establishment fluence of the somewhat Despite this has been constantly diminishing, it is still felt to some of state on extent. Many of the board members are ministers or trol, the in- priests and the inspectors come mostly from the clergy. church is still Moreover, religious instruction forms part of the course felt in educa- in every school, although it is given at such an hour that any pupil may withdraw if the teaching is contrary to the faith in which he has been reared. The secondary schools are largely interdenominational, but in elementary education there are separate schools for Catholics and Protestants, alike supported by the state. tion. In Germany the secondary gymnasia and the realschools par allels the schools rather the secondary The Volksschulen and the Mittelschulen. Prussia, work of the like most of the principal states of Europe, as a result of their educational history,1 has its elementary and secondary schools quite separate and distinct. The universities course in the continue the work of the gymnasiums and real-schools, people's but these two latter institutions parallel the work of the than supple- people's schools rather than supplement it. The course ments it; and of the secondary school ordinarily occupies the pupil from nine to eighteen years of age, while that of the eleby the chil- mentary school carries him from six to fourteen, and after the first three years it is practically impossible to and the eley transfer from the elementary to the secondary system. beley mentary by A pupil cannot enter a gymnasium or real-school after completing the people's school, and the only further training he can obtain is that of a commercial, industrial, or 'continuation school,' 2 which is not part of the system institutions are attended dren of the upper classes those of the lower. 1 See p. 315. 2 These Fortbildungsschulen are sometimes held in the evening and even in a few instances on Sunday, but they are mostly conducted during the week in the daytime. They are not intended to review work previously done, but to treat some subjects already covered from the point of view of application to future vocational needs, and also to consider new subjects that serve the same purpose. proper. The people's schools are gratuitous and are attended mostly by the children of the lower classes, while the gymnasiums charge a substantial tuition fee and are patronized by the professional classes and aristocracy. Hence the line between elementary and secondary education in Prussia is longitudinal and not latitudinal, as it is in the United States; the distinction is one of wealth and social status rather than of educational grade and advancement. There are also some Mittelschu- There are also some 'middle len (middle schools') for the middle classes of people, schools' for who cannot send their children to the secondary schools, the middle and yet can afford some exclusiveness. They have one more class than the people's schools, include a foreign language during the last three years, and require teachers with a better training. classes. classes of real schools were recognized, and out of these arose in 1882 the realgymnasia and real-schools. The Gymnasien and Other Secondary Schools. In 1859 two The main types of secondary schools in Prussia are the Gymnasien, with the classic languages as the main feature of their course, and the Realschulen, characterized by larger amounts of the modern languages, mathematics, and the natural sciences. For more than a century after the higher the first real-school was opened in Berlin by Hecker (1747), this type of institution had only six years in its course, and was considered inferior to the gymnasium. The practical needs of the people were not regarded in secondary education, but only the ideal training of the ideal citizen. By the ministerial decree of 1859, however, two classes of real-schools were recognized. Those of the first class had a course of nine years, and included Latin, but not Greek. They were given full standing as secondary schools, and graduates were granted admission to the universities, except for the study of the ology, medicine, or law. The course of the second class of these institutions contained no Latin, and they were dependent upon the good-will of the communities in which the real-schools were located. They were recognized as secondary schools only when their course was up to the official standard. In 1882 the compromise character of the course of the first class of institutions led to their being designated as Realgymnasien, while the second class in some instances had their work extended to nine years and became known as Oberrealschulen. Their graduates were allowed the privilege of studying at the universities in mathematics and the natural sciences. In rural and other districts, however, where a complete course cannot be maintained, there are often gymnasium,' secondary institutions that do not carry the student as well as by more than six years, and these are known, according A six-year sometimes of sium' or a the real schools. In order that the determi nation of a boy's career may be deferred, new secondary institutions to the curriculum, as Progymnasien, Realprogymnasien, and Realschulen. The first two classes are far less common than institutions with the longer course of the same character, but the Realschulen are nearly twice as numerous as the Oberrealschulen. Since these three types of secondary institutions are so distinct from each other, it is evident that a parent is forced to decide the future career of his boy at nine years, long before his special ability can be known. If he once enters a real-school, he can never transfer to a known as 're- gymnasium, because the Latin begins in the latter course at once, nor can he enter the gymnasium from the realrapidly devel- gymnasium after twelve, since he has had no Greek. To overcome this objection, during the past quarter of a century efforts have been made to delay the irrevocable decision by grouping all three courses as one form-schools' have been oping. institution and making them identical as long as possible. In secondary schools of this new sort, French is usually the only foreign language taught for the first three years. Then the course divides, and one section takes up Latin and the other English. After two years more a further bifurcation takes place in the Latin section, and one group begins with the Greek, while the other studies English. These institutions are known as Reformschulen and the plan was first introduced at Frankfort in 1892.1 The 'reform schools' are now growing rapidly, and there is evident an increasing tendency to postpone the choice of courses as long as possible. The three years of training preliminary to admission to a secondary ary school school of any type may be obtained through the people's may be obor the middle schools. But there has also grown up, as people's an attachment of the secondary schools, a Vorschule schools or in ('preparatory school'), to perform this function for 'preparatory pupils of the more exclusive classes. The three years of prep aration for any second tained in the a regular school' ties are now tions and part of the na tional system, The Universities. Like the other stages of educa- The universition, the universities are now emancipated from ecclesias- considered tical control, and may be regarded as part of the national state institusystem of education. The university is now coördinate and under the same authority with the church, for both although they are legally state institutions. Universities can, therefore, are controlled be established only by the state or with the approval and decrees of the state. In general, however, they are not controlled by legislation, but through charters and special decrees of the minister of education. As their income from endowments and fees is very small, they are for the most 1 Several years before this, a combination of the Realgymnasium and the Realschule was made by Dr. Schlee at Altona, but this plan was tentative and by special permission, and has spread to only a few schools. by charters rather than by legislation While a national system began in a century ary and tutions was not radically different. part supported by the state. They are managed internally by the rector and senate. The rector is annually chosen from their own number by the full professors, with the approval of the minister, and the senate is a committee from the various faculties. The professors are regarded as civil servants with definite privileges, and they are appointed by the minister, although the suggestions of the faculty concerned are usually respected. The civic status of the universities is further shown in their being recognized by representation in the Diet or upper house of the legislature. Educational Institutions in France before the Revolution. The development of a centralized system of France almost education in France began almost a century later than in later than in Germany. During the eighteenth and the early nineGermany, the earlier history teenth century the different monarchic powers were not of the second- at all favorable to training the masses, and popular higher insti- education was badly neglected. It required several revolutions in government and the establishment of a permanent republic, to break the old traditions completely, and to make it evident that universal suffrage should be accompanied by universal education. The earlier educational history of France, however, was not radically different from that of Germany and the rest of western Europe. Thanks to the Renaissance and the efforts of such men as Budæus, Corderius, and Ramus, the anæmic scholasticism and narrow theological dogmatism in the higher institutions were replaced in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries by humanism and the study of the classic authors. A chair of Greek was established at the University of Paris (1458), and the College of France (1530) was founded by Francis I as a |