History of Education

by Levi Seeley

A narrower division is into départements. There are ninety of these in France and Algiers. Each is governed by an educational council which has charge of the elementary schools. The principal officer of a département is a school inspector, a trained educator who devotes all his time to the schools. In each département there is a normal school for each sex, though in a few instances two départements combine to maintain one normal school.

The département is subdivided into arrondissements. Each has an executive officer and a council in close touch with the schools. Lastly there are the cantons, whose school board has direct control of each individual school.

In this manner from the highest to the lowest division there are executive officers with well-defined duties—all working together in perfect harmony and with great efficiency. Trained teachers often sit in these councils as members and advisers. Thus the highest pedagogical training of the republic is utilized to obtain the best administration of the school interests.

School Attendance.—School attendance is compulsory upon children from six to thirteen years of age for every school day. As in Germany, the child is not compelled to attend the public school, but must receive instruction for the required time and in a manner approved by the State. It is the right of the child to be educated, and the State asserts its prerogative to secure that right to the child, whatever be the attitude of the parent. But the manner of securing it is left to the parent if he chooses to exercise that privilege. Although France has had compulsory education only since 1882, the law is effective, and grows more so each year. In 1895, 91 per cent of all the children of school age attended school regularly.

The Schools.—In the arrangement of her schools, and the perfect articulation between them from the mother school to the university, France has the most perfect system in the world. The mother schools (écoles maternelles) take children from two to six years of age and care for them from early morning till evening, thereby permitting parents to go out to service. They combine the idea of the day nursery and the kindergarten. These schools, in communes of 2000 or more, are supported by the State, as are other schools.

Instead of the mother school, sometimes the infant school (école infantine) takes the child from four to seven and prepares him for the primary school. This school is more nearly like the kindergarten than the mother school. It is supported wholly by the State and is a part of the school system, its work being entirely in sympathy with that which follows. In this respect, France has taken a more advanced step than any other nation.

With the lower primary school (école primaire élémentaire), which covers the period of from six to thirteen years of age, begins compulsory education. The sexes are always taught separately except in villages of less than five hundred inhabitants. The pupils all dress in the same garb. The school is in session five days in the week, Thursdays being free. There is no religious instruction in the schools. A peculiar and very important factor is a book of registration for each child, in which specimens of work in each subject are entered once a month for the whole school course. This book is kept at the school, and furnishes an accurate indication of progress to parents or inspectors.[176]

Following the lower primary school is the higher primary (école primaire supérieure), which has two courses, one for pupils who wish to review their elementary work and add some subjects, with the view of better preparing for the ordinary walks of life; and the high school course for those who wish to prepare for academic life. The former is indefinite in length; the latter requires five years, thus being completed at the eighteenth year. Here appears another superiority over the German system, in which, it will be remembered, there is no connection between the common and the high school.

These high schools prepare for the normal school and for the university. There are also many other kinds of schools under State support,—such as technical schools, apprentice schools, schools of mines, etc. In the advantages offered to young men for perfecting themselves in a trade or calling, France surpasses all other countries.

Finally there are the State universities, fifteen in number, the professors of which are appointed by the State. While the State pays all salaries, the maintenance of the buildings depends upon fees, endowments, and such local support as is obtainable. These institutions are open to students from the higher primary schools, thus making a complete system from the lowest school to the highest, and offering remarkable advantages to all. All degrees are given by the State, thereby securing perfect uniformity.