development 
 and right guidance of this work that the attention 
 of those who are interested in the future of education 
 must now be turned. 
 
 It is clear, then, that a point has been reached in 
 the educational history of this country when further 
 legislation is required. In Wales, as we have seen, 
 an organised system of intermediate education is 
 being established under a special Act. In England 
 the position is very different. Since the Endowed 
 Schools Act of 1869, there has been no legislation 
 bearing on secondary education in its proper sense. 
 Steps of great importance have been taken, it is true, 
 but not on a path leading directly to that organised 
 secondary education for which it is the object of this 
 book to plead. The Technical Instruction Act of 
 
 1889 gave powers to local bodies to spend money for 
 purposes which cannot by any possibility include a 
 complete scheme of secondary education. The great 
 windfall of money under the Local Taxation Act of 
 
 1890 has set the County Councils to work in earnest, 
 under the Technical Instruction Act, in every part 
 of the country, except London. But the further the
 
 312 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION ill. 
 
 work goes, the more clearly is it realised by those 
 who are carrying it on, that a well-organised net- 
 work of cheap secondary schools in every county is 
 essentially necessary. 
 
 The country may then fairly demand two things : 
 first, that the Local Taxation money shall be now 
 permanently devoted to educational purposes under 
 an Act of Parliament ; secondly, that legislation shall 
 be passed on lines similar to those of the Welsh Act, 
 enabling County Councils to use any part of this 
 money for secondary schools, to rate themselves to 
 the extent of a halfpenny rate for this purpose, and 
 to have control, as in the case of Wales, over such 
 endowments as should become part of the general 
 county scheme. The machinery by which these 
 objects should be carried out would be something of 
 the following kind. 
 
 The County Council would be required to appoint 
 a committee, to which certain co-opted members, and 
 representatives where possible of School Boards 
 might be added, and to this committee the duty 
 of drafting a scheme or schemes would be committed. 
 The part of the scheme which embraced endowments 
 would, as in the case of Wales, pass in the first 
 instance through the hands of the Charity Commis- 
 sion, the method of passing the schemes into law 
 being so far as possible simplified under the Act. 
 But there is no reason whatever why the schemes 
 dealing with the Local Taxation money, or the 
 money voluntarily raised by rate, should pass under 
 the hands of any central office. It was only by acci- 
 dent that this money passed under the Charity Com- 
 mission schemes in Wales. In the hurried legislation
 
 vi. CONCLUSION 313 
 
 of 1890 any other arrangement was, under the circum- 
 stances, impossible. If any grant were to be made 
 by the Treasury, as is the case in Wales, on the 
 ground of her inadequate endowments, there might 
 be some reason found for State inspection or State 
 control. But if this were not the case, it would be 
 difficult to persuade the English County Councils to 
 accept central State control ; they would desire to 
 make their own arrangements, only acting with the 
 Charity Commission in cases where it was necessary 
 to fit existing endowments into the schemes. 
 
 It is certainly desirable that when Provincial 
 Boards are formed, representatives of the educational 
 side of the Charity Commission, or the State 
 Educational Council of the future, should sit on the 
 Provincial Boards to advise though not to vote. But 
 it is not desirable that the new money in the hands 
 of County Councils should be drawn in under the 
 jurisdiction of authorities governed by Charitable 
 Trusts Acts and Endowed Schools Acts. 
 
 The new Act would contain such general pro- 
 visions as to a conscience clause and religious teaching 
 as are contained in the Welsh Act and the Endowed 
 Schools Acts. It would give powers for the formation 
 of County Governing Bodies and Local Governing 
 Bodies, and for the administration of the property of 
 endowments, so far as such powers are required. No 
 provisions for State inspection would be necessary in 
 such an arrangement, though the existing powers of 
 the Charity Commissioners might be maintained in 
 the case of endowments. The Act should give 
 facilities for counties to act together so that Pro- 
 vincial Boards of Education might be formed like
 
 314 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 the Provincial Board in Wales, with powers to 
 arrange for the training of teachers, the inspection 
 and examination of schools, superannuation of 
 teachers, and the like. If difficulties arose in the 
 grouping of counties for such purposes, an appeal 
 might lie to the Charity Commission or the Lord 
 President. The real difficulty of the case is to 
 discover the proper method of weaving together 
 the old endowments and the new public funds of 
 the County Councils without fettering the existing 
 Local Authorities. The County and Town Councils 
 will wish to make their arrangements as freely as 
 they make them now for technical schools or free 
 libraries, and yet when endowments are brought 
 in, the provisions of existing legislation would at 
 once curtail their freedom. 
 
 An Act for the registration of teachers is also 
 imperatively needed. It is essential, in the interest 
 of the new schools that will come into existence, as 
 well as of the older endowed schools, that in future 
 those who undertake the profession of teaching in 
 these schools shall show that they are in some degree 
 qualified for the work. The demand from the best 
 teachers in the country for such a measure is more 
 and more strongly expressed, and all those who are 
 engaged in tentatively administering the new funds 
 are feeling this need no less strongly than the teachers. 
 The 'great need of teachers who have more know- 
 ledge than certificated masters, and more skill than 
 graduates,' was enforced by the Schools Inquiry 
 Commissioners twenty years ago. They recom- 
 mended a system of registration, and they suggested 
 that the master of a private school who passed the
 
 vr. CONCLUSION 315 
 
 examination prescribed for masters of endowed 
 schools, would be able to adduce the fact as a 
 sufficient proof of his possessing the attainments 
 requisite for his profession. There are questions as 
 to the conditions which should be fulfilled before a 
 teacher should be registered, and as to the com- 
 position of the Council of Education that must 
 superintend the work, which present some difficulty. 
 But a great step forward has been made now that a 
 Select Committee of the House of Commons, with the 
 Vice-President as its chairman, has definitely asserted 
 that registration of teachers in secondary schools is 
 desirable ; that it should be made compulsory upon 
 teachers appointed to teach in all secondary schools, 
 assisted by endowments or public money, and ulti- 
 mately upon teachers in all other secondary schools ; 
 that the qualifications for registration should include 
 evidence both of attainments and of teaching capa- 
 city ; and finally, that, with this object, additional 
 facilities are required, for the training of teachers 
 in secondary schools. 1 
 
 It is most desirable that there should be easy 
 interchange between the best elementary teachers 
 and secondary teachers, and it may be hoped that at 
 the day training colleges in the large towns or the 
 universities they will in future receive their training 
 side by side. 
 
 It cannot be long before a bill for the regis- 
 tration of teachers will be passed into law, with 
 the hearty approval of all the best teachers in the 
 country. If there is still a prejudice against such a 
 
 1 See Special Report of Select Committee of the House of Commons 
 in Teachers Registration and Organisation Bill, July 1891.
 
 3 16 STUDIES fN SECOND.! K V KD L *CA TION in. 
 
 bill in some of the old public schools, where the 
 picked men of the university can be obtained at 
 a high price, and they do not, it must be said, 
 always turn out to be successful teachers, neither 
 this prejudice, nor the objections of those who are 
 not teachers but charlatans, can be allowed to stand 
 in the way. ' We must ensure,' as an able teacher 
 once said, ' that the teacher is a teacher, and not an 
 individual who, having no other means of support, 
 opens a school in which to rob parents of their fees, 
 and children of their opportunities.' 
 
 And where small private schools remain, the 
 country has a right to demand that they shall be 
 carried on in proper buildings, and not under the 
 insanitary and crowded conditions which have too 
 often characterised some of these schools. Schools 
 which are badly ventilated, ill supplied with apparatus, 
 which would fail to pass the requirements of the 
 Whitehall Inspector, schools which are the ' happy 
 hunting-ground of the charlatan,' must, in the best 
 interests of the community, be wiped out. 
 
 When we turn to consider the question of Local 
 Authorities, we find that the local arrangements for 
 the governing bodies of the counties or the smaller 
 localities will probably be settled largely without the 
 intervention of schemes or Acts of Parliament. 
 
 The area of jurisdiction of the County Governing 
 authorities of the future will correspond to that of 
 the County Councils and the County Boroughs. The 
 case of the boroughs which lie within the County 
 Council areas will have to be carefully considered, 
 so that their independence of action shall not be 
 fettered, and the local governing body of each school
 
 vi. CONCLUSION 317 
 
 will be arranged on a popular basis. But the 
 counties and the great towns, like Birmingham and 
 Liverpool, must clearly have a free hand in the 
 formation of their County or Borough Governing 
 bodies, and in the arrangements by which these local 
 bodies shall be linked to the County bodies, which 
 will in the main supply the funds. 
 
 The formation of wider Provincial Authorities 
 was, as shewn in an earlier chapter, a subject which 
 occupied the close attention of the Schools Inquiry 
 Commission, and of their Assistant Commissioners, 
 Mr. T. H. Green and Mr. Matthew Arnold. The 
 position is, however, much changed since they 
 wrote their reports. Responsible Local Authorities 
 have been created in the counties, and to the volun- 
 tary action of these bodies, under permissive powers 
 given by the Act of Parliament, we must look, if joint 
 operations leading to the formation of Provincial 
 Boards are to be expected. In Wales an example 
 has been set of the formation of such a Provincial 
 Authority, by purely voluntary action, which will 
 be of the highest value to the intermediate schools 
 of Wales in giving the ' test, stimulus, advice, dignity,' 
 which the Commissioners said it was the duty of the 
 State to provide. But in Wales the strong desire of 
 the people for educational efficiency, and their strong 
 national feeling, have made this work easy and accep- 
 table. It remains to be seen, whether counties will 
 be willing to group themselves in England, in order 
 to obtain the help which Provincial Boards could 
 give, whose object would be to inspect and advise, 
 rather than to control. It is almost impossible now 
 to insist by law on the formation of such Provincial
 
 3 1 8 STUDIES IN SECOND A R V ED UCA TION in. 
 
 Authorities. An Intermediate Board for the whole 
 of England, without any Provincial Boards, is hardly 
 to be desired. The needs of the different parts of 
 the country vary largely, and provincial and local 
 patriotism should be invoked, and the assistance of 
 the local University Colleges should be demanded. 
 
 But there will remain much for a ' High Council 
 of Education,' as Mr. Matthew Arnold called it, to do. 
 In all matters concerning admission to the public 
 service, in linking together the various kinds of 
 education which are under public control, it will 
 be able to effect much ; on methods of study and 
 subjects of instruction, it will be able to give valuable 
 advice. In the work of registration of teachers, such 
 a National Council, and only such a Council, can 
 perform the work that has to be done. 
 
 We may fairly believe, then, that with the help of 
 new legislation, \ve shall obtain in some degree, at 
 all events, that organisation and co-ordination for 
 which we have waited so long. Those endowments, 
 which are a hindrance rather than a help, which 
 stand in the way of a good school, must be entirely 
 remodelled or swept away. Every facility must be 
 provided for the education of girls especially in country 
 schools, and we may hope to see good dual schools, 
 with buildings both for boys and girls, or even mixed 
 schools, if the people of the neighbourhood desire 
 it, springing up in many a country district, which 
 has hitherto been totally without adequate provision. 
 The generous help of the public in the provision of 
 buildings for these schools may be confidently looked 
 for. The question of the grading of schools, the 
 problem of settling their relations to one another, will
 
 vi. CONCLUSION 319 
 
 not be found to be very difficult in some of the great 
 towns, but in many of the country districts it will be 
 impossible to settle this matter too rigidly at the 
 outset. The first necessity is to establish a good, 
 cheap school which does not overlap or compete 
 with any other school in each district of say, 8000 
 to 15,000 inhabitants ; and to provide a good supply 
 of scholarships (including, as a rule, provision for main- 
 tenance) leading from the elementary schools. The 
 arrangements for exhibitions to carry the best pupils 
 from secondary schools to t University Colleges or to 
 higher schools, which must be founded where they 
 do not already exist, will be gradually worked out by 
 County Governing bodies. But the provision of the 
 more popular schools is the first essential point. The 
 people who have nothing to fall back upon in their 
 own neighbourhood but finishing schools, or private 
 schools of a very uncertain degree of efficiency, have 
 a right to demand a public school. 
 
 It is here that our most conspicuous deficiency 
 lies at the present day, and there are many children 
 in our elementary schools whose lives are stunted, 
 and whose abilities are crippled, because we have for 
 so long failed to remedy this deficiency. We have 
 reached a time when, after a prolonged period of 
 sluggishness, the great body of parents who feel the 
 need, and a large part of the public who perceive 
 how the nation suffers from the failure to meet the 
 need, are beginning to make their voices heard. 
 Funds are, or can be made, available. If care is taken 
 to see that the people are really interested in their 
 schools, much good work can now be done. ' The 
 people, perhaps, cannot give guidance, but they can
 
 320 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION in. 
 
 give life, which is even more valuable than guidance. 
 With the people what we do may be imperfect ; 
 without them we shall probably do little or nothing.' 
 While we realise how faulty and incomplete is our 
 present system, we must also feel that a great stirring 
 of the forces which make for educational progress is 
 taking place in many parts of the country. How 
 most rapidly to emerge from the present chaos is the 
 problem which we have to solve. In the effective 
 carrying out of the task which lies before the country, 
 the help of many workers is needed. There is good 
 reason for believing that now at last the workers are 
 ready, and that we are on the eve of a complete re- 
 construction of an important part of our educational 
 system, the defects of which have hitherto been a 
 grave hindrance to the effective development both 
 of the elementary and the higher education of the 
 country.
 
 NOTE ON THE OBJECTS AND WORK OF THE NATIONAL 
 
 ASSOCIATION FOR THE PROMOTION OF TECHNICAL 
 
 AND SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 IT may be of some interest to give a short account of the 
 development and growth of the Association, in connection 
 with which this book is published, together with the more 
 important events of a public character which have taken 
 place in connection with its work during the last four years. 
 The first suggestion of the formation of an Association was 
 made by the two present General Secretaries, Sir Henry 
 Roscoe, M.P., and Mr. Arthur Acland, M.P., after a private 
 meeting held at the house of Mr. George Dixon, M.P., in 
 Birmingham, in the autumn of 1886. In the spring of 1887 they 
 resolved to call a preliminary meeting to consider the formation 
 of an Association in one of the Committee Rooms of the House 
 of Commons. This meeting was attended by several members 
 of both Houses of Parliament, and among others by Professor 
 Huxley. It was then determined to form an Association, and 
 the Inaugural Meeting was held on July ist, 1887, Lord 
 Hartington (now Duke of Devonshire), who was appointed 
 President of the Association, being in the chair. The following 
 objects which were then agreed upon have been the main 
 objects which the Association has kept in view for the last four 
 years. 
 
 ' The Association for the Promotion of Technical (including 
 Commercial and Agricultural) Education aims at encouraging 
 those educational reforms which will improve the capacity, in a 
 broad sense, of all those upon whom our industries depend. 
 Its object is not to interfere with the teaching of trades in 
 workshops, or with the industrial and commercial training in 
 the manufactory and in the warehouse. It desires (i) To 
 develop increased general dexterity of hand and eye among 
 
 X
 
 322 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 the young, which may be especially useful to those who have to 
 earn their own livelihood, and at the same time improve rather 
 than hinder their general education. (2) To bring about more 
 widespread and thorough knowledge of those principles of art 
 and science which underlie much of the industrial work of the 
 nation. (3) To encourage better secondary instruction generally, 
 which will include more effective teaching of foreign languages 
 and science, for those who have to guide our commercial 
 relations abroad, and to develop our industries at home. With 
 these and similar objects in view, the Association desires to 
 bring about an improved organisation of the Industrial Educa- 
 tion of both sexes in accordance with the needs of various dis- 
 tricts. One of its main purposes is to stimulate public opinion 
 by encouraging consultation and discussion between the re- 
 presentatives of various localities on the subject generally 
 and on any legislation that may be proposed, by conferences 
 and meetings in various towns and villages ; and by the diffusion 
 of information in a cheap and popular form. The Association 
 wishes, where it can do so, to make better known the work of 
 existing institutions, and to act in harmony with all those who 
 are interested in bringing about more effective progress in a 
 matter of the utmost importance to the country.' 
 
 The various events of importance connected with the work 
 of the Association which have taken place during the last four 
 years may be summarised as follows : 
 
 1887. 
 
 July 19. The Government's Technical Instruction Bill was 
 introduced. It was read a second time on August 
 gth, and afterwards withdrawn. 
 
 Meetings and Conferences for the purpose of 
 establishing branches and to promote the work of 
 the Association were held at the following places 
 during the autumn and winter. Keighley (Ad- 
 dress by Lord Rosebery), Leeds, Nottingham, 
 Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester (Address by 
 Professor Huxley), Oldham, Taunton, Dewsbury, 
 Southampton, Manchester (Ancoats), and Bradford. 
 Branches formed at Leeds, Nottingham, Liver-
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 323 
 
 1888. 
 February 
 
 March 
 
 April 
 
 May 
 
 17- 
 
 June 
 
 20. 
 
 1889. 
 February 
 
 22. 
 
 May 
 
 8. 
 
 
 15- 
 
 July 
 
 pool, Manchester, Newcastle, Taunton and South- 
 ampton. 
 
 10. Introduction of Sir Henry Roscoe's Technical 
 
 Education Bill. 
 29. Conference at the House of Commons between 
 
 the Executive Committee and representatives 
 
 of local branches, Lord Hartington in the 
 
 Chair. 
 10. Deputation to Lord Cranbrook, to urge the 
 
 desirability of State Aid to University 
 
 Colleges. 
 27. Debate on Secondary Education in the House 
 
 of Commons on the motion of Mr. Arthur 
 
 Acland. 
 
 During Spring new Branches formed at 
 
 Dundee and Warrington. 
 
 17. The Technical Instruction Bill of the Govern- 
 ment introduced. It was, however, withdrawn 
 
 before the second reading. 
 20. Deputation to Lord Cranbrook, on the subject 
 
 of Agricultural Education. 
 
 22. Sir Henry Roscoe's Technical Education Bill, 
 and Mr. Stuart Rendel's Intermediate Educa- 
 tion (Wales) Bill introduced. 
 Sir Henry Roscoe's Technical Education Bill 
 
 read a second time without opposition. 
 The Intermediate Education (Wales) Bill read 
 
 a second time. 
 15. Sir Henry Roscoe's Bill went into Committee. 
 
 22. The Government announced that they could not 
 
 accept Sir Henry Roscoe's Bill. 
 
 23. The Intermediate Education (Wales) Bill, passed 
 
 through Committee. 
 
 24. The Technical Instruction Bill of the Govern- 
 
 ment was introduced. 
 
 25. At the Second Annual Meeting of the Associa- 
 
 tion, the words ' and Secondary ' were added 
 to the title of the Association
 
 324 
 
 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 August 19. The Government's Technical Instruction Bill 
 
 became law. 
 
 31. The Central Scheme of the Charity Com- 
 missioners, in reference to the proposed 
 Polytechnics for London was published. 
 
 November i. The Intermediate Education (Wales) Act came 
 
 into operation. 
 
 26. Conference at Manchester between the various 
 branches of the Association, together with 
 representatives of local authorities, and the 
 Executive Committee, to discuss the working 
 of the Technical Instruction Act, 1889. 
 
 During the year the Treasury issued a 
 Minute allocating a sum of ^15,000 to the 
 Local University Colleges. ^5000 was also 
 set aside for the promotion of Agricultural 
 Education. 
 
 1890. 
 February 
 
 March 
 
 April 
 
 June 
 
 5. Suggestions presented to Education Depart- 
 ment with regard to the Code. 
 12. Sir Henry Roscoe introduced the 'Technical 
 Education (Elementary) Bill,' (withdrawn on 
 promise that the matter would be dealt with 
 in the Code). 
 
 28. New Code issued making improved provision 
 for Technical Instruction and making great 
 alterations in the system of Grants. 
 
 12. First Conference of Joint Education Committees 
 of Wales at Chester. 
 
 14. Introduction by the Government of the 'Educa- 
 tion Code Bill,' dealing chiefly with Evening 
 Schools. 
 
 5. ^5000 allocated by the Science and Art Depart- 
 ment for aid to Technical Instruction for the 
 year 1891-2. Grants provided for Manual 
 Instruction. 
 
 7. Second Conference of Joint Education Com- 
 mittees of Wales at Rhyl.
 
 APPENDIX 325 
 
 1890. 
 
 June 10. Rejection of Mr. Arthur Acland's amendment 
 
 to the Local Taxation Bill proposing to divert 
 the fund assigned to the extinction of licences 
 to the purpose of Technical Education. 
 19. Deputation from the Executive Committee to 
 Sir Wm. Hart Dyke respecting Science and 
 Art Department's circulars. 
 
 July 19. Third Conference of Joint Education Com- 
 
 mittees at Chester. 
 
 21. Mr. Goschen announced in the House of Com- 
 mons that the grant intended for the extinc- 
 tion of licences would be available in Wales 
 for the purposes of the Intermediate Education 
 (Wales) Act, 1 889, and that in Englandjit would 
 be handed over to County Councils, with an 
 intimation that charges might in the future be 
 placed upon them for Secondary Education. 
 
 August i. Mr. Arthur Acland moved in Committee, on the 
 Local Taxation Bill, that the Council of any 
 county or county borough might contribute 
 any part of the new grant, not exceeding 
 one-half, for the purposes of Technical Edu- 
 cation, and might apply the rest, as if it were 
 endowment, to purposes of Secondary Edu- 
 cation. 
 
 The Government accepted the first part of 
 the amendment but opposed the second part, 
 which was withdrawn on the understanding 
 that the whole, and not only a moiety, of 
 the residue should be applicable to Technical 
 Education. 
 
 September 19. First Conference of representatives from the 
 whole of the Welsh Counties met at Shrews- 
 bury. 
 
 October 6. Issue of the Association's publication ' Sugges- 
 tions to County Councils and other local 
 authorities on the use of the New Fund.' 
 
 November 26. Introduction of Sir Henry Roscoe's Technical 
 Instruction (Amendment) Bill.
 
 326 
 
 STUDIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 1890. 
 
 November 28. Second Conference of representatives from the 
 whole of the Welsh Counties met at Shrews- 
 bury. 
 
 December 4. Mr. Goschen replying to a question by Lord 
 Hartington in the House of Commons, prac- 
 tically assured the permanence of the Grant 
 under the Local Taxation Act for Educational 
 purposes. 
 
 5. Conference at the Society of Arts between re- 
 presentatives of County Councils and other 
 local authorities and the Executive Committee 
 of the Association on the application of the 
 new grant to Technical Education, Lord 
 Hartington in the Chair. 
 
 1891 
 January 
 
 all 
 
 30. Third Conference of representatives from 
 
 the Welsh Counties met at Shrewsbury. 
 20. Sir Henry Roscoe's 'Technical Instruction 
 
 (Amendment) Bill' became law. 
 29. Fourth Conference of representatives from all 
 
 the Welsh Counties met at Shrewsbury. 
 3. Fourth Annual Meeting of the Association, 
 
 Lord Hartington in the Chair. 
 Meeting of Organising Secretaries of County 
 and County Borough Councils at the Offices 
 of the Association. 
 
 10. Formation of an 'Association of Directors and 
 Organising Secretaries for Technical and 
 Secondary Education.' 
 
 November 6. First number of ' Record of Technical and 
 Secondary Education' issued. 
 
 The Offices of the Association are at 14 Dean's Yard, West- 
 minster. President, The Duke of Devonshire ; Treasurer, Sir 
 John Lubbock, M.P. ; General Secretaries, Sir Henry E. 
 Roscoe, M.P., Mr. Arthur Acland, M.P. ; Secretary, Mr. H. 
 Llewellyn Smith. 
 
 March 
 
 May 
 July 
 
 October
 
 APPENDIX 327 
 
 LIST OF THE CHIEF PUBLICATIONS 
 OF THE ASSOCIATION. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL LEAFLETS. 
 
 I. General Series. (5) 
 
 II. Popular Series. (5) 
 III. Primary Education. (5) 
 IV. Secondary and Commercial Education. (4) 
 
 V. Examples at Home and Abroad. (3) 
 
 LECTURES, ADDRESSES, AND MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 Price. 
 S. rf. 
 
 Address delivered at Manchester for the Association, 
 
 Nov. 29, 1887, by Professor Huxley, F.R.S. each o i 
 
 Address delivered at the Keighley Institute, Oct. I4th, 
 
 1887, by Lord Rosebery, . . . each o i 
 
 Technical Education and Foreign Competition, by Swire 
 
 Smith (reprinted from the Westminster Review), each o 6 
 
 Technical Education and Elementary Schools (An 
 Abstract of the Recommendations of the Final 
 Report of Royal Commission on the Elementary 
 Education Acts, 1888), . . . per 100 i o 
 
 First Four Annual Reports, . . . each o 6 
 
 The New Education Code, 1889. Rough Abstract of 
 the more Important Alterations, ditto 1890, (each) 
 
 per 100 i o 
 
 Report to the Executive Committee on certain points 
 connected with Scotch Education. H. Llewellyn 
 Smith. April 1889, .... each o 6 
 
 The Industrial Value of Technical Training. Some 
 opinions of practical men, with a Prefatory Note by 
 Lord Hartington (reprinted from the Contemporary 
 Review, May 1889), .... each o 6 
 
 'The Welsh Intermediate Education Act': What is it 
 
 and what will it do? (In English and Welsh), per too i o
 
 328 STUDIES IN SECOND AR Y EDUCA TION 
 
 Price. 
 5. d. 
 
 Intermediate and Technical Education Acts (Wales). 
 A Manual by T. E. Ellis, M.P., and Ellis Griffith, 
 M.A., ...... each i o 
 
 ' Technical Education in England and Wales.' A Re- 
 port to the Executive Committee on the existing 
 facilities for Technical and Scientific Instruction in 
 England and Wales, .... each i o 
 
 Technical Education in a Scotch Town (Dundee and 
 
 District), ..... each o 3 
 
 Elementary Education at the Paris Exhibition, by T. G. 
 
 Rooper, ..... each o 2 
 
 Guide to Evening Classes in London, . . each o 6 
 
 Suggestions to County Councils, . . . each o i 
 
 Notes on the Working of the Technical Instruction 
 
 Acts, ...... per 100 i o 
 
 Selected Reports of Committees of County Councils, and 
 other Schemes and Proposals for the utilisation of 
 the New Fund under the Local Taxation Act, 1890, 
 for Educational Purposes, . . . each i o 
 
 Ditto (Second Series), .... each i o 
 
 Report of Conference between Executive Committee 
 and representatives of County Councils, Dec. 5th, 
 1890, each o 6 
 
 Technical Education for Women. (Suggestions to County 
 
 Councils), ..... per 100 i o 
 
 Record of Technical and Secondary Education, pub- 
 lished bi-monthly, commencing Nov. 1891 (half-price 
 to subscribers to the Association), . . each 2 o
 
 INDEX 
 
 ABERYSTWYTH COLLEGE, 109^ 
 
 Accommodation, 35. 
 
 Age of Pupils, 48. 
 
 , King Edward's Schools, 
 
 Birmingham, 260 ff. 
 
 , Wales, 142. 
 Alleyn's School, London, 198. 
 Apprenticeship, 2. 
 Arnold, Matthew, I, 7, 10, n, 
 
 12, 13. 
 
 BATH and West of England Asso- 
 ciation, 100. 
 Battersea Grammar School, 197. 
 
 , Sir Walter St. John's 
 
 School, 197. 
 Birmingham. (See also Bridge 
 
 Street, Cost, Physical Training, 
 
 Scholarships, etc.) 
 
 , Grading of Schools, 253, 
 
 264. 
 
 , Higher Institutions in, 250. 
 
 , Inferences from, 301-2, 308. 
 
 , King Edward's Schools, 
 
 250^ 
 , King Edward's Schools 
 
 Statistics, 255, 257, 260, 261, 
 
 263, 268, 270, 272. 
 Blackheath Proprietary School, 
 
 199. 
 
 Bluecoat School, Reading, 294. 
 Boreman (Sir William), Founda- 
 tion, Greenwich, 177. 
 
 Boys' Public Day School Com- 
 pany, 195, 197. 
 
 Bridge Street, Birmingham, 
 Higher Grade School, 273-4. 
 
 Building Grants, Wales, 138. 
 
 CARNARVONSHIRE, Scheme of, 
 
 132. 
 Central Departments, Relation to 
 
 organised Secondary Education, 
 
 Chancery, Court of, 54. 
 
 Charitable Trusts Acts, Founda- 
 tion of Scholarships under, 177. 
 
 Charities. See Endowments. 
 in Reading, 296. 
 
 Charity Commission, 21, 55, 63, 
 147. 
 
 and Scholarships, 177 ff. 
 
 in Wales, Part n. Chapter 3, 
 passim. 
 
 , Relation to organised Secon- 
 dary Education, 309^ 
 
 , Schemes of, 
 
 Christ's Hospital, 192. 
 
 , New Scheme, 189. 
 
 , Relation to Education 
 
 Reading, 297. 
 
 City and Guilds Institute, 9. 
 City of London School, 192. 
 Clapham School, 197. 
 Classics, teaching of, 30. 
 Colfe's School, Lewisham, 198.
 
 33 
 
 INDEX 
 
 College of Preceptors, 92. 
 
 Commission on Popular Educa- 
 tion, 20. 
 
 on Public Schools, 21. 
 
 , Schools Inquiry, 7, 21, 
 172. 
 
 , Schools Inquiry, Recom- 
 mendations, 62 ff. 
 , Schools Inquiry, Report, 
 Chapter 3, passim (on Wales), 
 107, (on Birmingham), 251 ff. 
 
 on Technical Instruction, 9, 
 
 22. 
 
 Committee on Intermediate Edu- 
 cation (Wales), 112 ff. 
 
 Conclusion, 301. 
 
 Conferences of Joint Committees 
 (Wales), 125^. 
 
 Continuation of Education, Prob- 
 lem of, 187. 
 
 Schools (London), 179. 
 
 Continuity of Education, 306. 
 , Birmingham, 264^ 
 
 , Reading, 282 ff. 
 
 Cookery Classes in Somerset, 101. 
 
 , teaching in Girls' Schools, 
 
 London, 205. 
 
 Coopers' Grammar School, Lon- 
 don, 196. 
 
 Cost of Education, 36. 
 
 , Bridge Street School, Bir- 
 mingham, 274. 
 
 , Kendrick School, Reading, 
 
 287. 
 
 , King Edward's Schools, 
 
 Birmingham, 271^: 
 
 Secondary Schools (Lon- 
 don), 167^". 
 
 Council of Education, 66, 318. 
 
 Liverpool, 245. 
 
 County and District Organisation, 
 Somerset, 103 ff. 
 
 County Councils and Scholarships, 
 89. 
 
 and Technical Instruction, 
 
 91- 
 County Education Committee, 
 
 Somerset, 96^". 
 
 County Governing Bodies, 316. 
 Cowper Street School, London, 
 
 195- 
 
 , New Scheme, 190. 
 
 Curriculum of Schools, 28 ff. 
 
 London Boys' Schools, \6off. 
 
 , London, Middle Schools 
 
 for Girls, 203. 
 
 of new Secondary Schools, 
 
 308. 
 
 , Reading Grammar School, 
 
 281. 
 
 , Kendrick School, 285. 
 
 DAIRY Schools in Somerset, 96. 
 Drawing Classes in Somerset, 101. 
 Dulwich College, 197. 
 
 EMANUEL School, London, 197. 
 Endowed Schools, History of, 16 
 
 ff- 
 
 , London, 147. 
 
 , Number and Condition of, 
 
 , Select Committee on, 87. 
 
 , Statistics, 77, 82. 
 
 Endowed Schools Acts, 21. 
 , Select Committee on, 93. 
 
 , Working of, joff. 
 Endowment, Schools dependent 
 
 on (London), 171 ff. 
 Endowments, 6, 7, 65. 
 
 , History of, 172. 
 
 , London, History of, 
 
 , London, Revision of,
 
 INDEX 
 
 S3' 
 
 Endowments, Non-educational, 
 
 79- 
 
 , Removal of, 78. 
 
 , Revision of, 62. 
 Examination of Schools, 59. 
 
 , College of Preceptors, 92. 
 
 , Local, 92. 
 
 , Science and Art Depart- 
 ment, 92. 
 
 , Joint Board, 92. 
 
 Exhibitions, 32. 
 
 FEES, 36, 77. 
 
 , London Schools, 167 ff. 
 , Grammar School, Reading, 
 281. 
 
 , Schools dependent on, 170. 
 , Private Girls' Schools Read- 
 ing, 292. 
 , Wales, 142. 
 
 Foreign Schools, 37 ff. 
 
 Free Education, 49, 63. 
 
 Froebel, 6. 
 
 GIRLS, Education of, 33 ff, doff, 
 
 63,318. 
 Girls' High Schools in London, 
 
 statistics, 201. 
 
 Middle Schools in London, 
 statistics, 203. 
 
 , North London Collegiate 
 
 School, 20 1. 
 
 Public Day School Company, 
 200. 
 
 Girls' Schools, Birmingham, 255^! 
 
 Reading, 289^! 
 
 Secondary Education in 
 
 London, 200. 
 
 Glamorganshire, Scheme of, 133. 
 Godolphin School, London, 193 . 
 Governing Bodies, 52 ff, 63, 64, 
 
 75- 
 
 Governing Bodies (London), 163. 
 
 (Wales), 140. 
 
 Grading of Schools, 26 ff, 63, 
 
 304- 
 
 , Reading, z%zff. 
 
 Grammar School, Reading, 280 ff. 
 
 Schools, i6ff. 
 
 Birmingham, 254^". 
 
 Green Girls' School, Reading, 
 
 293- 
 
 Grocers' School, Hackney, 195. 
 Gymnastics in Girls' Schools, 
 
 London, 205. 
 
 HABERDASHERS' School, 
 Hatcham, 198. 
 , Hoxton, 195. 
 
 Headmasters, 52, 64, 75. 
 Headmasters' and Headmistresses' 
 
 Associations, 92. 
 Higher Grade Board School, 
 
 Birmingham, 273-4. 
 High School, Birmingham. (See 
 
 Birmingham, King Edward's 
 
 Schools. ) 
 
 INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION 
 
 (Wales) Act, 21. 
 Islington High School, 195. 
 
 JOINT Education Committees 
 (Wales), 120. 
 
 KENDRICK School (Boys), 284^! 
 
 School (Girls), 289. 
 Kensington School, 194. 
 Kentish Town School, London, 
 
 195- 
 
 King Edward's Schools, Birming- 
 ham, 248. (See Birmingham.) 
 
 King's College School, London, 
 193-
 
 332 
 
 INDEX 
 
 LANGUAGE, Teaching of, 29. 
 Liverpool College, 232^". 
 Liverpool, Council of Education, 
 
 244. 
 
 Liverpool, Inferences from, 301-2. 
 Institute, 22$jjf~. 
 , Royal Institution, 235. 
 , School requirements of, 223. 
 
 , Secondary Education in 
 
 (Boys), 222. 
 
 , Suburban Schools, 240. 
 
 , Upper divisions of Ele- 
 
 mentary Schools, 242. 
 Local Authority for Secondary 
 
 Education, 64, 312. 
 Local Restrictions, 63. 
 Taxation Act, 22, 88. 
 
 Taxation Grant, 312. 
 
 (Liverpool), 247. 
 
 London, 191. 
 
 Reading, 297. 
 
 Somerset, 97, 105. 
 
 London Girls' Schools. (See 
 
 Girls.) 
 School Board and Scholar- 
 
 ships, 181. 
 
 , Secondary Education in 
 (Boys), Part in. Chapter I. (See 
 also under 'Cost,' 'Fees,' 
 'Scholarships,' etc., and the 
 names of the various schools. ) 
 
 MANAGERS. (See Governing 
 
 Bodies.) 
 Masters and Mistresses, Assistant, 
 
 52, 64. 
 Masters and Mistresses, Head. 
 
 (See Headmaster. ) 
 Mechanics' Institutes, 8. 
 Mercers' School, London, 192. 
 Merchant Taylors' School, 
 
 London, 192. 
 
 Middle Schools (Girls) in London, 
 statistics, 203. 
 
 NATIONAL Association for the 
 Promotion of Technical and 
 Secondary Education, 12. 
 
 Objects and Work of, 321. 
 
 OCCUPATIONS of parents, 162, 
 
 209. 
 Owen School, Islington, 195. 
 
 PARMITERS' School, Bethnal 
 
 Green, 195. 
 People's Palace School, London, 
 
 196. 
 
 Pestalozzi, iff. 
 Philological School, London, 
 
 195- 
 Physical Training, King Edward's 
 
 Schools, Birmingham, zf&ff. 
 Polytechnic School, London, 194. 
 Poplar, George Green School, 196. 
 Prisca Coborn School, London, 
 
 196. 
 Private Schools, 19, 55 ff, 63. 
 
 , London, 149, 165. 
 
 , Liverpool, 236, 239. 
 
 -, Reading, 289, 291. 
 
 Proprietary Schools, 19, 58, 63. 
 Proprietary Schools (London), 
 
 148. 
 Provincial Authority, 64. 
 
 Boards, 313, 317. 
 
 Public Schools, 25. 
 
 READING, Future of Education 
 in, 298^; 
 
 Grammar School, 278. 
 
 - Kendrick Schools, 284, 289. 
 
 Secondary Education in, 
 
 276^
 
 INDEX 
 
 333 
 
 Registration of Teachers, 66, 92, 
 
 Religious Instruction (Wales), 143. 
 Roan's School, Greenwich, 198. 
 Rousseau, 3. 
 Royal Commission. (See Commis- 
 
 sion.) 
 Royal Institution, Liverpool, 235. 
 
 ST. CLEMENT DANES SCHOOL, 
 
 London, 193. 
 St. Dunstan's College, London, 
 
 198. 
 St. Mark's College School, Lon- 
 
 don, 193. 
 St. Olave's Grammar School, 
 
 Southwark, 197. 
 St. Paul's School, London, 191. 
 St. Saviour's School, Southwark, 
 
 197. 
 Schemes of Charity Commission, 
 
 of Welsh Joint Committees, 
 
 103 ff- 
 
 Scholarship holders after career of 
 (London, Girls), 218. 
 
 Attainments of (London, 
 Girls), 214. 
 
 Length of stay in Secondary 
 School (London, Girls), 211. 
 
 Occupation of parents of, 
 
 London, 182. 
 
 Scholarships, 31 ff, 63, 82^ 
 
 Amount of, 183^", 186. 
 
 - Birmingham, 265^ 
 
 - Liverpool, 245. 
 
 - London (Boys), 
 
 - London (Girls), 208 ff. 
 
 - Provision of, under Techni- 
 cal Instruction Acts, 307. 
 
 - Reading, 282, 288. 
 Science and Art, 87. 
 
 Scholarships, Somerset, 99. 
 Wales, 142. 
 
 School Board, London, 181. 
 Reading, Work of, 276-7. 
 relation to Secondary Edu- 
 
 cation, Liverpool, 244^ 
 Schools Inquiry Commission. (See 
 
 Commission.) 
 Science and Art Department, 9, 
 
 22, 87, 90, 304, 309. 
 Science and Art Grants, Schools 
 
 dependent on, iT$ff. 
 Science, Teaching of, 30. 
 
 Birmingham Elementary 
 
 Schools, 265. 
 
 Scotch Schools, 38. 
 Secondary Education Act for Eng- 
 land, need of, 98, 105, 303. 
 
 outline of proposed, Z l2 ff- 
 
 Secondary Education, meaning of, 
 
 15, 145, 222. 
 
 Reading, 276 ff. 
 
 Somerset, 94^". 
 
 Secondary Schools, London, 
 
 statistics, 149^", 151. 
 
 Somerset, <)$ff. 
 
 Unorganised condition of, in 
 
 London, 179. ' 
 
 Social Class of pupils, 304^". 
 
 at Secondary Schools (Lon- 
 don), 161. 
 
 Girls' Schools (London), 
 
 206. 
 
 - King Edward's School, Bir- 
 mingham, 260 ff. 
 
 Social Class of Scholarship-holders 
 (London), 209. 
 
 Somerset Secondary and Techni- 
 cal Education, Part II., Chap- 
 ter 2. 
 
 Staff, Kendrick School, Reading, 
 286.
 
 334 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Staff, King Edward's School, Bir- 
 
 mingham, 260 ff. 
 State and Secondary Education, 
 
 /- 
 
 Stationers' School, London, 192. 
 
 TEACHERS' Classes in Somerset, 
 
 101. 
 
 Teachers' Guild, 92. 
 Registration of, 66, 92, 
 
 Technical Instruction, 81. 
 
 in Somerset, 94^". 
 
 Acts, Work under, 311. 
 
 (Amendment) Act, 88. 
 
 and County Councils, 91. 
 
 Commission on, 22. 
 
 Relation to Liberal Educa- 
 tion, 188. 
 
 Tenison's School, London, 193. 
 Treasury Grant in Wales, 121. 
 
 UNIVERSITIES, relations of, to 
 Secondary Schools, 47, 308. 
 
 University College School, Lon- 
 don, 194. 
 
 University Colleges, Wales, 117 
 
 University Extension Lectures, 
 102. 
 
 WALES, Central Educational 
 Board for, 130. 
 
 Conferences of Joint Com- 
 mittees, 125^". 
 
 - Inferences from, 303, 309 ffi. 
 Intermediate Education in, 
 
 Part II., Chapter 3. 
 
 - Local Public Inquiries in, 
 
 123. 
 
 Welsh Intermediate Education 
 Act, 21, 91, 118^". 
 
 West Kent Grammar School, Lon- 
 don, 199. 
 
 Westminster School, 193. 
 
 Westminster Schools, United, 
 
 193- 
 
 West's Charity, Reading, 296. 
 
 Whitechapel Foundation School, 
 196. 
 
 William Ellis Endowed School, 
 London, 194. 
 
 Wilson's Grammar School, Lon- 
 don, 197. 
 
 Woohvich and Plumstead, High 
 School, 199. 
 
 ZURICH, i. 
 
 , Linth-Escher Platz School, 
 
 270.
 
 BOM 
 
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