TABLE 9.-Special institutions for backward and nervous children.-PART I. 2 Large faculty of specially trained assistants, including teachers, caretakers, graduate nurse, matron, etc. 325 acres of land, large main building, several cottages, and stable. 4 Other special teachers engaged when necessary. TABLE 9.-Special institutions for backward and nervous children.—Part II. School year opens first .... 16 Yes. School year not defined. Pu- Individual instruction in all courses, including instru- Kindergarten, primary All branches. Studies elec- All work individual. Courses Limited. eases. Coed.. 6 years.. 20 CHAPTER XVII. ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. The table in this chapter pertaining to elementary education in foreign countries comprises the latest statistics received at this office since 1909. The year 1910 was a census year for several of the countries included in the table, and education was therefore made a matter of special investigation; in several other countries a census was taken in 1911; in others, later estimates of population have been made. The latest statistics of education available at this time pertain to 1912, and as none of earlier date than 1910 are presented, the particulars tabulated are as nearly synchronous as possible. The table is limited to elementary schools, the only part of the educational provision which, in all countries, is maintained wholly or chiefly by public funds, and respecting which, for this reason, annual or other periodical reports are issued. As a rule the presentation is confined to public elementary schools, that is, schools supported by public funds and under public direction, or subsidized private schools. Schools of the latter class (generally parochial) are recognized as meeting the requirements with regard to provision for public elementary education in many countries. It is not intended to include strictly private schools for the reason that, while they exist in all countries, they form but a small part of the school provision and are seldom included in official reports. Excepting the parochial schools, which are officially recognized, the enrollment in private schools does not affect the relative standing of countries in regard to school attendance. With regard to European countries omitted this year, the following statements are worthy of attention. The latest statistics of elementary schools available for Norway pertain to the year 1909, at which time the enrollment was equivalent to 15.6 per cent of the population. This rate, which is among the highest reported, has without doubt been since maintained, for Norway is one of the nations in which there is practically no illiteracy. The latest statistics of elementary education from Italy are for 1907-8. As a rule, complete statistics of elementary schools in this country are published only at intervals of five years. At the date named (1907-8) the ratio of school enrollment to population was only 8.7 per cent for the entire Kingdom. Recent legislation, supported by special appropriation, has increased the provision of schoolhouses and strengthened the compulsory school-attendance law; and the school enrollment has therefore increased in the backward districts, facts which will undoubtedly appear in the next statistical report. The enrollment reported for Russia is nearly 2,000,000 more than the corresponding item in the similar table in the Commissioner's report for 1912 (vol. 2, chap. 4). This difference is presumably due to the more complete statistics now available, although school attendance is undoubtedly increasing in the Empire. In respect to India, the general table includes only a summary for the British provinces, omitting the comparatively small provinces of Baluchistan, Andamans, and Nicobars, from which no educational statistics have been reported. The comparison of India with western nations in respect to attendance upon modern elementary schools is misleading, as only a small fringe of its vast population has been brought into the schools; no fair idea of the extent of modern education under British auspices in the Empire can be formed without taking into account the secondary schools and colleges, which until a recent date engaged the chief attention of the Government. Including these the total number of pupils pursuing modern studies in the British provinces was 5,938,018, or 2.4 per cent of the population.. In the case of the States comprised in the union of South Africa, only the white population and the schools for Europeans have been included in the general table, notwithstanding the fact that the schools for the natives are increasing and are the objects of much effort on the part of the Government. At the same time, the proportion of the native population brought under the schools is very small. The white population is well supplied with schools, and as will be seen by reference to the table the proportion of the population enrolled in these compares favorably with that of the most advanced countries of Europe. It has not in every case been possible to separate the statement of expenditures for the European primary schools from the total expenditure. The distinction between elementary and secondary schools as maintained in European countries is unknown in the United States. In this respect the systems of education in the Canadian Provinces are similar to our own. Consequently, attention should be called to the fact that the enrollment in these Provinces, as given in column 7 of the following table, includes public high schools, except in Ontario.1 By reason of a clerical oversight the statistics of pupils pursuing typical secondary studies in Nova Scotia tabulated in the first volume of the current report, page 687, are incomplete. The correct figures are: English, 8, 569; Latin, 2, 775; Greek, 33; French, 3, 363; German, 298; algebra, 8,193; geometry and trigonometry, 4, 086; sciences, 9,657. The total enrollment in the high schools was 8,668. |