The expression "parent" means a parent or guardian of, or person having the legal custody of, or the control over, or having direct benefit from the wages of a child or young person: The expression " Secretary of State" means one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State: The expression "Education Department" means the Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council on Education : The expression "week" means the period between midnight on Saturday night and midnight on the succeeding Saturday night: The expression "prescribed" means prescribed for the time being by a Secretary of State. Repeal of Acts. Sec. 107. The Acts specified in the Sixth Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed from and after the commencement of this Act, to the extent in the third column of that schedule mentioned:1 Provided that (6.) The standard of proficiency fixed by the Education Department in pursuance of any enactment hereby repealed shall be deemed to have been fixed in pursuance of this Act; and, (7.) A child exempted by section eight of the Elementary Education Act, 1876, from the provisions of section twelve of the Factory Act, 1874, by reason of his having attained the age of eleven years before the first day of January, 1877, shall, on attaining the age of thirteen years, be deemed to be a young person within the meaning of this Act. Sec. 8 of the Elementary Education Act, 1876 (39 & 40 Vict., c. 79), is specified in the Schedule. CERTIFIED EFFICIENT SCHOOLS.1 INSTRUCTIONS OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT. Circular Letter addressed by the Education Department to Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools. SIR, Education Department, Whitehall, S.W., 8th February, 1877. I am directed to forward, for your information and guidance, the annexed copy of the rules which the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education have laid down with respect to the conditions under which they will be prepared to recognise as "certified efficient schools," under the Education Act, 1876 (sec. 48), those elementary schools which do not seek annual aid, and are not inspected by the officers of other departments of the State. The efficiency of every such school will have to be tested in respect of 1. The premises in which it is held. 2. The results of the secular instruction. 1. Your inquiry under the first head will extend to all the points on which you are required to report, under the New Code, in the case of an application for annual aid, and will include the supply of school furniture, books, apparatus, and other material appliances. My Lords are not prepared to certify any school as efficient which does not, in these particulars, come up to the standard required as a condition of annual grants, until they are satisfied that any deficiencies which you may have pointed out have been made good. See sec. 48 of the Elementary Education Act, 1876, p. 94. 2. As regards the standard of instruction fixed by the rules, my Lords are aware that it is a very low one, and that it can be accepted only as a starting point for future improvement. They have taken it, with very slight modifications, from the test of efficiency prescribed by the instructions issued to the inspectors who, under the Act of 1870, carried out the inquiry into the general school provision of the country. It is obvious that as the object of the recognition of the new class of schools in question is to secure for children who do not attend public elementary schools such instruction in the first four standards of the code as will qualify them to obtain certificates of proficiency, under the Act of 1876, enabling them to go to work, it will be the duty of the managers so to raise the character of the teaching in their schools as at least to keep pace with the standards of proficiency required in successive years by that Act as a condition of employment. My Lords must, therefore, expressly reserve to themselves the power to require a higher standard of instruction, from time to time, from those schools which are to be continued on the list of certified efficient schools. Should you find the instruction in any school more advanced than the standard suggested in the rules, you will report what results are actually attained in the school, and the higher subjects, if any, in which proficiency is shown by the scholars. If on the occasion of any visit to a certified efficient school, you find that the managers wish to apply for annual aid, and their teacher to be examined for a certificate under Article 47 of the code, you will hear the teacher give a lesson to a class, as a test of his (or her) practical skill, and you will satisfy yourself that the school does not fall short of the minimum standard of instruction specified in the rules. So, if the managers wish the teacher to receive a certificate without examination, under article 59 of the code, you will examine the scholars according to the terms of that article, and report the result of the examination, and your opinion of the teacher's skill. In either case you will inform the managers that they must intimate their wishes to this Department, if they have not already done so, reminding them that no grant can be made to any school which is not conducted as a public elementary school within the meaning of the Education Act of 1870 (sec. 7). My Lords will expect you to report upon the certified efficient schools which you visit, either when specially called upon to do so, or in any general report on your district, which is presented to Parliament. I have the honour to be, Sir, F. R. SANDFORD. To Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools. RULES AS TO CERTIFIED EFFICIENT SCHOOLS. 1. The managers of any elementary school who wish the school to be certified as efficient will, on writing to the Secretary, Education Department, Whitehall, London, S.W., receive instructions as to the manner in which their appliIcation is to be conducted. 2. The Department, on agreeing to entertain the application, will direct one of Her Majesty's inspectors to report upon the school. The inspector will give notice beforehand to the managers of the day fixed for his visit. Preliminary Conditions. 3. Before a school is certified as an Efficient School, the Education Department must be satisfied that, (a.) Elementary education is the principal part of the education given in the school, and that the ordinary school fee for each scholar does not exceed ninepence a week. (¿.) The school is not carried on under the management of any person or persons who derive emolument from it. The school premises are healthy, well lighted, warmed, drained, and ventilated, supplied with suitable offices, and contain in the principal schoolroom and class-rooms at least 80 cubical feet of internal space, and 8 square feet of area, for each child in average attendance. (d.) The school is properly furnished, supplied with books and apparatus, and under good discipline. (e.) The teacher is efficient, and is not allowed to undertake duties, not connected with the school, which occupy any part whatever of the school hours. (f.) The girls are taught plain needlework, as part of the ordinary course of instruction. Standard of Instruction. 4. (a.) The general instruction of infants (from 5 to 7) will be tested by the standard of instruction used in Public Elementary Schools. (b.) As regards the elder children, 50 per cent. of the number of scholars above 7 years of age, in average attendance during the previous year, will be individually examined in reading, writing, and elementary arithmetic; those from 7 to 8 in Standard I. of the code of 1870, those from 8 to 10 in Standard I. of the code of 1877, and those above 10 in Standard II. (or a higher Standard) of the same code (1877). (c.) One half of the children examined ought to pass in two subjects. (d.) One half of the children above 10 ought to pass in two subjects. (e.) One half of the children so passing ought to pass in arithmetic. |