In his opinion, however, there is only one effective solution of the problem; namely, that of compulsory attendance upon the continuation school. He urges that

The State should step in to regulate the relation of the youth to his employer (just as, in an earlier epoch, trade guilds regulated the relationship of apprentice and master), by forbidding the employment of young people for such hours as shall make it impracticable for them to continue their education. To the Parliament of the neighboring State of Queensland belongs credit of passing the first Australian compulsory continuation school attendance act.

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MEDICAL INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS.

Every State of the Commonwealth has provided for the medical inspection and supervision of children attending public schools; the majority have organized a special service for this matter in the education department.

The work was begun in Tasmania in 1906 with the examination of 1,200 children attending schools in the town of Hobart. Individual examinations of school children have since been made on a more or less extensive scale in the different States, and Australia, therefore, has an accumulated mass of records which are of value to experts in vital statistics as well as to directors of health service. In Western Australia by an act of 1911, medical school inspection was committed to officers of the health department; in South Australia provision was made in the estimates of 1913 for a special force, comprising a physician, a dentist, and two trained nurses to be employed entirely in the schools.

With respect to this service, the minister of public instruction in New South Wales, in his latest report, says:

One of the most important educational developments during 1913 was the reorganization of the scheme of school medical inspection, so as to embrace every pupil in the State whose parents desired such medical inspection of their children. Toward the middle of the year it was decided to dispense with the services of the part-time doctors previously employed by the department and to increase the medical staff so as to permit every pupil attending the public schools being examined at least twice during school life, that is, between the ages of 6 and 14. Later in the year medical inspection was extended to such private schools as made application. With few exceptions, all school pupils in the State will now be subjected to medical inspection. It is estimated that, approximately, out of 310,000 children attending school, 300,000 will be subjected to medical inspection. The medical staff of the department is now a selfcontained branch, under the control of Dr. C. S. Willis, and the staff consists of 10 doctors and 5 nurses.

A bacteriological laboratory was established for this department in 1913, and it was proposed to institute a traveling hospital during the present year, in order that medical treatment may be extended to pupils in outlying districts that are beyond the reach of either hospital or doctor, and to establish a central dental clinic at which county and city pupils may receive needed treatment.

Among auxiliary agencies growing out of the medical service are systematic courses of instruction in anatomy, physiology, and hygiene given at the Women's Training College, Sydney; the following up of particular cases by nurses at the homes of children; and lectures to the senior girls in public schools on the care of children, home nursing, hygiene, etc. Similar extensions of the service are reported from Victoria and Queensland.

An important outcome of the medical service is the increased regard to conditions that promote health. This is indicated by the provision of open-air schools, city playgrounds for children, and camp schools for city boys.

The minister of public instruction for Victoria reports that two open-air pavilions have already been constructed and two others are in course of erection, all at different centers. A site has also been purchased for an open-air school at Blackburn, intended for underfed children. They will be selected from the poorer industrial suburbs and recommended for admission by medical officers.

At Hobart, Tasmania, two open-air classrooms were opened in 1913. The minister of education says with respect to them:

The cost is less than one-third of the ordinary classroom. The buildings are of wood and, in other States, both teachers and pupils have expressed a preference for the open-air school over the more solid structure, both for winter and summer use. The side walls are built up to a height of 3 feet 6 inches and are fitted with canvas slides working on ball bearings; these can be easily opened or closed at will. Should the building prove too cold for winter use, it will be utilized as a weather shed.

SECONDARY EDUCATION.

While primary education and university education are under Government control in all the States of Australia, secondary schools have been largely left to private agencies. There is, however, a noticeable tendency in all the States to extend Government supervision to schools of this class and to bring them within the reach of the people at large by means of scholarship funds. Interesting experiments in this department of education are reported as follows: In New South Wales a leaving examination has been instituted to mark the completion of the four years' secondary course. In connection with this measure the university amendment act of 1912 provided for the allotment of the university senate in 1913 of 100 "exhibitions" to be awarded on the results of the leaving certificate examination. The examination was held November 24, 1913, and the successful students took up their university studies at the beginning of the fall term in 1914. This event marks the "definite linking up of the public school system with the university.'

In Victoria the continuation schools have been converted into district high schools, and with the agricultural high schools offer very

complete provision for the continued education of children in the rural districts. The official course of study for these schools is arranged for a period of four years, which may be extended if necessary. For the first two years the pupils pursue the same studies, except those at the industrial schools. At the end of the two years the common course is replaced by four special courses, as follows:

(1) A preparatory professional course for pupils intending to proceed to university studies, to enter the teaching profession, or to obtain a sound general education; (2) an agricultural course to be taken in agricultural high schools; (3) a commercial course for pupils desirous of entering upon commercial pursuits; and (4) a domestic arts course, designed to give girls a thorough training in domestic duties and in the management of the home, as well as a good general education.

For admission to the high schools pupils must be not less than 12 years of age and must possess the qualifying certificate showing completion of the primary course; a declaration must also be made by the parents of candidates to the effect that they will keep their children in school through the four years of the course.

In Queensland an important experiment was inaugurated in 1912 when free high schools were opened in six centers. The curriculum for the schools, prepared in consultation with university professors, comprises three courses of study, each of four years' duration. The general course will lead up to the university; the two remaining courses are characterized as commercial and domestic, the latter having special reference to the needs of young women. Queensland also makes provision for free secondary education by subsidies to private "grammar schools," supplemented by district scholarships. Under this arrangement each one of the 10 grammar schools offers free education for 50 pupils and submits to Government inspection. The free high schools were established in centers not provided with grammar schools, but the demand for similar provision has become general, and is persistently urged in Brisbane. As a consequence the question of secondary education and its relation to the State is vigorously discussed. The secretary for education expresses the opinion. that at present the Government is not prepared to meet the necessary expenditure for the general provision of free high schools.

In Tasmania arrangements have been made by which pupils in the primary schools who pass a required test may be admitted to the high school without payment of fees; the minister of education advises that scholarship funds carrying a living allowance be provided as a means of bringing the opportunity thus offered within the reach of promising pupils in the country schools who, without such aid, could not continue their education.

NEW ZEALAND.

EVIDENCES OF PROGRESS.

The latest report of the minister of education shows that New Zealand is maintaining in every respect the high standards and the progressive spirit that have long characterized the educational work of that colony. The enrollment in public primary schools for 1913 was 169,492, an increase of 3.5 per cent over the previous year and equivalent to 16.3 per cent of the population, exclusive of aborigines. On this enrollment an average attendance of 89.2 per cent was maintained, which places New Zealand in the very first rank in respect to this important particular. The enrollment in private primary schools and lower departments of secondary schools would raise the total enrollment to 17.7 per cent of the population and would not materially lower the ratio of attendance, since the private schools are also under State inspection and receive subsidies from the public treasury based upon the inspectors' reports.

With regard to the public schools, it is noticeable that a comparatively large proportion of the pupils reach the sixth grade. The compulsory school age is from 7 to 14, but children can be admitted into school at 5 years of age. The statistics show that the largest proportion of the pupils attending school at any given time are 8 or 9 years of age. For 1913, the attendance of children of the former age was 20,269, nearly all of whom were either in standards 1 or 2; but the total number in the fifth standard was 15,435, and in the sixth standard 10,373, the latter being about half the number in the second standard. Not only is the compulsory law well enforced, but children under 14 can not get exemption from school attendance unless they are able to pass certain examinations; hence there is every inducement for them to remain in school, whether they are pupils of public or private institutions.

From tables showing the number of pupils to a teacher in the several grades of the primary schools, it appears that in the lowest grade (preparatory or infants) each teacher has a little over 9 pupils; in grades 2 and 3 (single-teacher schools), 23 pupils; grades 4 to 10 (two or more teachers), 33.8 pupils; grades 7 to 10 (over 200, with six or more teachers), 47.6; in all schools, 32.8. In these estimates two pupil teachers are counted as equivalent to one adult teacher. It is believed that the new scale of staffing adopted by the education act of 1914 will tend to diminish still further the evil of overcrowded classes.

Children who live remote from schools are furnished with conveyance at public expense, either by rail, by water, or by carriage road, and where this means fails, children are boarded at public expense near

the school. The amount paid by the State to education boards for these purposes in 1913-14 was £18,837 ($94,185).

Attention is called to the fact that in 1913, of 5,190 teachers employed, 963 were men and 3,227 women. In the smallest rural schools (1 to 15 pupils) the proportion was 349 women to 100 men. On this subject the report says:

The large proportion of female teachers to males in schools of 1 to 15 pupils is readily explained, the maximum salary (£120) in these schools being too small to attract male teachers. It may be fairly argued, perhaps, that in districts not too remote women are more suitable than men for small schools of this type. There is, at all events, a sufficient number of other positions to absorb all the men in the profession at present.

Medical inspection of schools and school children was established in 1912 under the joint control of the education department and the department of public health. Four medical inspectors were appointed, one being stationed at each of the four chief centers of the colony. The system of inspection adopted at the outset has proved satisfactory, and, for the present at least, it is not thought necessary to examine each child more than twice, or at the most three times, in the course of his primary school life, except in cases of suspected or proved abnormality. Regular inspection is made of the children averaging 10 to 11 years of age. As a rule, this is done by the medical inspector in any school on the first day of his visit; on the second day he examines special cases from other classes brought under his notice by the head teacher or selected by himself.

Instruction in the medical inspection of children is given to the students of the training colleges (normal schools), and, as opportunity occurs, to teachers already at work in the schools; so that in course of time the detection of certain physical defects in the scholars will not be left to the experts.

Figures compiled from the weights and heights of some fifteen thousand children returned by school teachers last year seem to indicate that the average New Zealand child is heavier and taller than the average English child of the same age.

The medical inspectors also report on the schools in respect of the lighting, heating, ventilation, cleanliness, etc., and there are many instances in which suggested improvements involving no expenditure have been effected. Emphasis is placed on the value of fresh air, and teachers are encouraged to teach out of doors or in open shelters whenever it is possible.

The expenditure on medical inspection for the financial year ended March 31, 1914, was £4,183.

The report shows a steady increase in the provision for manual and technical instruction in the colony. Of the elementary schools, 70 per cent have equipment for these branches, including in the

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