NATIONAL EDUCATION, SYSTEMS OF. A system of national education may be said to exist wherever the sovereign authority in a nation takes part in the establishment, mainte nance, or to any considerable extent the regula tion of the agencies for the education of the peo ple. In ancient times and among the antique civilizations that survive to-day State systems of education are found. Such systems are (1) theocratic. where the priesthood, who form a rul ing caste or arc intimately connected therewith, carry on education; (2) examining, where the State conducts tests for citizenship or °Melo) po sition, thus indirectly determining the character of the instruction; or (3) martial, where the State aims to prepare its youth for citizenship which is practically equivnlent to membership in its army. The Roman Government regulated edu cation to some extent. and the emperors endowed many institutions of learning. With the fall of the Roman Empire and the appearance of the me in:rival ecclesiastical system, the Church assumed control of education in Europe and resented any encroachment of the State upon its domain. The Reformation. however, by placing wherever it prevailed the control of religion in the hands of the State. transferred to the secular authority the control of education as well. The modern em phasis of the necessity of education for all, not only in religion. hut also in letters, led to a broader popular education than had hitherto ex isted. The multiplication of sects that was an outcome of the Protestant movement brought about so much warfare regarding religious in struction that in most of the advanced notions it has largely or entirely disappeared from the curriculum of the State schools. Thus the mod ern systems, concerned prineipally with secular instruction, and controlled by the State, have come to exist.
The development of modern national support and control of education has in general followed this order: first the regulation, then the par tial support, owl finally the assumption by the State of almost the entire responsibility for the education within its borders. To-day in Prussia 99.5 per cent, of the elementary education is car ried on in public schools, and all the secondary and higher institutions are State institutions. Switzerland ond Sweden show practically the SIIIIIP conditions. In Holy private elementary schools do 10 per cent. of the work, and in Spain they are a much more significant factor. In England the law of 1902 brine's most of tile ele mentary schools of the relii.ioos societies under Government control and provides for them n eon tribution from public funds as liberal as that given to the schools established by the State. Secondary education is also gradually coming tinder State supervision and provision is being mode for national secondary schools, In Franee the private secondary and elementary schools, the larger port of which were under clerical auspices, have been to a great extent suppressed by the en forcement of the Associations Law of 1901. In
the United States 8.1 per cent. of all elementary and secondary school attendance is in private schools.
The result of the vigorous efforts of the most progressive States within the nineteenth century is the almost entire disappearance of illiteracy within their borders. Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden find less than 1 per cent. of their con scripts unable to read and write. In llolland, England, and France the proportion of illiteracy grows greater. 4.0 per cent. of the French re cruits in 1597 being ignorant of letters. In Italy the percentage of illiterate conscripts in 1809 was 33.8, and the marriage register shows that 50 per cent. of the women called upon to sign it were unable to do so. In Spain the percentage of illiteracy was estimated as 68 per cent. in 1889, and this proportion has probably not been greatly reduced since that date. In the United States in 1890, 13 per cent. of the population over ten years of age could neither read nor write. This large proportion, however, is due to the enormous negro population and to extensive emi gration from Eastern and Southern Europe. At the same date only seven per cent. of the native population over ten years of age was illiterate. Doubtless the proportion of illiterate adults whose parents were native would in America (if we exclude negroes) lie about as small as that of conscripts in the European States having the most effective systems of popular edu cation. To-day the great problem of popular edu eation is not the abolition of illiteracy, but the training in vocations.
In 1899-1900 20.38 per cent. of the population of the United States were enrolled in elementary schools. Prussia and Switzerland show about the same percentages. Then follow England, Sweden, and France. Daly had only 7.36 per cent. of her population in elementary schools in 1898, while in Russia this percentage was in 1896 only about 3. The United States also leads in the amount expended for elementary education, whether we calculate the rate of expenditure per capita on the total population or per pupil on the enrollment in the schools. The average ex penditure per pupil in 1899-1900 was $20, about double that of England and France, and nearly three times that of Prussia. Italy and Russia spent in 1900 $5.15 and $5.12 per pupil respec tively. The United States spent on elementary education in 1899-1900 5233 per capita on the total population. Prussia followed with $1.29 per capita. These comparisons are based on statistics that vary from year to year and are constantly becoming more reliable. In the series "Our European Neighbors" (New York, 1901-03) each volume contains a good brief popular ac count of the schools of the respective European countries.