FAH: CATION. Italy compares very on favorably with Northern European countries in respect to the general diffusion of education. Since the nation is overburdened with debt and is lacking in national wealth, the educational system has not had the financial support necessary to its proper development. It would have been difficult to establish a high educational standard even had the Government not been financially handi capped. It required noel effort and time to do away with the extreme: of illiteracy existing in some of the provinces when the present King dom was established. In whole regions two-thirds of the population were illiterate. and in Ileggio di Calabria and Catania the illiterates amounted to 93 per cent. of the total population. A better condition generally prevailed throughout the north of I tale. The Government. desirous of improving the educational status, made elemen tary education free, and in 1877 passed a law making education compulsory between the ages of sic and nine years. This has had a very beneficial influence, although, excepting in the northern provinces of Piedmont and Lombardy, the law has not been strictly enforced. Attendance is numb the greatest in the winter months, when the schoolhouses are often overerowded. The reduction of illiteracy has been aided by the introduction of the policy of giving elementary instruction to illiterate conscripts. The percent fige of illiterates married decreased for males from 57.73 in 1871 to 33.80 in 1900, and for females from 76.73 in 1871 to 47.95 in 1900. In the Pro•inee of Coenza the male illiterates at the time of marriage were still in 1900 over threc fourths of the total.
The national scheme of education eomprehends the entire scope of education, including kinder garten, primary, secondary, technical, and higher instruction. In 1899 there were 346,837 children in attendance at kindergartens. Private societies and citizens, besides the eonummes, support the kindergartens. The primary eourse of instruc tion is divided into two grades. The first grade corresponds to the compulsory period, or the first three years of a child's school life. The second grade is a supplementary course of two years, but comparatively few pupils continue in this grade, the enrollment being less than a tenth of that in the lower grade. The attendance
at the public primary schools in 1898-99 was 2,444,2SS, and at the private schools of the same rank 192,669. The private schools are required to follow the same programme as do the State schools. Many of the communes have established night or Sunday schools for the special benefit of children who do not continue into the see ond grade of the primary eourse, and also for the benefit of adults. The enrollment at these schools in 1898-99 was 138,181, which was less than was at one time attained, the attendance having decreased since the cessation of the State subsidies. A still higher grade of schools has been established for the benefit of girls who wish to prepare for normal schools or for a practical career, the instruction including book keeping and technical branches. The attendance at these in the above years was 7459.
There is a large number of eonvitti for females (1456 in 1895-96. attended by about 49.467 pupils). Most of these institutions are endowed or private. Instruction in these schools is, as a rule, given by nuns. and in some the instruction is free. The elementary school buildings are generally throughout the rural districts of a very inferior and inadequate kind. Often rooms are rented for school purposes, and their selec tion is not infrequently made by officers who are incompetent, or who subserve their personal interest. In many cities, however, the buildings and their equipment are of the most approved type. In 1877 religion was eliminated from the State schools. Religious instruction is only given when demanded by parents of the pupils. The private schools are generally in charge of religious Orders. In the last years of the nine teenth century much progress was made in the introduction of agricultural eourses into the ele mentary school system. The communes hear the main burden of elementary education, although the State assists and to a small extent the provinces assist also. The State, provinces. and communes share in varying proportions in the support of other branches of education, the local Chamber of Commerce also sometimes aiding in the support of special schools. A large number of the secondary institutions are supported by religious denominations.