The statutory school age is in New South Wales and Western Australia from 6 to 14 years; in Victoria from 6 to 13; in Queens land from 6 to 12; in South Australia and Tasmania from 7 to 13. Pupils under the maximum age are exempted from further at tendance if on examination they pass a pre scribed standard. Attendance is required in New South Wales on 70 days, and in Queens land on 60 days in each half year; in South Australia on 35 days in each quarter, and in central districts on 8 out of 10 school sessions in each week; in Victoria on 75 per cent of the days in each quarter; in Western Au stralia and in Tasmania on every day on which the school is open. As a rule, children under the age of nine, living within a radius of two miles by road from a state school, and those between nine and the maximum age living within a radius of three miles, come under the laws relating to compulsory attendance. Truant officers and in some cases the police are employed to enforce the law. Prosecu tion and punishment of the parents of de faulting children is when necessary resorted to without hesitation.
State schools in Australia come under the category of public, provisional, half-time and special. In most of the states a public school may be established if an average attendance of 20 can be maintained. The buildings are provided by the department. In Queensland an average attendance of 30 is required, and the locality has to contribute one-fifth of the cost of erection and maintenance of the build ing. Where the average attendance is under 20, but over 12, the school is termed provi sional. In sparsely populated districts half time and special schools or itinerant teachers are provided. The policy of concentration of attendance has been largely carried out, chil dren are carried free to and from school over the state railways in New South Wales' and in Tasmania. In Victoria they are carried at reduced rates. It is not unusual to see a passenger train stop at cross roads to pick up a group of children on their way to or from school. In many cases it is found to be more economical to make an allowance to parents for the conveyance of children to a school than to bring a school to the children. More over, better schools can be provided and higher standards maintained under the tconveyance system which there is a disposition to extend. The schools will then still better serve the purpose of central or consolidated schools. The average attendance of pupils at the state schools is at the rate of about 62 per school, 30 per teacher, and 11.51 per cent of the population; the average enrolment being 15.59 per cent.
Normal schools are provided for the train ing of teachers, and are usually recruited from those who have served for four years as pupil teachers. In South Australia a six-year
course has been arranged for the training of teachers; two years are spent in study com bined with a certain amount of practical work; two years in teaching in the schools, and the final two years at the university. During the term of training the students receive a maintenance allowance from f30 to £80. The schools are classified according to the number of the children in average at tendance, and progressive grades of certifi cates are awarded to teachers which qualify them for appointments in the public schools. Uncertificated teachers are frequently em ployed in the provisional schools. In all the states with the exception of New South Wales, there is a preponderance of female teachers. The salaries of male head teachers range upwards to f450, and of female head teachers to f360. Male assistants receive from f60 to f262, and female assistants from f50 to f216. The salaries of provisional teachers run from 166 to f140. Payment by results has proved unsatisfactory in operation and has been practically abandoned. The system of inspection is less mechanical than formerly and several of the states exempt schools of recognized excellence from detailed exam ination, leaving the promotion of the scholars in the hands of the head teacher. Boards of Advice visit, inspect and report upon the schools in their district, are authorized to expend small sums on the school buildings, arrange for the use of the buildings out of school hours, and take part in the adminis tration of the compulsory clauses of the Edu cation Acts. The Boards of Advice are hon orary. In some cases they are nominated by the executive, in others they are wholly or partly elective. In Queensland there is usually a committee for each school. In no case, however, has the theoretically desirable asso ciation of the official with a public body on each plane been achieved, viz., a school com mittee acting with the teacher, correlated with a Board of Advice co-operating with the district inspector, and a Central Council stimulating, assisting, and, if need be, acting as a check upon the Minister. Education falls short of its object if the department does not carry parents and the locality along with it. The schools, when the public sympa thizes with their work, exercise a vitalizing and elevating influence on the whole neigh borhood. There is no caste system in Aus tralia. The state schools are intended to meet the requirements of rich and poor alike; it is not uncommon to see the child of a cabinet minister or of a wealthy citizen imbibing the elements of knowledge by the side of the child of an artisan or laborer.