Trustees.

Finance.

"The regulations also provide:

(1) No high school shall be raised to the status of a collegiate institute without such a minimum equipment in the way of library, physical and chemical apparatus, gymnasium, maps and globes, as is the maximum recognised for high schools with three or more masters."

(2) Any collegiate institute that fails to comply with the conditions prescribed herein for the status of a collegiate institute may, on the joint report of the high school inspectors, be reduced to the rank of a high school, and deprived of the special legislative grant, at the discretion of the Minister of Education."

Each high school or collegiate institute is managed by a board of trustees, whose duties are similar to those of public schools. Each board consists of at least six trustees, and, except in the case of cities and towns separated from the county, three of these are appointed by the county council, and three by the council of the town or village where the high school is situated. If the district is composed of more than one municipality, then each of these municipalities is represented on the high school board. In towns separated from the county all the trustees are appointed by the town council. In cities the council also appoints all the trustees, and if two high schools are established, twelve trustees are appointed, and if more than two, the council appoints eighteen trustees. Each trustee so appointed holds office generally for three years. Two other trustees holding office for one year may be added, one by the public school board and the other by the separate school board of the city, town or incorporated village where the high school or collegiate institute is situated. High school trustees cannot be members of the municipal council."

"The cost of each high school and collegiate institute is made up of the expenditure required for Permanent Improvements and Maintenance.' The former of these must be met entirely by the district or municipality, and consists mainly of the expenditure for school site, building, furniture, and equipment. The latter consists of the usual outlay for the salaries of teachers and other officers, repairs, fuel, stationery, and sundry expenses for ordinary school purposes, and is met from four sources, viz. : (1) Government grants; (2) county grants; (3) district or municipal grants; and (4) fees of students.

"(1.) Government grants to the high schools and collegiate institute are mainly based on the efforts made by the locality. If the local expenditure is good, a correspondingly liberal grant may be expected from the Legislature, so far as the annual appropriation will allow. As a minimum each high school receives a fixed grant of 375 dollars, and each collegiate institute an additional grant of 275 dollars. On the condition and suitability of the premises a high school is entitled to a maximum grant of 150 dollars and a collegiate institute to one of 200 dollars. For equipment there is a maximum grant of 200 dollars and one of 600 dollars on the basis of salaries of the teachers. The remainder of the grant is distributed on the basis of average attendance The grants in full vary from about 500 dollars to 1.800 dollars on the basis thus outlined.

“(2.) The county council is required to make a grant to each high school or collegiate institute in the county equal to the grant made by the Legislature. This grant is intended to meet the cost of instruction for county pupils; that is, for those pupils of the county who do not reside in the municipality or district where the high school is situated. It sometimes happens that the equivalent of the Government grant would not be sufficient to meet the cost of maintenance for county pupils, and in that case the county is liable for whatever additional amount is necessary to meet its share of the cost of maintenance. The principle involved in this part of the statute is that the county should pay for the education of county pupils.

"(3.) After the county and legislative grants have been received whatever further sums, in addition to any fees which have been paid, may be required to meet the cost of maintenance, must be made up by the municipality or district where the high school is situated, on the requisition of theTrustee Board. Under the provisions of the Act the municipal grant raised for this purpose is, as a matter of fact, its proportionate share of the cost of maintenance. If, for instance, there are as many county as resident pupils, the county and district pay equal shares of the cost of maintenance after deducting the legislative grant. Should there be any dispute as regards these amounts the Act provides a ready settlement by arbitration.

"(4.) County councils may require a portion of the liability of the county to be paid by the county pupils in fees not exceeding one dollar per month, the fee being uniform for all high schools in the county. Resident pupils may also be required by the board to pay fees, thus lessening the amount to be raised by the municipality. It thus follows that the question of free high schools is left to be determined by each locality, and it has been found that this option is more satisfactory than making all high school free by Act of Parliament, or fixing a uniform fee for the Province. Non-resident pupils, that is those from other counties, must pay such fees as the board deems expedient, but such fees must not be greater than the cost of maintenance or less than those of county pupils. Of the 128 high schools and collegiate institutes 48 of them are free, and the fees in the others vary from 2.50 to 26 dollars per year."

tion.

A uniform examination is held every year about the first of Entrance July for admission to high schools and collegiate institutes. Examina. Each high school has a board of examiners for the purpose, consisting of the principal of the high school, the public school inspector, and two qualified teachers who have no pupils at the examination, one being appointed by the public school board and the other by the separate school board of the city, town, or village where the high school is situated. The examiners are paid 1 dollar per pupil for their services, and the cost may be met by fees from the candidates or by the county and district for their respective shares. The examination papers are prepared by the high school inspectors and public and separate school

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Statistics, 1898.

Departmen

inspectors appointed by the minister of education and sent in sealed envelopes to the presiding examiner, to be opened during the hours of the examination. Only those pupils who pass the examination and whose admission has been confirmed by the high school inspectors can be admitted to a high school or collegiate institute. The examination is based on the course of the fourth form of the public schools, and includes the following subjects and values:-Reading, 50 marks; drawing, 50; neatness, 35; writing, 50; orthography, 30; literature, 100; arithmetic, 100; grammar, 100; geography, 75; composition, 100; history, 75. Optional papers are set in temperance and hygiene and agriculture, each valued at 75. The standard required to pass is one-third in each subject and one-half of the aggregate number of marks. There is also provision for recommending in case of failure the following classes of candidates :-(a) Those who fail to reach the standard prescribed in some subject, but who make considerably more than the aggregate marks required, and (b) those who in the opinion of the examiners, on account of age or for some special reason, should be recommended. The reasons should be set forth in each case. The report of the board of examiners and the answer papers (to provide for any appeals) are sent to the Education Department. The regulations also provide for the provisional admission, during the interval between examinations, of pupils who were unable to be present at the regular examination, and who would suffer if not allowed to attend a high school. Certificates are granted to all pupils whose admission has been confirmed by the high school inspectors. About 20,000 candidates annually write at the entrance examination and about half that number pass.'

Number of collegiate institutes, 37; high schools, 93; total,

130.

Number of pupils enrolled, 23,301; percentage of average attendance, 60.

Number of teachers, 571. Average salary for principals, $1,177; for assistants, $814. The salaries of specialists in collegiate institutes range from about $1,000 to $1,500. The cost per pupil is about $34.26.

The origin and development of the system of examinations tal Examina- conducted by the Education Department may be readily understood by considering the general aims of written examinations.

tions.

"(1.) Examinations furnish valuable aid to both teachers and students regarding the manner in which the work of the school should be taken up. They tend to give direction to the teaching, and to prevent faulty methods of instruction and a consequent waste of time and energy. It is held that a proper system of examination does much to improve the discipline of school or college, and that wherever examinations are ignored the morale of the institution will be found weak and the education inferior. In Ontario the aim has been, by making physical training compulsory and by emphasizing the inculcation of high moral principles, to reduce to a minimum the possible evils of examinations, and to guard carefully their educational value while

utilizing them for other purposes for which their application is indispensable.

"(2.) Examinations are serviceable as tests for the promotion of pupils. They are almost essential, but do not supply the only data for this purpose. In the schools of Ontario promotions are generally made by the principal, aided by the members of his staff. The principal and his assistants prepare their own questions, and hold examinations at the close of each term. The promotions are not, however, based entirely on "percentages gained at the final examinations. The daily, weekly, or monthly class records are also taken into account, and to some extent the general estimate made by the teachers as to the pupil's industry and ability. Evidence of power and fitness to begin the work of a higher class is recognized as the main consideration in deciding upon the promotion of a pupil.

The pupils in either a high or public school may be promoted from time to time and reach the highest form, on the recommendation of the principal, who is responsible for the organization of his classes. No pupil is obliged to take any examinations other than those prescribed by the principal, and parents are left free to have their children write or not at the departmental or any other examinations. It is found, however, desirable and expedient in practice to modify this feature of school organization in view of the third object of examinations."

These

"(3.) Examinations are held for the purpose of granting certificates that have a qualifying or commercial value. cannot be left to be awarded by the teachers or other local authorities of each school. To do so would furnish no guarantee of uniformity in standards, and without such uniformity the value of the certificates granted would be slight. The estimate of teachers may, however, receive consideration in special cases where a candidate, through sickness or other cause, clearly fails to do himself justice. Uniformity is secured by the system of departmental examinations adopted for the entire Province. is also found convenient for teachers in high schools to utilize generally the departmental examinations for purposes of promotion, and the regulations regarding the mode by which these are conducted have, moreover, in view the direction given to the teaching, and their consequent educational effect upon all the pupils of the schools.

It

In short, the aim of the system is to secure at the same time the three objects of examinations here mentioned, and to lessen, as far as possible, the evils that are said to be associated with tests of this kind. The method is practically a combination of the systems of admission to college by certificate and by examination.

.

"The plan adopted in Ontario has greatly reduced the number of examinations. For instance, the high school entrance examination is conveniently used by public school teachers as a test for promotion to the fifth form, and the high school primary and leaving examinations serve as promotion examinations to higher forms in the secondary schools.

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"Some years ago in Ontario each of the four or five universities. held its own matriculation examinations. The law society, the medical council and the divinity schools had their own entrance examinations. There were besides, examinations held for admission to normal schools and other training institutions for teachers. Dentistry, pharmacy and engineering each had its own tests for admission to a course of study for these professions. What made matters worse was that the courses prescribed were not based on a common curriculum, the examinations were held at different periods of the high school term, and pupils were under the expense, in most cases, of going from home in order to write at any one of these examinations.

This condition of affairs, so annoying to high school teachers in the organization of their classes, has been entirely changed by having prescribed a uniform course of study for all the schools, by the adoption of a system of uniform examinations for the Province, and by the acceptance on the part of the different universities and the various fearned bodies of the certificates awarded by the Education Department. The examinations are held at the same time and on the same papers in every high school and collegiate institute. The student who passes the examination may secure a certificate or certificates which will admit him as a matriculant to any university in the Province; to the school of practical science; to a course of study in law, medicine, dentistry, or pharmacy; to a course of theology in any divinity school, or to a county model school, or some other institution for the professional training of teachers.

"The examination papers are prepared by examiners qualified by experience as teachers in high schools or universities to set suitable papers To avoid narrowness in style the examiners are selected from a wide field, and are changed from time to time. The answer papers of candidates are read by university graduates actually engaged in teaching. As a matter of fact, the papers are valued by teachers who are familiar with the same work in their own schools, and whose pupils are candidates at the same examination. The regulations make such necessary provision as prevents any identification of the papers read by any of the associate examiners.

"An important feature of the examination system in Ontario is that a student's calling in life need not necessarily be determined by the course taken up in school. If he has no special object in view but to secure a good education, no better plan is open to him for this purpose than to strive to gain a high school leaving certificate. Should he afterwards decide to enter a university, or to take up a professional course, he is in the possession of the necessary passport, without being obliged to turn again to his books and prepare for an examination.

"The course of study for Form I. in high schools is prescribed with the object of requiring all students to receive at first a good business education. The object in view is to guarantee that the interests of the great body of students will not suffer by having undue attention given to subjects required for entering