MODERN EDUCATION AND HEALTH.
WE confess that we regard with much suspicion the outcry which is heard from time to time now-a-days against our system of Elementary Education, on the ground that it is
injuring the health of pupils and teachers. The charge is brought, as a rule, by those who have been opposed to the whole scheme of Compulsory Education, or, at least, who are but half- hearted supporters of it, and always eager to keep it down strictly to "the Three R's." Still, after allowance is made for prejudices, there remain some statistics and opinions of men of weight which show that the question, though often discussed, has not been by any means settled as yet. The address of Mr. Teale, President of the Health .Department at the Social Science Congress, on Monday, brings it again to the front.
Intellectual quickness is clearly not characteristic of the masses of the English race in England. There is nothing in the Standards which prevail in our Elementary Schools which ought to render it difficult for children of a bright, average intelligence to pass them. In Scotland and in Germany, harder tests are applied with better results than our Standards give us here, but some explanation of this fact may be supplied by the considera- tion that the system has been in full working in those countries for a long time. Are we trying to do in a few years what requires a longer period ? Is it the case that, in those countries, in the words of Mr. Teale, "the science by which Educational requirements are brought into harmony with growth, development, and health has attained a point of perfection from which the English Educational system is sepa- rated by a long interval ?" If it be so, we shall have to ask our- selves what quantity of pressure it is legitimate or allowable to bring to bear upon the English children of school age so as to make up, as far as possible, for the time lost. We can do nothing in the matter till we obtain definite information from those best qualified to report on the effects of our present system on the general health. Mere vague allegations or even isolated proved instances of harm done are of no real value, unless, in- deed, we are to lay down the thesis that there is no excuse for removing an abuse, where the remedy applied falls short of per-
fection in its application. The system of compulsory education in its present form is not to be condemned by showing that here and there it has done harm when injudiciously applied, especi- ally when we consider how millions have been trained by it to become better citizens and better men. We have no separate heading as 3,et in the Registrar-General's Reports for Competitive Examination, beside zymotic and other diseases. The true principle of criticism in such a case is to measure what is against what was, and its mischiefs against the mischiefs of the old no- system, and then to decide between them.
Still, perfection being the point towards which the statesman must steer, it is highly desirable that this question of health in relation to Elementary Education should receive a prompt solution. It is a question which will press for an answer more and more with time, for the inevitable drift of our Educational system must be towards Standards of greater diffi- culty. Mr. Ilundella tells us, with the authority of one who has studied the Education question throughout Europe, that "the requirements of the English Educational Code are the lightest" of all, and it does not need a prophet to foretell that, while this is so, no finality will seem to be attained,—in the eyes of Liberals, at all events. Whether a Royal Commission on "Brain Pressure in Relation to National Health" would be of much use, we are inclined to doubt; but surely some system of Reports might be devised, wherein the governors of Board schools should give the results of inquiries and observation on their own part, and on the part of the staff of each school throughout the kingdom. Her Majesty's Inspectors also could help in this matter, by paying special attention to the backward pupils in the annual examination. A good Inspector ought to discover very quickly whether a dull child has been " crammed " so as to mechanically answer questions, and just earn the grant; and if he comes to such a conclusion, be can refer the investigation on the subject of health, in such a case, to the governors of the school. No doubt, this has already occupied the attention of some Inspectors ; but what is wanted is organised, universal observation.
We cannot as a nation afford to keep back the bright child for the benefit of the dull, as we should be doing were we to lower the Standards ; nor can we separate off the dull children from the bright for separate instruction, as that would be fatal to the progress of the former, who would lose at once the incen- tive to industry, and with it their own self-respect. If the strain of our present Code is too great—and we disbelieve it—some other system of Grants will have to be devised Instead of payment by results, which the Nev Code has already modified, we shall have to pay according to efficiency in management and teaching only. It will be a truly difficult task to frame an Inspectorate which could give satisfaction by its Reports under these heads, without the hard, matter-of-fact clue which is supplied by the results test in examinations.
So impracticable, indeed, does it seem to apply any other than the Examination test in Elementary Schools, that it will be well to devise some means which will prevent any risk of impairment of health under* the present Curriculum. Some such plan as the giving of a substantial meal in the middle of the day in all such schools, as suggested in our issue of a fortnight ago, would, we believe, produce the best results. Too often it is the case that the dull child is the under-fed child, and the school meal would breed a double benefit ; improved general physique and improved power of bearing the pressure of instruction, where the mind is, at present, starved through the body. Were the nation once convinced that, to hold our own, we must raise our Standards in education progressively, and that a healthy and well-fed body is an absolute condition of suc- cess in the average pupil, we believe the means of paying for such a meal would be forthcoming. Thus mind and body would be reciprocally indebted to each ; mind, as de- veloped to the utmost under favourable health conditions, body, as owing to the recognised need of educational develop- ments its improved condition. On the question of the influence of the higher education and competitive examinations, which are equally part of the subject discussed at the Social Science Congress, we are inclined to traverse entirely many of the allegations which are often made. We do not believe that the best candidates in such examinations, putting aside, perhaps, the Indian Civil Service, where climatic influences come into play, suffer materially, if at all, from the strain put upon them. The defect is not in the system, but in the abuse of the system. Those who break down under it are, we fancy, those who have been driven on at too high a pressure to secure, by exception- ally severe efforts of memory, positions in the list to which their natural abilities do not entitle them. This is the real evil of the " cramming " system. For the candidates who are, by natural power, exactly those whom the Service wants, there lap) need of "cramming," unless, indeed, the organised development of know- ledge with the most careful avoidance of waste of energy is to be so called. It is a poor compliment to pay to the Examiners in such cases to suggest that they select " crammed " candidates, for the most part. As a matter of fact, it is well-organised knowledge which they appreciate highest, and unless such knowledge as candidates have be well organised, there are only a few, if any, who can give it adequate expression on paper. What successful "coaches," such as Mr. Wren, do, is to give instruction of a high kind in the subjects re- quired for the different examinations, specialising more than can be done at a school, and supplying defects of ordinary school education which would ruin the chances of many excellent candidates, as, for instance, the niggardly allow- ance of time given to the modern languages, and even to the history of our own country. Their pupils work no harder than many a youth at the Universities who looks forward to a "First" and a "Fellowship," yet no one wants to abolish " Honours " at Oxford or Cambridge. Where, again, are the evidences of deterioration of health in the Officers of the Army or the Navy, or the Clerks of the higher grades of the Home Civil Service ? Even if, however, it could be shown that the Competitive-examination system is a car of Jagannath, crushing its thousands of self-offered victims beneath its wheels, still the old question comes up,—" What is your alternative which will avoid jobbery and favouritism P" Mr. Teale's suggestion, in eases where good candidates outnumber appointments, that the final selection should be made by the drawing of lots, is not likely, we venture to think, to win the day.
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