THE SEVENTY-THIRD REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF NATIONAL EDUCATION SCHOOL YEAR, 1906-7. ΤΟ HIS EXCELLENCY JOHN CAMPBELL GORDON, LORD LIEUTENANT-GENERAL AND GENERAL GOVERNOR OF IRELAND. May it please Your Excellency. WE, the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland submit to Your Excellency this our Seventy-third Report. In this report the statistics of attendances, religious denominations, &c., in the schools, are for the year ended 31st December, 1906, the financial statements are for the year ended 31st March, 1907, and the general information is brought up to the end of the school year, viz., the 30th June, 1907. A considerable portion of our report for last year was School devoted to a review of the history of the question of the building building grants for schools, and we desire to make the follow-grants. ing statement as to its progress within the past year. We are glad to be in a position to state that a decision has now been arrived at touching the question of the revised plans and estimates for national school buildings, and that the deadlock upon which we commented in our last report has at length been removed. The Lords of His Majesty's Treasury no longer insist upon restricting buildinggrants to the cases mentioned in the incomplete return of unsuitable school buildings compiled in 1902, and we have been empowered to deal with applications for grants in the order of their urgency-the accommodation to be determined in each case by allowing 10 square feet for each unit of the mean between the average attendance and School building grants. the average number on rolls. Further, there is now no question of limiting the total amount of funds available for this service to a fixed sum, and £40,000 per annum has been promised for each of the three years 1907-8, 1908-9, and 1909-10. The Treasury have also agreed to an arrangement which will have the same effect as if the annual sum provided were to take the form of a "grant-in-aid," that is to say, that any balance of sums agreed to be provided, but not spent in the particular year for which they are granted, will be added to the Estimate for the following year or years. They further consent to this grant of £40,000 being supplemented by further sums from the Ireland Development Grant, on the understanding that the same basis and conditions shall apply to the building cases dealt with out of this latter fund as apply to cases dealt with out of the Parliamentary Vote. Priority will be given to urgent cases in the allocation of these funds, and schools where there is serious overcrowding or other insanitary conditions such as low ceilings, damp floors, bad ventilation and inadequate out-offices will be included in this category. The Treasury reserve the right to refuse to assist in the erection of small schools proposed to be provided merely on denominational grounds. But as regards the erection of small schools, it may be well to state here that we do not consider that official plans should be issued for schools having an average attendance of less than 20, and we would consent to the issue of special plans for schools with an attendance between 20 and 30 only in cases where it would not be feasible by the amalgamation of small neighbouring schools to have a school with a larger average attendance. We have accepted the proposals of the Treasury for the next three years, provided that the vote for buildings is supplemented by at least £25,000 per annum from the Ireland Development Grant. In order that aid to build may not be promised by us in excess of the sum voted for this service it will be necessary to know the amounts to be placed at our disposal for at least two years in advance. Grants in excess of two-thirds of the estimated cost of school-houses may be allowed in needy and congested districts provided that in the case of localities not officially scheduled as congested districts, the Commissioners, the Board of Public Works, and the Local Government Board agree upon a suitable criterion of poverty for determining what districts should be placed in this category. Pending the issue of the standard plans, we have been authorised to allow the managers to proceed in certain urgent cases by special plans prepared by the local architects, provided that effective steps are taken to prevent needlessly expensive plans being adopted; and sketch plans, together with a copy of instructions, will be sent to the applicants in the cases in question, in order to guide the architects who may be employed in preparing plans. It may be well to state that the main features of the new plans are: 1. A class-room for each adult teacher. 2. Each class-room to have an independent entrance, so that the pupils may pass in and out of the room without disturbing any other portion of the school. 3. Every part of the room to be fully lighted and the light, as far as possible, to be admitted from the left side of the scholars. 4. Seating accommodation in dual desks graduated in size to be provided for the pupils in attendance. 5. Suitable cloak-rooms and lavatory accommodation to be provided. 6. Apart from windows and doors, provision to be made for a copious inlet of fresh air, also for the outlet of exhausted air at the highest point of the room. In addition to a room for each teacher, we are of opinion that in a large school a separate room for instruction in Cookery or Elementary Science is requisite. It would be practically impossible to continue the teaching of Cookery and Science in a large school if a special room is not set apart for the purpose. There are not quite 1,000 schools in Ireland under three or more teachers and a large proportion of these are either Convent schools in which cookery rooms have already been provided, or non-vested schools to which State grants for building purposes are not made. We stated for the information of Your Excellency and the Treasury that, in our opinion, £5,000 of the sum annually voted for school buildings should be set aside for the erection of rooms for practical instruction, and the Treasury have acceded to this proposal. new We have had inquiries made during the year as to the pro- Progress ficiency of the schools throughout the country under the of the present system of instruction and we find that, after making schools due allowance for the situation and condition of the school under the houses and premises, the equipment of the schools, the social system. conditions, ages, etc., of the pupils, 7,020 inspected schools have been classified in respect of efficiency of teaching as follows: Teachers' salaries. Convent schools. Bonus for It is satisfactory to note that in 63 per cent. of our inspected schools the proficiency ranged from "good" to "excellent," while in only 6 per cent. could it be described as middling or "bad." 66 We regret that the improved scheme of teachers' salaries which we submitted for the approval of the Treasury within the past year has not been sanctioned. We are of opinion that the present initial salaries are insufficient, and in devising a remedy we were desirous of combining with it an effective inducement to greater efficiency, especially in the opening years of a teacher's career. We are also of opinion that the space of time required under the present system by the average teacher to reach the higher salaries is unduly long. This serious drawback in the existing system would be partially corrected by the raising of the initial salaries, but the acceleration of a deserving teacher's promotion should be further aided by an improved scale of increments. We have recommended that in any recasting of the arrangements governing the advancement of teachers, an annual system of increments should be substituted for the present triennial system. We have also recommended an improved scale of increments for the Convent national schools which are paid Capitation salaries, but our suggestions have not received the sanction of the Treasury. Our representations as to the desirability of granting a University bonus to teachers who are University graduates have not regraduates. ceived the consideration which we desired. Irish language. A certain number of prizes of £5 each are now distributed by us annually amongst the King's Scholars who at the close of their final year of training pass the general examination and obtain certificates of competency to teach Irish. Further prizes of £10 may be obtained by King's Scholars should they subsequently be reported to have shown high merit in the teaching of Irish in a national school for two consecutive years. We have also made provision for the recognition of the summer courses of training attended by teachers in the colleges established for special training in Irish. The supply of suitably trained teachers who possess the qualifications required by us for the teaching of the Irish language is still insufficient to meet the demands of schools. situated in Irish-speaking localities. To facilitate the training colleges established for instruction in Irish as much as possible in the work of the work of meeting this deficiency. we have end of arranged that now the courses the professors of the colleges shall examine the teachers at the who have attended and shall submit the results to us We have been empowered by the Treasury to bring into operation for the forthcoming school year, a very liberal scale of fees for instruction in Irish in bilingual schools, together with a progressive scale of fees for instruction in Irish in ordinary schools in which it may be taken up as an extra subject. Details of these scales will appear in the forthcoming issue of the Code. As a consequence of the increased fees as well as of the Irish growing popularity of the study of the language, we anticipate organizers. that there will be a considerable increase of official work in connection with the inspection of Irish, and in order to meet the exigency we propose to appoint at an early date six organizers of Irish instruction. It is expected that these organizers will give valuable help in the development of the study of the language. With a view to the encouragement of the study of the Irish Irish in language in evening schools, book prizes are now awarded to evening pupils, under certain conditions. We also propose that in future Irish shall be an alternative for Book-keeping in the examination of candidates for entrance to the training colleges. schools. We attach very considerable importance to the teaching of Mathem Mathematics in the primary schools. In the absence of atics. schools of a higher grade, it is essential that pupils of national schools intended for technical and commercial pursuits shall be afforded opportunities of acquiring a more extensive knowledge of Mathematics than is provided for in the ordinary programme for primary schools. We recommended to the Irish Government and the Treasury that a fee of 5s. for each pupil in the fifth standard and above in average attendance should be given for each of the two sub-divisions of this subject, viz. (1) algebra and arithmetic; (2) geometry and mensuration. We are glad to state that these proposals have now been sanctioned. |