THE IRISH INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION BILL.
LORD CAIRNS had no difficulty in demonstrating the need of Parliamentary intervention as regards intermediate education in Ireland. Whether the present state of things is judged by what ought to exist or by what formerly existed, the judgment passed on it must be equally adverse. In June, 1871, there were only two boys in every thousand of the popu- lation who were under instruction in Latin or Greek, in modern languages, or in mathematics. In one Irish county there was not a single boy under instruction in any one of these subjects. Lord Cairns estimates the per-centage of boys in England who would be under similar instruction at from ten to fifteen, so that on the lowest calculation four-fifths of the boys who in England would be benefiting by secondary education in some form have in Ireland to go without it. Supposing that the cases were reversed, the first thing that would present itself to the imagination of an English reformer would be to make a better use of educational endowments. But in Ireland educational endowments are almost as rare as .snakes. The total of all the school endowments other than those which are applied to elementary educa- tion is only £13,000 a year, nearly half of which belongs to
schools which are confined to Protestant children. The Government are about to appoint a Royal Commission to in- quire into the management and distribution of these endow- ments, but even if they are managed and distributed in the best possible manner, their amount will not necessarily be increased. A Royal Commission cannot create funds, and £13,000 a year will not go far when it comes to be spread over the whole of Ireland. Still education has sometimes flourished without endowments, and if private schools were doing the work of public schools, the need of a change might be less urgent. It may be inferred, however, from the per-centage of boys who are receiving instruc- tion i secondary subjects, that private schools are not doing the work of public schools, and the figures re- lating to the number of secondary schools bear out the deduction. In 1861 there were 729 intermediate schools in Ireland ; in 1871 there were only 574. During the ten years, 155 schools had been broken up, presumably f tom the want of scholars. This diminution was in part caused by the efficiency—real or supposed—of Irish primary education. When there were no national schools in Ireland, there were a Inumber of private schools, in which two-thirds or three- fourths of the pupils received primary instruction, while a third or a quarter received secondary instruction. The attend- ance of the tormer class of scholars made it possible for the master to provide in some degree for the wants of the latter class. Latin and Greek could be taught for a very small sum, by reason of the profit derived from teaching reading and writing. When the national schools were established, the scholars who had till then been receiving elementary instruction in private schools were naturally withdrawn from them. The national schools did the same thing, and did it better. The withdrawal of two-thirds or three-fourths of the scholars necessitated in many cases the closing of the school. They had kept the master in bread and cheese, while the inter- mediate scholars had only contributed barren distinction. No doubt, if there had been a keen desire for secondary education in Ireland, or much money ready to be spent on it, this result would not have followed. A genuine demand would have created its own supply. But the absence of such a demand only makes the duty of Parliament in the matter the clearer. In education, as in things higher even than education, they that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
Ireland is so far fortunate that there is a large sum of money avilable for educational puposes, if Parliament thinks fit to spend it in this way. The surplus revenues of the Disestablished Church are still undisposed of, and on the strictest cy pres doctrine, there is no purpose to which they can be more appropriately devoted than the promotion of Education. But to the direct use of them in this way there is a serious and even fatal objection. No new endowment can be founded by the State in Ireland without raising the religious difficulty; and when the religi- ous difficulty is once raised in Ireland, no one can say when it will be laid again. Supposing that the State were to found secular intermediate schools, the Queen's Colleges controversy would be revived in a more acute form. Sup- posing that the State were to found schools of various religions, the bugbear of concurrent endowment would start up afresh. The only result of either attempt would be to promote secondary education to the position which has long been held by University education. Instead of having one educational dead-lock in Ireland, we should have two. In devising how to supply the real wants of the country in the matter of secondary education, it was consequently necessary to abandon all thought of creating new endowments. Whatever else the Government might do, it was plain that it could not play the part of the pious founder. When the establishment of new and the subsi- dising of old schools have alike been recognised as impossible, there remains only one alternative,—payment by results. There are two things necessary to a good system of inter- mediate education,—schools to which boys can go, and boys ready to go to school. Payments by results can do something towards meeting both these wants. If money is to be had in the shape of exhibitions to be competed for, boys will be sent to school in order to prepare them for the competition. If money is to be had in the shape of grants to be earned, the multiplication of schools will be encouraged, because such grants will enable the managers of them to charge low fees to the scholars. The injury done by the National Schools will be undone, as regards private secondary schools.
Both these objects will be attained by the Government Bill. An intermediate Education Board for Ireland is to be estab- lished, charged with the duty of promoting intermediate secular education in three principal ways,—by instituting public examinations of students, by providing for the payment of prizes and exhibitions to students, and by providing for the payment to school managers of fees dependent on the results of the public examinations. These examinations will extend over a course of three years, and will embrace Greek and Latin, English and French, German and Italian, mathematics, and natural science. A first-year student must be under six- teen on the first day of June in the year in which he shall first present himself for examination ; and no student will eventually be eligible for examination in the second or third year's course, who shall not have been examined and passed in at least two subjects in the previous year. One exhibition or prize will be assigned for every ten students who shall have passed in three of the subjects of examination for each year. They will be awarded to the students highest in the order of merit in the general examination list for the whole country. In the first year, the exhibitions will be tenable for three years, and be worth £20 a year. For the second year they will be tenable for two years, and be worth £30 a year. For the third year, prizes of £50 will be awarded. Thus a student who is successful in the examinations for all the three years will receive in all £100. Payments varying from £3 to £10 will be made to school managers for students who have attended school for a prescribed time, and obtained passes in a prescribed number of subjects. By this arrangement, a balance will be maintained in the manager's mind between the benefit to the school derived, on the one hand, from the credit of gaining exhibitions, and on the other hand, from the solid profit of the results-fees. If all the money were devoted to exhibitions, the temptation would be to neglect the majority of the scholars in order to cram the few who were likely to come out first. If it were all devoted to results-fees, the temptation would be to neglect the most promising scholars, in order to secure the greatest number of passes. The system provided for in the Bill steers clear of both these rocks. The million of money which will be taken from the surplus of the Irish Church Fund could not be better spent ; and if the Bill becomes law this Session—and from the dispositions of the Irish Members towards it, there seems every hope that it will —the Government will have earned the commendation which Lord Cairns asks for them, of making a settlement which is much needed and has been too long delayed, and of taking a great step towards improving the material and intellectual welfare of large classes of Irishmen.
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