local taxes (rates) which they may levy for the purpose. Thus the law provides for the increase of the means of “ higher education," while careful also to conserve whatever has been already achieved in this direction by municipal or private effort. The measures adopted by the local councils for carrying out these provisions of the law must have the approval of the board of education, which also has organized a service of inspection for the higher school. Furthermore, the board exercises a general control over the whole work through the regulations (codes) defining the classes of institutions that may be recognized as higher and determining the conditions upon which they may have a right to Government inspection or to Government grants. It will be seen that in dealing with this department of education the law limits itself to matters of general administration and scholastic classification, leaving all further responsibility to the local authorities. In the two years that bave elapsed since the passage of the law little more has been done by the board of education in this matter than to formulate the regulations above referred to and take over the work formerly in charge of the science and art department and the educational duties of the charity commissioners. The councils, upon whom the more onerous task devolves, have done little more than arrange for the continuance of the evening schools, formerly under the school boards, and investigate the actual status of their respective areas in regard to the supply of secondary schools and higher institutions. To complete this survey it will therefore be necessary to consider (1) the regulations issued by the Government for secondary schools distinctively recognized as such; (2) the summarized report of schools under Government inspection or aided by Government; (3) accounts of the preliminary investigations in specified areas. For the better understanding of the situation as regards the existing schools which are or may be affected by the new measures, the considerations specified are here introduced by a brief account of secondary education quoted from an official statement prepared for the St. Louis Exposition. SECONDARY SCHOOLS. In spite of many warnings as to the necessity for the organization of secondary education, up to the present day the relations of public authorities, both central and local, with secondary schools have been much less close than those with elementary education. The secondary schools may be divided into four classes: (a) The public schools (i. e., the seven principal schools, viz, Eton, Winchester, Westminster, Charterhouse, Harrow, Rugby, Shrewsbury) dealt with by the public schools act of 1868 and certain others popularly associated with them; (b) the endowed schools (i. e., the endowed secondary grammar schools administered under the endowed schools act of 1869); (e) schools established and controlled by local authorities; (d) schools carried on by private enterprise. It is hardly possible to give an exact definition of a public school, but the term includes all the most important older foundations which maintain very close relations with the ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge. They are mainly, though not exclusively, boarding schools, and thus are differentiated from the endowed schools, which, though admitting boarders, have a strong local connection. Educationally, the endowed schools were under the control of the charity commissioners, whose powers in this respect have now been transferred to the board of education. These powers included that of making schemes for the general conduct of such schools, and for organizing administrative inspection to see that these schemes were properly executed, but they did not include any authority to grant financial assistance. This defect was to some extent remedied by the action of the science and art department, whose grants could be earned by schools complying with their regulations. Both from this source and from the funds administered by the county councils under the technical instruction acts, considerable financial aid has been given in recent years to secondary schools. In many places there probably still exists a considerable deficiency in this grade of education, but the duty of providing a fitting remedy is laid by the act of 1902 upon the new authorities. It may be noted that the greatest part of the provision of girls' education is still made by private enterprise. Hitherto no special qualifications have been demanded of secondary teachers. High academic qualifications unaccompanied by any professional preparation have sufficed to open the best posts in the teaching profession to men leaving the old universities. But with the establishment of the register of teachers under the act of 1899 this state of things will cease. After the present transitory arrangements have been withdrawn, no teacher will be able to be placed on that register without affording proof of distinct preparation for the practice of his profession. In the matter of secondary education, Wales has received a different, and, as some maintain, a preferential treatment. It was unusually poor in endowed schools, and the opportunities for secondary education were few. Through the disinterested zeal of one or two individuals, a bill was introduced into Parliament in 1889, and carried with the support of the Government. By this act the treasury undertook to pay to each county and county borough a subsidy not exceeding in amount the sum raised by local rates for the purposes of intermediate education. Through the operation of this act within a very few years the principality has been provided with an excellent system of secondary schools. For the maintenance of an equal standard of attainment throughout the country, a system of inspection and examination has been established, and placed under the control of a central board, to which each county and county borough sends delegates. This organization has been allowed to retain its full powers under the act of 1902. REGULATIONS FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS ISSUED BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION FOR 1905. In the regulations respecting secondary schools issued in 1903 the board of education were careful to define the limits of secondary education, and in so doing clearly recognized the distinction between secondary schools and technical institutes and classes; thus the authority of the Government has been won for those who advocate an extended course of general education as a prerequisite to specialized training. The term "secondary as defined by the board applies to "any day or boarding school which offers to each of its scholars, up to and beyond the age of 16, a general education, physical, mental, and moral, given through a complete graded course of instruction of wider scope and more advanced degree than that given in elementary schools." As being essential to this course of instruction, the following points are emphasized: (a) The instruction must be general-i. e., must be such as gives a reasonable degree of exercise and development to the whole of the faculties, and does not confine this development to a particular channel, whether that of pure and applied science, of literary and linguistic study, or of that kind of acquirement which is directed simply at fitting a boy or girl to enter business in a subordinate capacity with some previous knowledge of what he or she will be set to do. A secondary school should keep in view the development and exercise of all the faculties involved in these different kinds of training, and will fail to give a sound general education to its scholars in so far as it sends them out, whether to further study or to the business of life, with one or other of these faculties neglected, or with one developed at the expense of the rest. Specialization in any of these directions should only begin after the general education has been carried to a point at which the habit of exercising all these faculties has been formed and a certain solid basis for life has been laid in acquaintance with the structure and laws of the physical world, in the accurate use of thought and language, and in practical ability to begin dealing with affairs. (b) The course of instruction must be complete-i. e., must be so planned as to lead up to a definite standard of acquirement in the various branches of instruction indicated above, and not stop short at a merely superficial introduction to any of them. Secondary schools are of different types suited to the different requirements of the scholars, to their place in the social organization, and to the means of the parents and the age at which the regular education of the scholars is obliged to stop short, as well as to the occupations and opportunities of development to which they may or should look forward in later life. But in no case can the course of a secondary school be considered complete which is not so planned as to carry on the scholars to such a point as they may reasonably be expected to reach at the age of 16. It may begin at the age of 8 or 9 or even earlier. Scholars may pass into it from elementary schools at various ages beyond this up to 12 or 13, and in schools of a high grade which give an education leading directly on to the universities it may be continued up to the age, even, of 18 or 19. But as a rule the years from 12 or 13 up to 16 or 17 will be those during which it is most important that it should be carried on in accordance with a systematic and complete scheme. (c) The instruction must be graded in its various branches. A defect which is notorious in many schools is that in certain subjects (often from causes for which the school authorities are not responsible) instruction of the scholars is cut down to "marking time," or the repetition of lessons already learned. Instruction which is not progressive, while it may be of some use as drill and discipline, is of little real educational value. It gives only a superficial and transitory acquirement, while at the same time it fails to interest or to stimulate the scholar. The grants payable under the regulations are made in respect of a four years' course only. A certain minimum number of hours in each week must be given in each year of the course to the group of subjects commonly classed as "English" and including the English language and literature, geography, and history; to languages, ancient or modern, other than the native language of the scholars, and to mathematics and to science. Ample time is left for a well-planned curriculum to add considerably to this minimum in cne or more of these groups of subjects, as well as to include adequate provision for systematic physical exercises; for drawing, singing, and manual training; for the instruction of girls in the elements of housewifery, and for such other subjects as may profitably be included in the curriculum of any particular school. In respect of this complete course of graded instruction, grants will be made on a simple and uniform scale. This grant applies alike to all the types of school which come within the general definition of a secondary school, as above given. These types fall, broadly speaking, into three main classes, whether regarded from the side of the standard or of the kind of general education which the school is meant to provide. In the former aspect they fall into one or other of the three grades of the schools inquiry commission of 1864 and the secondary education commission of 1894; the first-grade schools leading up directly to the universities and the colleges of university rank; the second-grade schools, which stop short of that point as regards the bulk of their scholars; and the third-grade schools, which do not attempt to carry education much beyond the age of 16, and the object of which is to turn out scholars adequately equipped for commerce and business, for entering upon apprenticeship to the teaching profession, or for proceeding, with a sound preliminary general training, into technical and industrial pursuits. In the latter aspect, in respect of the kind of education offered, they may roughly be discriminated into what are known in ordinary usage as the literary, the scientific, and the commercial types of school; the first of these paying special regard to the development of the higher powers of thought and expression, and that discriminating appreciation of what is best in the thought and art of the world, in other ages and countries, as well as in our own, which forms the basis of all human culture; the second to the training of the intellect toward understanding and applying the laws of the physical universe, and the third to the equipment of the scholars for practical life in the commercial and industrial community of which they are members. The board desire it to be clearly understood that the fact of a uniform scale of grant being given to all these grades and types of school implies no belief that they are of equal importance or have indiscriminate claims to State aid. Still less does it imply the assumption that the cost of maintaining one grade or type of school is the same as that of maintaining any other with a similar number of scholars, or that the return to the State per scholar in the form of trained material for citizenship is estimable in uniform terms of so many shillings a head. The uniform scale of aid given is designed to give impartial encouragement to all well-considered local efforts toward developing a general system of secondary schools through many channels and in varying directions. Much of the work that has to be done in establishing such a system is experimental and will have to be reconsidered later in the light of its results. The secondary schools are in a sense the educational laboratory of the nation, and the case of elementary schools shows how difficult it is, even after a generation of practical working, to reach any certain conclusion as to the relative efficacy of different subjects and methods and as to the exact point at which the control or influence of the State ceases to be an expanding and stimulating force and tends to fetter or to sterilize individual genius and local patriotism. To this uniform scale of grants, however, one exception is at present retained as justified on historical and practical grounds and as necessary toward continuity of administration. The schools hitherto known as "Division A schools" (in these extension is given to the scientific course) form an important element in the provision for higher education, and have grown into existence by the direct encouragement and special aid of the board. A special imperial grant toward aiding the teaching of pure and applied science has for many years been one of the accepted liabilities of the State. This type of school is one which, in the words of previous regulations, "provides a thorough and progressive course in science, forming a part of a general education," and including individual manual instruction and practical laboratory work. The instruction given in it is, upon this side of its work, somewhat more advanced and somewhat more specialized than that of ordinary secondary schools, even of a higher grade, and the cost of maintenance is correspondingly enhanced by the more expensive nature of its apparatus and general organization. For this type of school a special grant is made in addition to the ordinary grant which it receives as a secondary school complying with the general conditions prescribed for all such schools. The amount of this special grant will be fixed by the board, with regard to the circumstances of each school, upon a scale which is the practical equivalent of the scale previously applicable to schools of this type, and may reach a maximum which doubles the total amount of the ordinary grant. In addition to the general requirements certain specific conditions are laid down by the education board to which a secondary school must conform in order to share in the Government grant. The most important of these conditions are as follows: The school must be efficient and must not compete unduly with a neighboring schcool; no religious test or requirement as to religious observances or attendance upon religious exercises shall be imposed upon day scholars; the curriculum and time-table of the school must be approved by the board of education; a full account of the income and expenditure of the school must be annually submitted to the board; the fees charged must be approved by that body; the school premises, equipments, and appliances must be satisfactory; the school must meet regularly during not less than thirty-six weeks in the course of the school year, and for not less than four hours each school day. It is further specified that the teaching staff must be sufficient in number and qualifications; that the salaries offered shall not be subject to variation according to the amount of grant received, and the registers must show not less than 20 qualified students in the approved course of secondary instruction. To schools fulfilling the conditions required, grants will be paid on account of each scholar attending the approved course of secondary instruction on the following scale: (a) In the first year of the course. Shillings. 40 60 100 No grant is payable for more than four years in all on account of any one scholar, and no scholar is eligible for grant who is reported by the inspector as unfit to attend the course. A scholar promoted during the school year is regarded for the purposes of grant as a scholar of the year from which he or she was promoted. No scholar is eligible for grant whose attendance has not been registered at 80 per cent of the meetings of the school during the year; but where a scholar has been prevented from attending through illness or risk of infection, a medical certificate to that effect may be accepted in lieu of any attendance. In addition to the above grant a special grant will be paid on account of each scholar attending a special course under specified conditions at such rate as may be determined in the case of each school by the board. * * * To insure adequate results from the encouragement thus given by the central government to secondary education, it was "considered necessary to commence the establishment of an inspectorate for secondary schools under a chief inspector especially responsible for this work.” a 66 STATISTICS OF HIGHER" (I. E., SECONDARY, TECHNICAL AND EVENING) SCHOOLS. The following statistics summarize the operations of the schools for higher education that were under the supervision of the board of education in 1902-3. Inspection of secondary schools under section 3, board of education act, 1899. The number of schools inspected under the board of education in the year ending December 31, 1903, was 135, as compared with 95 in the previous year. Of these 25 were inspected on the application of the county authorities aiding them; 23 were proprietary schools; 33 were private schools; 75 were schools for boys; 49 were schools for girls, and 11 were mixed schools, for boys and girls. Sixty-one were schools receiving grants under the regulations of the board for secondary schools, and in the case of 41 of these the inspection was required for compliance with the regulations. Secondary schools receiving Government grants.-In 1903 there were 31.090 scholars receiving organized day courses of instruction in 226 secondary day schools, Division A (offering extended courses in science), an average of 137 scholars in each school. Of these pupils 25,047 were taking elementary courses and 6,043 advanced courses of instruction. In 1903, 2,645 scholars were examined in science and 1,191 in art subjects. The grants paid amounted to £130,470 ($652,350), being an average payment per scholar under instruction of £4 19s (about $25). Up to the 31st of December (1903) 142 schools in England and 66 schools in Wales and Monmouthshire were recognized as eligible for grants under the regulations for secondary day schools, Division B. Of the schools in England 114 were endowed schools, 2 were county or municipal schools, 6 were established by stock companies, 10 were conducted by religious bodies, and 10 by bodies of local managers. The number of pupils following approved courses of instruction in the schools of Division B during the school year 1902-3 was 10,094, and the grants paid amounted to £26,750 or an average payment of £2 13s. for each scholar under instruction. CLASSES AND SCHOOLS OF SCIENCE AND ART AND EVENING SCHOOLS. The classes in science and art to which grants are made under the regulations of the board include classes in day secondary schools, as reported above, day classes in schools of a somewhat more advanced character, and classes in evening schools. To this post Mr. W. C. Fletcher, M. A., till recently head master of the Liverpool Institute, was appointed in May, and shortly afterwards Mr. J. W. Headlam, M. A., Dr. R. P. Scott, and Dr. Frederick Spencer were appointed as staff inspectors to assist him. Each of these officers possesses special qualifications in the literary and linguistic side of secondary school work, |