— 3—

These kinds of Private Elementary Schools are also called Dames' Schools in the Rę- ports, and the Inspectors have given very sad descriptions of their efficiency, whenevèr they have had the rare opportunity of visiting any, the proprietors of which were willing to submit to the ordeal.„In the Private Schools,“ says Mr. Holmes,„there is no one to judge of the instruction given, except the parents, who are, as a rule, even more ignorant than the dame herself. They have uncertificated and unqualified teachers.“ He thinks that by these Private Schools fully three quarters of a million children are withdrawn from effi- cient instruction. And they are said to exist especially in great number in old country towns.

These establishments are also very often inefficient in a sanitary way, as they have, for the most part, unsuitable buildings, unhealthy, ill-provided or overcrowded premises.

The„Private Adventure Schools“ present— last, but not least— one of the greatest difficulties in carrying out compulsory attendance in a complete manner. Attendance at these schools is considered as a full compliance with the byelaws, and many children are therefore beyond the reach of the school law. If a child in a Public Elementary School complains at home of the teacher, it often follows that the parents send the pupil to such a Private School, as the mothers, more particularly, object to anything like reason- able discipline or correction(often lacking at home) being applied to their tender offspring, at school. Parents wishing to avoid regularity of attendance send their children to these establishments, in most of which there exists no control at all as to attendance. These schools inflict grievous injury upon Public Elementary Schools, and upon regular attendance respec- tively. Happily they seem to have somewhat decreased of late.

However, their existence is still a disgrace to England, and no time should be lost to shut up these„education shops“, or, at least, to maintain them in real efficiency and en- force the regular attendance of their scholars.

There exists in many places still another kind of school, apart from the Board Schools; I mean the Voluntary Schools or Church Schools. Every parish that likes-which is usually the case, if a good proportion of its members are Dissenters— may open a school, which mostly falls under the superintendence and influence of the clergyman. To support it by their own means, the parishioners, who send their children to school, must pay a higher fee than in Board Schools. For this reason they seem to be attended by children of better families than are the Board Schools, although there may be many exceptions, as, for instance, in Hull, where many parents preferred to send their children to the Board School, so that„the National School“ had to be closed, as the Rev. Gilmore informs us in the Proceedings of the R. C. on Education. The Reverend gentleman is even of opinion that the Voluntary Schools get the very poor and outcast, while the Board Schools get the respectable children.“ Other witnesses, however, said before the same Commission that the children attending Voluntary Schools are of the same class as those in Board Schools.

As to the intellectual results obtained by these two kinds of schools, Mr. Martin, Sub- Inspector of Marylebone, thinks that they are on an average better in Board Schools than in Voluntary ones; the Rev. Dr. Crossky says before the Commission on Education:„The higher percentage of attendance in the Board Schools is due to lower fees and their being better schools.“ ³3 Opinions differ, also, in this regard. Mr. Markheim, Inspector of North- allerton District, thinks that the feature of Roman Catholic Schools is gentleness and refine- ment, and that there is something very sweet and amiable in their discipline.“„The note of the Wesleyan Schools,“ he continues,„is life and intelligence“. Church Schools seem to be better as regards manners and morals— they have the better children— but inferior to Board Schools as to instruction. The Right Honourable Lord Lingen considers them on the same footing in both respects, but he very rightly urges that the State ought to know no differ-

¹ Parliamentary Papers. Vol. 37. 1888. Page 200. ² Parliamentary Papers. Vol. 30. 1887. Page 500. ² Parliamentary Papers. Vol. 37. 1888. Page 181. Parliamentary Papers. Vol. 25. 1883. Page 391.