the country is divided into sixty districts, which are grouped in six divisions, each in charge of a head inspector. Under these are 29 district inspectors, 7 unassigned inspectors, and 10 inspectors' assistants. Inspectors and their assistants are appointed upon examination testing their scholastic and professional qualifications. Their salaries are graded in an ascending scale, which acts as a stimulus and reward for efficiency. The district inspectors are divided into two classes, of which the second begins at a salary of £275, which is increased to £305 by the addition of £10 biennially until the maximum is attained. The first class begins at £320 and increases to £370 by annual additions of £10. An allowance for traveling expenses is made to all inspectors. The duties of each class of inspectors are carefully defined. Head inspectors preside over and assist at the examination of teachers, determine their classification in conference with the district inspectors, conduct the examinations at the district model schools,' examine each year a suffi cient number of the ordinary schools in their respective districts, conduct special inquiries ordered by the board, exercise a constant supervision over the district inspectors, and transmit an annual report to the board of commissioners. The district inspectors come into the most intimate relations with the schools. They are required to spend from four to five hours at least each day, exclusive of the time occupied in going to and returning from the schools, in the actual work of inspec tion. Every school must be visited at least once in each week of the three terms into which the school year is divided. These visits are made without announcement. The inspection must include details of organization and instruction, condition of buildings, school registers, etc:

Once each year a public examination must be held in each school, notice of which may be given beforehand. The district inspectors submit annual and term reports to the head inspectors, employing for this purpose official forms which secure uniformity.2

Local control.-The authority of the local managers is extensive and in most districts is reposed in one man, the priest, Presbyterian minister, or other clergyman, as the case may be.3 He appoints and dismisses the teachers, arranges the daily time-table of the school, and determines the character of the religious instruction. A report of January 31, 1891, shows that 48 per cent of school managers at that date were Roman Catholic clergymen; 30.5 per cent clergymen of the Episcopal church; 18.1 per cent Presbyterian ministers; 2.2 per cent Methodist ministers.

THE SCHOOLS.

How established.-Local managers must take the initiative in estab. lishing ordinary national schools, providing the buildings and a por

1 See p. 154.

2 Official instructions.

3 See Lord Stanley's letter.

tion of the fund for current expenditures. The schools placed under the supervision of the commissioners were from the first called national schools, and it was ordered that this inscription should be put up conspicuously on the schoolhouses.

Classes of schools.-In 1840 the Presbyterian Synod of Ulster, which had previously opposed the national system, came into harmonious relations with the board, and vested and nonvested schools were thenceforth recognized. The former, to the building of which the state contributes, are vested in trustees for the purposes of national education. The clergy of all denominations represented in vested schools have the right of going to the same and giving religious instruction under certain conditions and provisions.3

The nonvested schools receive aid only by way of salary and books, and the managers are not required to permit access to the clergy. The report of the board for 1890 showed 3,139 vested schools and 5,545 nonvested.

The commissioners have also direct control of a special class of schools called "model schools," for which they provide the buildings. These schools, which were contemplated in the earliest plans of the board, are intended, as their name indicates, to afford models of the best methods of instruction and organization and to serve as practice schools for students in training colleges, i. e., normal schools.

It was proposed to establish one such school in each of the districts into which Ireland is divided for purposes of school inspection. In 1890 model schools were in operation in 26 out of 56 provincial districts, making, with 3 in Dublin, a total of 29. These schools resemble the graded schools of our own country, having in their complete stage a kindergarten department and separate departments for each of the six grades included in the scheme of study for national schools. In the number reported in 1890 there were comprised 84 separate departments. The enrollment was 9,567 pupils.

Convent and monastery schools are included also among those in

The commissioners were directed to refuse all applications for aid in which the following objects were not locally provided for: (1) A fund sufficient for the annual repairs of the schoolhouse and furniture; (2) a permanent salary for the master not less than pounds; (3) a sum sufficient to purchase books and school requisites at half price, and books of separate religious instruction at prime cost; (4) where aid is required from the commissioners for building a schoolhouse it is required that at least one-third of the estimated expense be subscribed, a site for building, to be approved of by the commissioners, be granted to them, and the schoolhouse when finished to be vested in them. (Lord Stanley's letter, p. 4.)

2 The commissioners of national education award aid (a) towards the payment of the teachers and supply of books and other school requisites, (b) towards building schoolhouses and providing suitable fittings and furniture (this aid is given to vested schools only)., (e) towards providing residences for teachers of national schools. See rules 247 to 249 (Rules and Regulations, 1887, p. 1).

3 Rules and regulations of Commissioners of National Education. Report 1813,

238.

relation with the board, the number of these in 1890 being 301, with an average attendance of 65,548 pupils. Naturally, the convent schools formed the great majority, i. e., 267, with an average attendance of 60,885 pupils.

The year after the Irish poor-law came into operation (1840) the commissioners first note in their report the opening of workhouse schools and their coming under the supervision of the board. The number of this class of schools under the commissioners has steadily increased, being 158 in 1890, with 9,430 pupils. These, with 52 evening schools having an average nightly attendance of 1,747 pupils, complete the list of elementary schools under the commissioners.

Statistics, 1890.-To summarize, it appears that the number of schools borne on the commissioners' list December 31, 1890, was 8,298, an increase of 20 per cent since 1871. Returns from 8,262 of these schools show a total enrollment of 1,037,102, with an average enrollment of 828,520. Upon this number an average daily attendance of 489,144, or 59 per cent, was maintained. The classification of pupils by religious denomination is important as showing the progress of the system in overcoming sectarian opposition. Every teacher is accordingly expected to enter upon his register the church relation of each child. Of the schools whose returns were summarized, 3,866 were mixed schools, i. e., attended by both Protestant and Roman Catholic pupils, and 4,394 were separate schools, i. e., attended by Roman Catholic or by Protestant pupils exclusively.

Further analysis yields the following particulars:

Of the pupils in separate or unmixed schools, 468,222 were Roman Catholic and under teachers of that sect, and 100,733 Protestant under Protestant teachers. Two schools could not be classified under these heads. The percentage of schools exhibiting a mixed attendance declines steadily from year to year, having fallen from 55.1 in 1881 to 46.7 in 1890.

Sources of income for national schools.-The Government grant has heretofore furnished about 743 per cent of the annual income of the national schools. The balance has been derived from subscriptions and endowments, and, in poor-law unions,' contributions from the rates.

Parishes and combinations of parishes, i. c., unions, are districts for the administration of the poor law. In these, contributions from the rates for school purposes are made in behalf of the children of paupers.

In addition to these sources since 1890, a sum has been annually received from the surplus derived from the tax on beer and spirituous liquors (customs and excise act). The Irish educational bill now before Parliament provides for an annual appropriation in lieu of school fees for schools whose managers accept the conditions. This bill follows the precedent already established in Scotland and England, and will in all probability become a law.1

The total income of the national schools for 1890-91 from all sources was £993,022 15s. ($4,826,090), derived as follows:

Government.-Annual grant, £738,467 58. ($3,588,951); tax on spirits, £57,705 88. ($28,049).

Local sources.-Tuition fees (school pence paid by pupils), £102,478 78. ($498,045); rates in contributory unions, £24,559 16s. ($119,361); subscriptions, endowments, etc., £69,811 16s. ($339,286). The rate per pupil in average attendance upon the whole amount was $9.86.

Of the above sum, £35,907 83s. were for buildings and repairs, leaving for the income of the teaching staff £957,115 64s. ($4,651,582), or $9.50 per pupil in average attendance. From the above statistics it will be seen that the managers of the schools, who have a power over them more absolute than that intrusted to private persons in any other system of public education in the world, are responsible for only about one-fifth of the entire income.

TEACHERS.

On the 31st of December 1890, the commissioners had in their service 7,999 principal teachers and 3,120 assistants, or a total of 11,119 (5,498 men and 5,621 women) classified teachers. Of these, 4,159 had received professional training. There were also at the same date 663 work mistresses and industrial teachers, 150 assistants, and 5,668 paid monitors or pupil teachers, and 152 receiving support and tuition in model schools. These numbers do not include the conductors of 242 convent and 3 monastery schools.

Classification, appointment, and salaries.-Teachers are divided into three classes, viz, third, second, and first. Each class is again subdivided into two grades or divisions, viz, second division and first division. Persons eligible for appointment either as principals or assistants in national schools are (1) those who have been trained in approved training colleges; (2) persons already recognized as classi

The bill was passed June, 1892, and will go into operation in the fall. The measure, which was at first welcomed by the Irish members of all sections, was eventually opposed on account of the compulsory clause, and also because the schools of the Christian Brothers were excluded from its benefits. Finally, upon the representation of a member that the Brothers' schools would submit to a "conscience clause" protecting children from sectarian teaching, provision was made for extending the bill to these schools. The opposition then ceased and the measure was passed. The fund for giving effect to this act is estimated at about £200,000 ($972,000).

fied national teachers; (3) persons who after a five years' course as monitors have obtained satisfactory certificates. No person can secure a position under the board without a medical certificate showing sound health. The minimum age for appointment is 18 years and the maximum 35 years. Clergymen are not recognized as teachers by the board. All teachers are obliged to present themselves at the annual examinations which are held in their respective districts each year in the month of July. Teachers failing in this obligation can not continue to draw their salaries. Salaries are graded by class. The classification and average salaries of principal teachers in 1890 were as follows:

General average: Men, $442.25; women, $373.75.

The average salary for assistant teachers the same year was, for $267.25; for women, $216.

men,

The salaries are composed in part of a fixed amount allowed by the commissioners to each class of teachers, and generally equal to one-half the whole salary. An additional sum is allowed by the board, determined in each case by the results of examinations and the amount of local contributions. Teachers of model schools are provided with full residence, as are also about one-tenth of the teachers of the ordinary national schools. The teachers of convent schools are allowed their choice between the fixed salaries and a grant (rated at 12s. or 10s.) per capita of average attendance. As they receive no money from local sources, their incomes are much less than those of the teachers in the national schools-a discrimination which has long been a cause of disturbance. At the best, the Irish teacher is not so well paid as the English teacher, owing, however, entirely to the meager contributions from local The matter is constantly urged upon the attention of Parliament by Irish members.

sources.

Of the total income of the teaching staff for the year ending March 31, 1891, 76.3 per cent was derived from the Government. Since 1879 the Irish teachers have had the benefit of a pension fund, which is distributed upon a varying scale, the maximum number of teachers who may be borne upon the pension roll being 10,700.

Duties. The duties of teachers in national schools are minutely detailed in official instructions, copies of which must be kept in the school room. Special stress is placed upon the keeping of registers, report books, and class rolls.

It would appear that Irish teachers are subject to all the evils arising