EDUCATION. There has been a very marked contrast between the development of the educa tional system in England and Wales and its development in Scotland. In the former kingdom there was no public-school system until the nine teenth century was well advanced, and its devel opment then was very slow, being hampered throughout by a bitter religious controversy. In Scotland provision- was made for public schools before the close of the seventeenth century, and the system developed without serious embarrass ment from religious controversies, and has always ranked much in advance of the system in the southern kingdom. During the earlier centuries a large number of endowments had been estab lished in England, administered usually under the auspices of some religious sect; but the in struction was usually defective, comprehending little more than the dead languages. So little regard was exercised over the administration of these endowments that abuse was easy, and many of the endowments were lost or diverted into other channels. The scheme of education em braced but a small part of the population, and the educational status compared very unfavorably with that existing in some of the Continental States.
In the early years of the nineteenth century an interest began to be aroused in behalf of a more general diffusion of education. Two rival organi zations were established for that purpose. The British and Foreign School Society, dating from 1808, represented the dissenting religious ele ment, and its board schools were carried on in accordance with a plan advocated by its leader, Joseph Lancaster. No dogma was taught, but the Bible was read. The National Society (1811), on the other hand, followed the ideas of An drew Bell, and made religion and the interests of the Established Church prominent in the national schools which they founded. The growth of interest in education resulted in the appointment of a committee from the House of Commons (1816) to inquire into the nature of elementary instruction, and in 1818 of a royal commission to inquire into educational charities. But no financial aid was given until 1833, when $100,000 was granted, this being divided be tween the educational societies. Inspection was soon made a condition to receiving aid, and the rival factions secured the right to approve the inspectors who were to examine their respective schools. In 1856 an educational department was founded to administer the Government grant. `Payment by results' became the ruling principle in the distribution of funds, the 'results' being determined by the examination held by the in spector in the subjects of reading, writing, and arithmetic. In 1869 the school accommodations
were only half those required, though they had doubled in the decade ending in that year. In 1870 the Elementary Education Act was passed, establishing the basis of a general educational sys tem which is still in force. It attempted to provide for the education of all children between the ages of five and fourteen; annual Parliamentary grants were to be shared by the public and the private schools on the same conditions; there was to be a central administrative agency, and wher ever the local needs were not amply provided for, school hoards were to be elected and board schools established; in the board schools no religious catechism was to be taught, though re ligious instruction might or might not be given, and in the voluntary schools religious instruction could not be forced upon a child if its parents ob jected. In 1872 a similar system was established for Scotland, but with elected school boards for every parish, and these have charge of higher as well as elementary education.
Scotland has its own central administrative board. In 1900, the separate departments of edu cation and science, which had formerly existed in England, were united under a board of edu cation. This board is expected to secure a better systemization of the secondary and technical de partments of instruction. The central authorities are assisted by a corps of inspectors and sub inspectors. Every religious body now conforms with the conditions prerequisite to receiving aid. In England the voluntary schools still enroll over half the school attendance, their predominance being greatest in the smaller towns and rural dis tricts. In Scotland the voluntary schools enroll (1897) only 22 per cent. of the school attendance. Education is now compulsory in both England and Scotland for the age period from five to four teen, though under given conditions total or par tial exemption may be secured at the age of eleven in England and of twelve in Scotland. In districts in which there are no boards, school com mittees are appointed to secure the enforcement of the law in regard to attendance. Kindergarten work is given a prominent place in the elementary system. Women may be elected members of the school boards. Complete illiteracy records are not taken, but estimated upon the decided de crease in the proportion of persons who cannot write their names on the marriage register—a decrease from 123.4 per thousand for husbands during the period 1881-85 to 29 in 1899—illiter acy is being rapidly stamped out.