In Freiburg the school-system was framed in no small degree for the purpose of strengthening the democratic party against the clerical party. It provided that no relig ious society should be allowed to teach; that persons educated by the Jesuits should incapable of holding any office in church or state; it imposed a political oath upon the schoolmaster; it prohibited children from being sent to a private school, except with the sanction of the inspectorand the school-committee; and if sent, required that they should come up for examination every half-year. At the same time it established an excellent programme of primary instruction. At the elections of 1856 the clerical party regained the ascendency m.Freiburg; and in Jan., 1858, the council of state made a considerable alteration in the school-law. It reduced the programme of primary instruction; it made the clergyman a necessary member of the local school-committee, freed the teacher from the necessity of taking an oath, and relaxed the obligation of attendance at the public schools, giving parents liberty to educate their children at home or at private schools. In other respects, the system, as above described, has been maintained in Freiburg. There has been no change in the other cantons.
The law as regards religious instruction seems to work with tolerable smoothness. In Vaud, it appears that the laxity which prevails as to the requirement of a certificate sometimes leads to the admission of unqualified persons as teachers; and in Vaud and Neufchatel, complaint is made of the incapacity of the school-committee to make up for the want of professional inspection.
In the 4 cantons in which education is by law compulsory, the school-attendance is found to be no better than in Geneva, where it is not compulsory. In these cantons, the law provides that parents not sending their children to school arc to be warned; if the warning be neglected, that they are to be summoned before the tribunals. which can them by fine or imprisonment. But it ar.pears that, in point of fact. the tribunals are never resorted to; and that the authorities are careful not to insist upon more than the 'people are easily able and willing to comply with. In the Valais school-year need not kat for more thao 5 months. In Freiburg the vacation may last fOr 8 months; and the inspector maiiiicitilitifrom attendance at l'4ehool children who are sufficiently advanced, and children whose labor their parents cannot do without. In Vaud, the local school-committee may grant to children above 12 years of age, whose labor is necessary to their parents, dispensations which in a great measure exempt them from attendance at school; the master may grant the scholar leave of absence for 2 days in the week; the president of the school-committee may grant him leave for a week at a time; the school committee itself for a month at a time. It appears that in Vaud, the attendance at the schools had been steadily falling off from 1846, the date of the law, up to 1858; and the attendance of the children whose names were on the books was then reported to be by no means regular. New branches of industry which gave employment to children had been introduced into the canton; and the council of public instruction seems to have been compelled to sacrifice the law to the interests of families. The experiment of com pulsory education cannot be said to have succeeded, because it has not really been made, in French Switzerland.
At the head of the education of France is the minister of public instruction; he is advised and assisted by the imperial council of public instruction, a body the members of which are appointed by the crown for the period of a year. The minister, if he thinks fit, brings before the council for discussion projected laws and decrees on public educa tion; he is bound to consult it respecting the programmes of study, methods, and books to be adopted in all classes of public schools. The minister has succeeded to the func tions in respect of education which, under the first empire, were conferred upon the university of France: he is head of the university, the officials of which still perform a considerable part in the management of education, but do so under his control. As
respects the higher and the professional education, the university is both a teaching and an examining body, granting degrees under conditions prescribed by the minister and council. The administration of secondary instruction is committed to it, and it shares in the supervision of the primary instruction. It is composed of 18 academies, each of which comprehends several departments. These academies are so many local centers of the department of public instruction. At the head of each is a rector; the chief officials under him are called academy inspectors. The minister of public instruc tion is also rector of the academy of Paris.
The academy officials, under the control of the minister, have the superintendence of secondary instruction in the departments within the academy's jurisdiction; there is an inspector for each department. The instruction is minutely regulated, as to the quantity to be provided, as to the subjects to be comprehended in it, and as to its cost: it is the chief duty of the academy inspectors to see that the requirements with respect to it are complied with. The inspection is said to be highly efficient. The lyceum is the prin cipal seminary of secondary instruction; in general the chief town of every French department has its lyceum. There is, besides, the communal college. Every town of considerable population has its communal college. The lyceum is founded and main tained by the state, with aid from the department and the emmuunes•, the communal college is founded and maintained by the commune, with occasional aid from the state. The instruction given in the communal college and in the lyceum is substantially the same in character; in the lyceum it is the more extensive. To the lyceum there is usually attached a preparatory school for the younger boys. In both lyceums and com munal colleges there are boarders and day-scholars. French, Latin, Greek, and mathe matics are the principal subjects of instruction; arithmetic, history, geography, modern %languages, and the natural sciences are also taught. The course at the lyceum lasts for six years, and qualifies for the degree of bachelor of letters. Religious instruction is given—to the Roman Catholic boys by chaplains attached to the school: to the Protest ants, by a Protestant minister specially appointed to this duty; and the New Testament in Greek or Latin is read daily by every class. In the lyceums, the average charge for day-scholars is from .110 francskE4, 7s. 4d.) to 180 francs (LI, 8s. 4d.) a year; the charge for boarders from 800 francs (1'32) to 900 francs (PM), according to their age and advance ment. In Paris, the charges are higher—from £38 to £60 a year for boarders, and from to £12 a year for day-scholars; on the other hand, there are lyceums where the high est charge for boarders is 4:22 a year. There are public scholarships (bourses) founded by the state, to be obtained by competition, the holders of which are relieved from all cost. The education given is in no respect much inferior—and in some respects it is superio•—to that which is to be had at an enormous cost at the best English public schools; it is far superior to that which, at a far higher cost, is ordinarily given to chil dren of the middle classes in England. A private secondary school cannot be opened without notice to the public authorities: they must be satisfied that the premises are suit able; and the director must have a certificate of probation—showing that he has served five years in a secondary school—and a certificate of competency obtained at the public examination for secondary teachers. The academy inspector inspects private secondary schools, hut only to see that the pupils are properly lodged and fed, and that the teach mg contains nothing contrary to morality and the laws. The minister may, however, lispense with the certificate of probation, and holy orders are accepted in lieu of the certificate of competency.