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The first five classes of these schools are either naturally connected with the Church of Scotland, or have been attached to it by particular deeds, or the acts of trustees. There was formerly no question as to the Burgh schools, and they were accordingly considered as supplying, so far, the wants for which the Parish School Acts provided. Of the rest, some are expressly so connected by the promoters or managers; others are placed on the same list for inspection merely as a matter of convenience or choice, or it may be of indifference, with the express reservation of any Church connexion, as in the case of the National schools of Perth. While some schools

are fixed in number, as the Burgh and Parochial, and others are nearly so, as the General Assembly's, the increase of others, as the privately endowed and subscription schools, is comparatively unlimited, and of these the number of subscription schools in the table represents merely those on the list for inspection.

schools.

It will be seen that not one third of this wide field has Parish hitherto been opened to inspection, and that of the important class of Parish schools only a small proportion is yet on the list.

The several causes which concurred in producing this reserve Obstacles. of the parish schools are now, though in different degrees, becoming gradually less operative; and on some of these causes I may here submit a few observations.

tion.

Teachers of good early education, and of high and long sus- Examinatained professional character, as many of the parish schoolmasters undoubtedly are, may be sympathized with in feeling a not unnatural dislike to be called upon anew to undergo an examination which may result in a finding, as to their familiarity now with departments of study not directly involved in the routine of the school-room, that may place them below what might be expected from their former character as students and their present character as teachers; and very probably below young men of greatly inferior practical attainments, but having the advantage of a course of study and exercises specially directed to the preparation for this examination, as the sole object of their occupation for one or more years. The chance, however, of this last incongruity is now diminished, for the grade of certificate is henceforth not to be determined by the worked papers merely, with only a specimen of teaching, but also by the result of more than one examination of the school.

indispensa

I have taken the liberty of submitting this subject for the Considered consideration of your Lordships on more than one occasion, but ble. I have as often seen it to be impossible to draw any clear line of distinction between those whom I should consider eligible for

Other

obstacles.

Voluntary contribu tion.

a grant, on the strength of their well-known and solid attainments, and others who might consider their claims to be equally good, and who would accordingly view their exclusion from the same indulgence as an undeserved slight, and an injury to them in the eyes of the public. Again, to admit, without discrimination, all teachers of a certain standing to the enjoyment of a grant, without examination, but simply on the inspection of their schools, would be, in effect, to postpone, in many places, for nearly a generation, the beneficial results which these examinations are certainly instrumental in producing. They necessitate a careful revision of former studies, and occasionally the commencement of some that have been altogether neglected. It is of importance to remove entirely the tendency of managers to rest satisfied with the attainments of a teacher, if he appears to have a competent knowledge simply of what he may be expressly called upon to teach in the school for which he is a candidate. The more highly the teacher's own mind has been cultivated, the more highly qualified will that teacher be to deal with the minds of others, however elementary may be the subject of instruction. Hence, for instance, there is no abatement of the qualifications required for the certificate of a schoolmistress, because she is to be in charge only of an infant school. The highest class in a school may never go beyond Proportion in arithmetic, or the Series of Lessons in reading; but, undoubtedly, the master will be more efficient as a teacher of such a school if he has a knowledge of geometry, and also of Latin, or some other medium of becoming more acquainted with the principles of grammar, than a man usually becomes by the study of his own language merely.

But apart from unwillingness to undergo the examination, the parish schoolmasters of Scotland lie under some disqualifications for admission to it, which many of them regard as unnecessary barriers. I had the honor of bringing some of these points under the notice of the Lord President at his conference with the Inspectors in February last. His Lord

ship instructed me to give in a memorandum on the subject in writing, and I was subsequently instructed to refer to the principal points of it in this report, and which may be briefly stated as follows:

1. The difference between the statutory minimum parish school salary, and the maximum to which the heritors may voluntarily assess themselves, is reckoned as part of the voluntary contribution, which constitutes one condition of a grant in augmentation of equal amount, provided there be another sum of equal amount derived from school fees (supplemented, if necessary, by a farther voluntary contribution); but it was

generally understood that schools aided by the Dick Bequest Dick must, in order to fulfil the conditions of augmentation, be bequest. provided with a further salary, equal at least to twice the amount of the grant, exclusive of the difference between the minimum and maximum, and the effect, as was anticipated, has been the exclusion of the parish schools in the counties of Aberdeen, Banff, and Elgin. This seemed a departure from the principle elsewhere observed, that as endowment or legacy does not qualify for a grant, so it does not disqualify schools that are otherwise eligible; and on submitting that this special requirement might be reconsidered, with the view of placing these schools on the same footing with others of the same class, I was informed that, by the passage which is now removed from the Broad Sheet, it was intended simply to intimate that these legacies cannot be recognized as voluntary contributions qualifying for a grant, and that there is, in reality, no difference between schools so aided and other parish schools with respect to the conditions of a grant.

heritor's

2. A parish schoolmaster may hold the office of session clerk, Office of but not that of heritor's clerk, in a parish of a population clerk. exceeding 400, if he is to have the benefit of a grant. The poor are now provided for by a special board, and the heritors of the parish have no business meetings as such, except to provide for the maintenance of the church and school buildings; to elect a new master, fix his charges, and the branches to be taught, and once in twenty-five years to determine the amount of his fixed salary. These meetings, except when there is a vacancy to fill up in the school, and when the minister usually officiates as clerk, as he not unfrequently does upon other occasions, do not generally exceed one or two in the year, and are usually of short duration. There are not many parishes whose population does not greatly exceed 400, but the business of the heritors bears no relation whatever to the extent of the population. While the master is naturally the most eligible for the office, it cannot interfere with his proper duties, and allows him, as it was meant to do, a small supplementary perquisite, averaging about 31. a year. I submit that this limitation may be safely removed. Undoubtedly the schoolmaster's of inspector great and sole object, involving any sensible amount of busi- of poor. ness, should be his school; and if the duties of it are vigorously performed, and some time given to study in preparation, the remaining hours of the day may well be devoted to recreation. The office of inspector of poor has accordingly been justly viewed as, in most cases, involving too many interruptions, distractions, and responsibilities; and if it is conferred to eke out a slender income, at the expense, more or less, of the special duties of the teacher, a grant in augmentation of salary,

Y Y

registrar.

for the faithful discharge of these duties, may fairly claim to Of parochial supersede it. The office of parochial registrar, as now defined, is, to some extent, a new one, which the Act associates with that of session clerk; and it remains to be seen how much it may add to the similar duty which he has hitherto had to discharge.

Examina

tion on account of pupilteachers.

Supposed

3. Registration examinations have now been appointed, for the purpose of ascertaining whether a teacher has all the attainments necessary to carry through the apprenticeship of a pupilteacher, instead of leaving it to the Inspector to report from year to year during its currency, with the right of a private examination, to be exercised at his discretion. These registration examinations may be less objectionable to some than those for the certificate of merit, because no difference of grade is shown. Others, however, have expressed disappointment that, if they were subject to examination at all, they should be excluded from an opportunity of ranking for the certificate, because their present school may not fulfil all the non-professional conditions of a grant. On representing this, I understood it to be agreed at the conference, and subsequently at the Office, that, in the case of new applications, teachers might at their option, attend either examination, and that a set of papers below the standard of a certificate might yet qualify for registration; and also that, in the case of existing apprenticeships, the teachers should have the farther option of carrying them through on the original footing of annual report by the Inspector.

4. On the part of those generally who for some time entertained fears that the operation of the Privy Council Minutes Cost with would prove, as it was usually expressed, "the introduction of

interference of Privy Council

existing

rights;

the small end of the wedge," to separate the parish schools from the Church, there seems to be a growing conviction that such fears are groundless from this quarter, and that by means of the inspection it is desired, as set forth, simply to ascertain the fulfilment of the definite conditions on which a grant has been accepted; that there is not an approach to interference with the existing rights of local parties in the management of the school, and that the Inspector, who is a member of the Church and who obtained an expression of its confidence in him as a condition of his appointment, can have no interest or conceivable pleasure in reporting to the injury of individuals, or preferring the unfavourable view of that which is doubtful. and with There is no appearance of indifference for the one school examination on account of the other, while each may be attended with its peculiar advantage, the one from its local interest and more intimate knowledge of individual persons and circumstances, and the other from its want of all local

Presbyterial examina

tious.

Non-inter

feeling, and its simply professional view of one school as compared with others of the same kind throughout the country, and its means of propagating the knowledge of real and well ascertained improvements. Hence the unanimous invitations Invitations. which I continue to receive from presbyteries to visit all the ference. schools within their bounds. Of the non-interference with the rights of the managers or directors of schools, the course pursued in a contingency during the apprenticeship of pupilteachers may be noticed as a fair illustration. The apprenticeship is sanctioned, on a report that the condition of the school and the qualifications of the teacher are such that it may be expected to be satisfactorily carried through. The teacher, however, may be removed by death or otherwise during the currency of the apprenticeship, and the Government may be viewed as having a direct interest in the appointment af an equally qualified successor, in consideration of the public money which is already so far invested in the case. Accordingly, on the presumption that this interest involved a right, I have been asked whether I could, on the part of the office, concur in a proposed appointment. I had only to reply, that my Lords exercised no such right; that at the next annual period the school would be visited, as it would be if no change had taken place; that if the report was then satisfactory, the apprenticeship would be continued under the new master, but if he was found to be under age, or otherwise disqualified, the case would be simply struck off the register, just as it would have been had the original teacher failed in the fulfilment of the conditions, and the local rights would remain precisely what they were before the engagement was entered

upon.

teachers

oversight

Another fact to the same purpose may be mentioned here, Loss to more especially as, through inattention to it, certificated through teachers often sustain the loss of one or more years' augmenta- of managers. tion. When such a teacher leaves one school to go to another, the Inspector does not follow him, as a matter of course, nor is the grant, which must be accompanied by inspection, tendered till the managers of the new school apply for it. The augmentation then runs from the next month after such application, This condition is set forth in the Broad Sheet, and is otherwise made known to the teacher; yet, through unaccountable, because unintentional, delays on the part of correspondents, not only one year but sometimes two are allowed to lapse before the application is made, which is a cruel hardship to the teacher, and one that is without remedy, unless the managers, who may be morally or otherwise responsible, according to the understanding when the appointment was made,

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