THE SCHOOL SYSTEM OF ENGLAND
Literature.—Sharpless, English Education; Craik, Education and the State; Barnard, English Pedagogy; Clark, The State and Education; Gill, Systems of Education; Balfour, Educational Systems of Great Britain and Ireland; United States Commissioner's Reports for 1889 to 1902.
Nearly a thousand years ago Alfred the Great encouraged education of the higher classes to the exclusion of the masses—a principle that has governed education in England until within recent times. Statistics taken in 1845 showed that only one in six of the inhabitants could read, one in four write, and one in fifty cipher as far as the Rule of Three. Since 1870 important changes have been made, and the number of children in the elementary schools of England has increased from 1,500,000 in 1870 to nearly 6,000,000 in 1902.[179]
"The principal features of the law of 1870 were (1) the obligation assumed by the government to secure school provision for all children of ages 5 to 14; (2) the recognition or creation of local agencies (private or church managers or elected boards) for the execution of this purpose; (3) provision for securing efficient instruction by means of an annual grant from the treasury to be distributed to the local managers upon the results of examination and inspection by government inspectors; (4) the creation of a central agency to carry out the provisions on the part of the government and of new local agencies or school boards which every school district must elect except upon satisfactory evidence that schools efficient and adequate to the needs of the district were otherwise provided; (5) the admission of private and public elementary schools to a share in the government grant upon the same conditions; (6) the requirements that board schools should be strictly non-sectarian and the children of private schools protected from enforced sectarian instruction by a conscience clause."[180]
The most important modifications of this law are the laws of 1899 and 1903. The law of 1899 has reference to the general administration of education in England and Wales, while that of 1903 entirely changes the local management of schools and extends the sphere of public education to secondary as well as elementary schools.
Administration. 1. General.—Under the provisions of the law of 1899 the general administration of educational affairs is committed to a board of education consisting of a president, appointed by the crown, lord president of the council, the principal secretaries of state, the first commissioner of the treasury, and the chancellor of the exchequer—not less than five nor more than fifteen members. By means of a sufficient number of royal inspectors who are trained educators, whose duty it is to visit the schools and report thereon, the board of education is able to reach every school in the kingdom. There is also a consultation committee, two-thirds of whom are "persons representing universities and bodies interested in education," whose office is to advise the board of education.
2. Counties and County Boroughs.—By the terms of the law of 1903 the council of every county and of every county borough are constituted a "local education authority," which controls secular instruction in all elementary schools within its district, and performs the duties of former school boards and school attendance committees. They may also establish high schools. In boroughs of over 10,000 and cities of over 20,000 inhabitants a special board or "local education authority" is allowed.
3. Local Managers.—All public undenominational (board) schools have a body of six managers, four of whom are appointed by the "local education authority" and two by the minor local authority. All public denominational (voluntary) schools shall also have six managers, four of whom are foundation managers and two are appointed by state authority. A greater number of local managers may be chosen, but the above proportion of members must hold.
School Attendance.—The school age is from five to fourteen, and the local authorities are required to compel attendance for that period excepting in case where the pupil has obtained the educational certificate of exemption, which cannot be given before the child is twelve years of age. The average attendance in 1902 reached nearly 83 per cent of the enrollment. England has stringent laws in regard to the employment of children in factories, mines, etc., which are well enforced.
The Schools.—We have already mentioned the board and the voluntary schools which supply the principal means of elementary education. The voluntary schools are under the fostering care of the Church, and their enrollment includes more than half of the children. Secondary education is carried on chiefly in private schools, though the law of 1903 permits the establishment of high schools to follow elementary education. The private secondary schools are of two general classes, "grammar" and "public" schools. The former are intended for the middle classes, their main purpose being to prepare for civil service, while the latter are the great endowed schools like Rugby, Eton, etc.