3. Elementary Division. Mathematics, five hours; Physics, three hours; Chemistry, two and a half hours; Drawing, three hours; English subjects, five hours; French, three hours; Art, two hours; Manual training or Domestic Economy, three hours; Drill, one hour.
Its aim is described as the imparting of ‘a thoroughly sound secondary education, with special provision for the study of pure and applied science, manual training, workshop practice and domestic economy.’ This school is interesting apart from its curriculum, owing to the efforts made by Mr. S. H. Wells, Principal of the Polytechnic, who acts as headmaster, to make it ‘secondary’ in the full sense, and introduce some of the esprit de corps and out-of-school life which are such marked features in boys’ ‘public’ and girls’ high schools. The school is divided into forms with a form-master; ‘each form meets in its form-room for call-over before school opens for the day, after which they assemble for prayers, which are read by the Principal. These are confined to a few verses of Scripture and the Lord’s Prayer; and exemption from attendance is granted when requested by the parent, although only two such requests have been made. In matters of discipline the students have been taught to realise that having ceased to be children they should have given up childish things; they are present to work not to play, and their duty to their parents and themselves calls them to take every advantage of the opportunities afforded; in a word, they are not expected to commit acts against discipline—they are trusted.’ Mr. Wells further tells us that ‘senior students are told off every day to ascertain the chief events recorded in the newspapers, and to record them on a blackboard, which all the school are expected to read, to be afterwards questioned on the event in their English classes. In the same way a record is made of daily weather observations. All boys are required to wear the school cap, and the habit of “capping” the teachers outside the school is willingly adopted. Each term sees its “drill competitions” between the different forms for a shield presented by the Principal, its inter-form cricket or football matches for a challenge cup presented by the masters, and matches between the masters and school. The end of term sees its gymnastic displays or concerts with acting and recitals, to which parents and friends are invited. Three school captains are elected each term, the method being that they are proposed and seconded, and voted for by the whole school. The captains have authority outside the class-rooms, and their position is readily and loyally acknowledged.’ The girls have their games among themselves, though now and then they play a boys’ team at hockey. They have their own captain, and are assembled for call-over by a mistress, who has a general control over them, and is always ready to help them with advice and sympathy. Women, of course, give the lessons in cooking, etc., which are the feminine counterpart of manual training; else all the teaching is in the hands of men. The intellectual results appear to be satisfactory, and here, as in other co-educational institutions the girls are quite able to hold their own in class. Of the moral and hygienic results it is far more difficult to judge. Whether girls between fourteen and sixteen would not be better under the care of a woman, whether they do not miss some of that moral influence which can only be exercised by a form-mistress who also takes part in the teaching, are questions that must come up in the near future, should there be any disposition towards co-education in this country. As yet it has generally been adopted rather from motives of economy than on grounds of principle. Institutions like those at Battersea, Chelsea, and Wandsworth are boys’ schools to which girls are admitted; although, as a matter of fact, at Chelsea the girls outnumber the boys. The amount of time given to science would never have been allotted had the real needs of girls been considered. It is an interesting experiment, but it will not do much towards solving the problem of Modern Schools for girls.
Even more one-sided in its aims is the type of school which the Surrey County Council is starting. This county is specially deficient in girls’ schools of a middle grade, though it contains several good proprietary high schools, and the technical committee is therefore applying some of its funds to the supply of this want. The Wimbledon school is the first attempt of the kind, and must be regarded as still in an experimental stage. Girls who enter are supposed to have attained to the requirements of the Sixth Standard, but in a district where there are no Board schools even this is not always attainable. Hence there are many gaps to fill up, before a proper foundation is laid for the new studies. It is supposed that girls will stay for four years, and should they do so, a most valuable experiment might be made in devising a ‘modern’ curriculum, essentially adapted for girls. Hitherto in this first year’s work the course of study is exceedingly meagre; neither science nor literature is taught; there is a little English history and geography, but the bulk of the time goes to shorthand, book-keeping, commercial arithmetic, cooking, laundry and dressmaking. All excellent things, but surely this is not sufficient intellectual fare for these twelve-year-old children. Another two years at general subjects would help to lay a really good foundation on which the special work could be built up; and it is probable that the shorthand and double entry, and even the puddings and clear-starching, will not suffer in the end for this little delay at the beginning. This kind of work is none the better for being spread out over so many years. It cannot, like the more intellectual subjects, be perpetually presenting fresh developments, which give it the charm of novelty. There seems some danger lest, in trying to elevate the status of the domestic and commercial arts, we should forget that they cannot satisfy all sides of our nature. Girls want something different from the science school, but it must not be a purely utilitarian training. In the true modern school they will learn subjects of daily utility; but just because so much time is given to these, there must be special prominence for all that makes for culture. To the Spencerian dictum that education must prepare for the business of life, we should add Aristotle’s wise admonition, that it should teach the right use of leisure. Keeping both these in view we may yet discover the ideal ‘Modern School.’
It would not be fair to blame technical education boards because they have not yet solved this difficult problem. Their experience in education is still new, and as far as schools are concerned their best work has been done in subsidising those that already exist. On this large sums are now being spent. To be exact, we may state that during the year 1896–97, sixty-three councils, (forty-two county, and twenty-one county borough) gave direct or indirect assistance to three hundred and twenty-eight secondary schools to the amount of £144,871, 2s. 2d., this sum including the scholarships and exhibitions granted to pupils proceeding to or from secondary schools. How much of this goes to girls does not appear, certainly not half, but at any rate enough to make a very appreciable difference to their education.
Of course, this help is not given unconditionally. It usually implies the representation of the local authority on the governing body of the school, the application of the entire subsidy to purposes of technical education, and observance of the clauses abolishing religious tests. Some counties have special requirements, without which no subsidy can be given. E.g. Cheshire demands:
(1) That drawing shall be taught to every pupil except any whose exemption may be approved by the committee. (2) That at least two science subjects shall be taught to all pupils over ten. (3) That one modern language shall be taught, and regular instruction given in some commercial subjects. (4) That each student shall receive instruction for at least three hours a week in mathematics. (5) That the pupils shall be annually examined, and at least twenty-five per cent. of them sit for the examinations of the Science and Art Department, or such other examination as the Technical Instruction Committee may from time to time approve.
Other counties are less rigid in their demands. In London, where endowed schools for girls have been greatly helped with grants, some special condition often accompanies a subsidy. Thus the Owens girls’ school at Islington received £300 ‘to be expended in fitting up the new laboratory and art-room,’ the Central Foundation school was charged to spend its grant on fitting up another room for work in practical physics and appointing an assistant science mistress. At the Camden school the board provided an Arts and Crafts room, where cookery and dressmaking are regularly taught; at the James Allen’s school, Dulwich, a laboratory has been built, and a subsidy given for an assistant science mistress. Such subsidies, even when given for a specific purpose, help the whole school indirectly, since they set free money from the general funds for the benefit of what cannot be included in that elastic term ‘technical education.’
Perhaps the chief benefit yet conferred by county councils on secondary education is the gift of scholarships. It has been left to the technical instruction committees to frame that ‘ladder’ of which so much is heard on educational platforms. Thanks to a system of graduated scholarships, it is now possible for an intelligent boy or girl to pass from a primary to a secondary school, and thence even to the university. Of course this has been done before now, but never on such a large scale. Since each county is a law unto itself, a girl’s chances depend greatly on the place where she happens to live. A girl living in Bedfordshire has no county council scholarships open to her, but the Harpur Trust schools at Bedford receive girls with scholarships from other counties. A Surrey girl has a good chance of winning a scholarship, but, owing to the dearth of girls’ public schools in that county, she may not be able to make the best use of it. Happily, there are many parts of England where both schools and scholarships are available, and there will soon be more, if one of the difficulties in the way of the girls’ ‘ladder’ is removed, by the recognition of proprietary high schools as public institutions at which scholarships can be held. This is now being done in some places, to the great advantage of the scholars.
Some counties, e.g. Derbyshire, Durham, and Yorkshire, have a very complete system of scholarships, accompanied by maintenance grants, without which they would in many cases be useless. There are few counties that do nothing in this way. The London Technical Education Board regards its scholarship scheme as the basis for nearly all its work. ‘The award of junior and intermediate county scholarships necessitates such grants to secondary schools as will enable them to make proper provision for the technical training of the scholars. Similarly, the award of intermediate and senior county scholarships compels the Board to see that the training afforded in institutions for higher education is suitable for scholars of seventeen years of age and upwards.’
The Board gives three classes of scholarships:—(1) Junior county scholarships, intended chiefly for pupils of public elementary schools working in the fifth or higher Standards, tenable for two years and renewable. Of these six hundred are given annually, and fifty are open to candidates from other than elementary schools, whose parents have an income below £150. These scholarships give their holders free education at any approved secondary or upper standard school, with money payments of £8 for the first year, and £12 for the second.