The problem of public education in the Province of Quebec, owing to the division of the population between the French and English races, and the Roman Catholic and Protestant religions is one of peculiar difficulty. The dif ference of creeds has led to the establishment of a dual system of elementary, secondary and superior schools. The Roman Catholics of the province, numbering (census of 1911) 1,724,683, had 6,119 schools of all kinds; the Protestant population of 378,549 had 897. At the head of the educational system is a superintendent of public instruction with a council composed of all the Roman Catholic bishops whose dioceses or parts of whose dioceses are in the Provinces of Quebec, now numbering 15, an equal number of Roman Catholic laymen appointed by the Crown and an equal number of Protestants similarly appointed. Within the council are a Protestant committee and a Roman Catholic committee which control the schools of their respective denominations. Each has its ele mentary, model, normal and high schools and academies. School attendance is not compul sory. In each parish or township there is a board of school commissioners elected by the owners of real estate. These erect and main tain schools, appoint teachers and levy the school tax, which falls on real property only. But in any such district a dissentient minority professing a religious faith different from that of the majority, may organize themselves sepa rately, elect a board of trustees and conduct a school of their own. In the cities and towns there are separate Protectant and Roman Cath olic boards of school commissioners. Real estate is taxed for school purposes according to the religious faith of its owners. The finan cial resources of the school municipalities com prise (1) the sums raised by local rates, and (2) grants made by the Legislature. The former consists of the school assessment, which levied on all ratable property of a school municipality and the monthly fee, which is col lected for every child who attends or who should attend the public schools. The grant of the Legislature is divided proportionately to the number of the children enrolled. In 1916 there were 5,998 elementary schools, with 7,982 teach ers and 251,492 pupils. The average salary for elementary teachers is male $938 and female $236. There were 1,042 academies, high schools and model schools, with 196,595 pupils. The public schools mentioned above are practically Roman Catholic schools with 897 separate schools attended by 54,745 pupils, of whom nearly all are Protestants. The total school expenditure for the province in 1916 was $11, 564,043.64, the government grant amounting to $1,882,837.73.
In each of the three maritime provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Ed ward Island) there is a system of public ele mentary schools, normal schools, high schools and academies (grammar schools in New Brunswick), whose organization closely re sembles that of the Ontario schools. In each province the executive council, acting through its superintendent of education is at the head of the system. The elementary schools are free, co-educational, non-denominational, with com pulsory attendance, placed under trustees elected in each school district, and supported partly by provincial, county and municipal grants, partly by local assessments. In these provinces the annual °school of rate payers which elects the trustees, also votes the amount of money to be locally assessed. In Prince Edward Island in 1916 there were 476 public schools with 595 teachers and 18,362 pupils. The average salary for primary school teachers is male $276-$543 and female $220 $371. There were 28 first class schools (doing high school work) with 1,563 pupils. The total school expenditure for the year was $244,572.29, the provincial expenditure amounting to $173, 962.56. In Prince Edward Island the Prince of Wales College at Charlottetown is a secondary school with governmental support, having a normal school department for the training of • teachers. In New Brunswick in 1916 there were 2,020 public schools with 2,141 teachers and 66,044 pupils. The average salary for pub lic school teachers is: Male $290-$873, female $261-$482. There were 39 grammar and su perior schools (high school grades) with 2,365 pupils. The total school expenditure for
the year was $1,221,224.71, the government grant amounting to $280,827.35. In certain towns and in some French Canadian settlements there are separate schools for Roman Catholics, attendance at which satisfies the requirements of the provincial law, but the schools are neither supported nor controlled by the state. New Brunswick has a provincial university, whose president is adjoined to the executive council in its capacity of board of education. In Nova Scotia in 1916 there were 2,837 public schools with 3,019 teachers and 99,463 pupils. The average salary for public school teachers is: Male $262-$872 and female $2384482. There were 64 high schools (including 18 academies) with 9,726 pupils. The total school expenditure for the year was $1,620,154, the provincial government grant amounting to $414,738.
In Manitoba the executive council, or cab ,net, is at the head of public education. There is a minister of education who is advised and assisted by a deputy minister and a superin tendent. An advisory board, partly appointed, partly elected by the teachers, aids the govern ment in organizing the school curriculum, es tablishing teachers' qualifications, etc. The pro vincial system includes public (primary) schools, a higher grade of which are called intermediate schools, and secondary education is provided for in high schools and collegiate institutes. Schools are free and are supported by provincial grants, municipal grants and a local school tax levied by the trustees. School districts are erected by local municipalities and trustees are elected therein. The whole system closely resembles that of Ontario. (For the pro vincial university see article CANADIAN UNI VERSITIES). The question of separate schools for Roman Catholics was a subject of acute controversy. Established in 1871, they were abolished in 1890. The agitation in favor of their restoration reached an alarming crisis in 1895. A compromise was made in 1896 whereby religious instruction may be given during the last half hour of the school day, and which permits the Roman Catholic school children of a district, if numbering 25 or more, to have a teacher of their own denomination. Manitoba has two provincial normal schools for the train ing of teachers, one in Winnipeg and the other in Brandon. In 1916 there were 1900 public schools with 2,991 teachers and 97,100 pupils. The average salary for a public school teacher is 768. There were 102 high schools and col legiate institutes with 6,696 pupils. The total school expenditure for the year was $6,658,229, the provincial government grant amounting to $901,117.40.
British Columbia has a system of free, non denominational public schools controlled by the provincial government through a superintendent of education. The schools are supported partly from the provincial treasury and partly by the sums raised by the district assessment. In British Columbia in 1916 there were 808 public schools, with 1,984 teachers and 64,570 pupils. The average salary for public school teachers is $800. There were 40 high schools, con trolled by local boards of trustees, with 4,770 pupils. The total school expenditure was $3, 216,350, the provincial government grant amounting to $1,591,322. British Columbia has two normal schools and a provincial univer sity.
The provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan have systems of public schools administered by a Department of Education presided over by a minister of education, who is assisted in the case of Saskatchewan by a superintendent of education, and in Alberta by a deputy minister as permanent administrative head. The organ ization is similar to that of Ontario. In the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan the minority ratepayers in any district, whether Roman Catholic or Protestant, may establish separate schools and become liable only to as sessment at such rates as they impose upon themselvetrin respect thereof. In practice this privilege is but little used. In 1917 there were in Saskatchewan only 19 separate schools out of a total of 4,022 elementary schools, and in Alberta only nine separate schools. There are normal schools at Regina, Saskatoon, Edmon ton and Calgary, and universities at Regina, Saskatchewan and Strathcona, Alberta.