THE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION IN THE NORTH-WEST TERRITORIES OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA. b. Classification of Schools INTRODUCTORY I. CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION. 411 a. Council of Public Instruction (Central Authority) 414 II. LOCAL ADMINISTRATION. 415 f. Form of Agreement between Trustees and Teacher 447 g. Certificates 448 h. Summary of Examinations 448 (i.) First-Class Certificates 461 (ii) First- and Second-Class Certificates (Drawing) 462 462 464 THE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION IN THE NORTH-WEST TERRITORIES OF THE DOMINION. Compiled from Documents supplied by the Council of Public Instruction. INTRODUCTORY. In 1882 the Dominion Government formed, out of the vast Territory from the boundary of the United States to the most northerly point in the continent, and from the western shores of Hudson's Bay to the Rockies, four provisional districts. The educational system of the Territories deals with three of these four Territories-namely, Assiniboia, 89,535 square miles; Saskatchewan, 107,092 square miles; and Alberta, 106,100 square miles. This makes a total area of 302,727 square miles. The population of such parts of this area as were then settled was, in 1891, 66,799, and, in 1894, 86,851. But of these 86,000, over 13,000 were Indians. In 1898 there were nearly 16,754 pupils on the registers of the schools. While the people are chiefly of British origin, other nationalities are represented in sufficient numbers to increase the school difficulties. The occupations are farming, cattle ranching, lumber, and mining, and in consequence the population is widely scattered. The following pages will show with what vigour and enthusiasm the Council of Public Instruction in the Territories has addressed itself to its difficult task. The decade 1886 to 1896 witnessed a remarkable growth in the schools. The number rose from 76 to 336, an increase of 381 per cent., and the enrolment from 2,553 to 12,796, an increase of 400 per cent. In 1899 there were 453 schools, and 18,801 pupils on the rolls. In 1896 the number of teachers was 433, and, in 1898, 483 (232 men and 251 women). In 1899 the number of teachers had risen to 543. Efforts were early made to provide professional training for teachers. By a regulation of 1893 it is declared that, to make it possible for remote districts to keep their schools open, “provisional certificates are issued to persons who present such evidence of scholarship that there is a reasonable probability of their being able to pass the next teachers' examination." But these certificates may not be issued until the trustees declare that they advertised for a properly qualified teacher, but have not succeeded in obtaining one. The provisional certificate is valid for that school only, and terminates at the opening of the next examination for teachers. Schools are maintained (1) by legislative grants and (2) by local taxation. In 1896, the last year for which accurate figures can be obtained for such a comparison, the legislative grants reach the figure of $126,218, while local taxation yielded $148,430. Thus in 1896 the legislative grants met 46 per cent. of the total expenditure, which was in that year $274,648. In 1897 the legislative grants amounted to $121,457, and in 1898 to $133,642. Some idea of the purposes for which the money is expended may be given by this from the report for 1898. "In school districts the principal expenditure, other than the districts' proportion of their teachers' salaries, and maintenance and equipment of buildings, has been the payment of debenture indebtedness, insurance, fuel, and caretaking, salaries of secretaries and collectors and the treasurers' commissions. The salaries of the district officials vary considerably, and it might be well if some uniform scale were to be laid down." In noticing any omissions in the educational system of the, Territories, it must be remembered that the area to be administered is immense, the difficulty of communication very great, the population very sparse, and the winter extremely rigorous. In all these respects the difficulties of providing educational facilities press with unusual weight upon the educational authority. It is only to be expected, therefore, that that authority should be compelled to confine its activity mainly to the bettering of the elementary education. But, though there are no separate secondary schools, the sixth, seventh, and eighth standards (the enrolment of which was in 1896, 126, 39, and 5, and, in 1898, 221, 153, and 28 respectively) are termed "High School" standards, and have an entirely separate programme, based upon the matriculation examinations of the Universities of Toronto and Manitoba. A comparison between the statistics of the years 1895 and 1898 in regard to teachers and their certificates (see below) shows that the proportion of women to men teachers has slightly increased-viz., 1896, 222 women to 211 men; 1898, 251 women to 232 men. On the other hand, the number of men, is very much larger than the number of women, holders of first-class certificates (1896, 62 men, 34 women; 1898, 74 men, 42 women). The preponderance of women over men teachers is accounted for by the holders of second-class certificates (1896, 98 men, 109 women; 1898, 118 men, 153 women). There is a Normal School at Regina, the capital of the Territories, where sessions are held during the last four months of the year (see below). Agriculture has been a compulsory subject of the curriculum for eight years, and has been on the whole very successfully taught. Some remarks made on this subject will be found below. Instruction is also given in domestic economy. As will be seen from the following remarks (taken from the Report of the Council of Public Instruction for the year 1898) one of the principal educational difficulties of the country is the difference of nationality in the population: "The increase in the number of schools, pupils, higher grade teachers, the larger attendance in the higher standards and the improvements in buildings and grounds, are evidences of continued and improved educational progress commensurate in most respects with our growth and increase in population. "One of our most serious and pressing educational problems arises from the settlement among us of so many foreign nationalities on the block or colony system. There are colonies of Swedes, Finns, Bohemians, Hungarians, Jews, Austrians, Germans, Russians, Icelanders, Mennonites, Gallicians, and Doukhobors. "In addition to the foreign colonies there are also exclusively French-speaking districts in Saskatchewan that, for a variety of reasons, have not been able to keep their schools in operation. In the interests of the children as well as of the country at large every means should be taken to encourage the opening and maintenance of schools among these non-English speaking communities. "It would be criminal to shut our eyes to the fact that this rapid increase of a foreign and relatively ignorant population is at once a challenge and invitation to our institutions. These 'colonies' will add to our numbers, to our wealth in grain and cattle, to our material progress, but it will not be reasonable to expect them for many years to add much to that other wealth which is a nation's truest wealth-educated men with refined tastes, sound moral perceptions, a keen sense of civic responsibility and duty, and an adequate conception of the purposes of life. It is this latter wealth which determines the ranking of nations in the scale of civilisation. It is a sordid ideal that makes what a man has of greater value than what he is. It is not the quantity but the quality of its manhood that determines the status of a nation. "To assimilate these different races, to secure the co-operation of these alien forces, are problems demanding for their solution patience, tact, and tolerant but firm legislation. Modes of life, customs, political forms, thoughts, and ideals differing from ours have made these peoples what they are, and have dowered them with an inaptitude for our political forms and a disregard of our social customs that tend to keep them apart from us. The older people will not give up the forms to which they have been accustomed, and the younger people cannot soon acquire ours, except perhaps where, at the edge of the colony,' they come into frequent contact with us. The block or colony system retards assimilation. Mr. Greenway, the Premier of Manitoba, speaking |