P. T

SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSIONS.

REPORT

TO THE

COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED BY HER MAJESTY TO
INQUIRE INTO THE EDUCATION GIVEN IN SCHOOLS
IN ENGLAND NOT COMPRISED WITHIN HER
MAJESTY'S TWO RECENT COMMISSIONS,

AND TO THE

COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED BY HER MAJESTY TO
INQUIRE INTO THE SCHOOLS IN SCOTLAND,

ON THE

COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM

OF THE

UNITED STATES AND OF THE PROVINCES OF
UPPER AND LOWER CANADA.

BY

THE REV. JAMES FRASER, M.A.,

ASSISTANT-COMMISSIONER.

"Ne tournons pas nos régards vers l'Amérique pour copier servilement les insti-
tutions qu'elle s'est données, mais pour mieux comprendre celles qui nous conviennent;
moins pour y puiser des exemples que des enseignements; pour lui emprunter les
principes plutôt que les détails de ses lois."-DE TOCQUEVILLE.

Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty.

PRINTED BY GEORGE E. EYRE AND WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE,
PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.

FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE.

1866.

iii

INSTRUCTIONS.

SIR,

4th April 1865.

IT has been considered advisable by the Commissioners appointed by Her Majesty to inquire into the education given in schools not comprised within the scope of Her Majesty's recent Commissions on the state of popular education and on certain public schools, and by the Commissioners appointed by Her Majesty to inquire into the schools in Scotland, that an investigation should be made into the system of education which prevails in the United States of America and in Canada. The Commissioners having appointed you to conduct this inquiry, we are directed to give you the following instructions:

1. You will ascertain to what extent schools are provided for the people by laws passed for that purpose, and to what extent the means of education are left to be supplied by the voluntary efforts of individuals. You will inquire whether parents are under any legal obligation to have their children educated; if so, whether those who neglect this obligation are subject to any penalty; and whether the result is the prevention or diminution of juvenile delinquency. You will state not only the provisions of the law on these subjects, but also the manner in which it is enforced, and the extent to which it is practically operative.

2. You will inform yourself of the manner in which the schools are supported, whether by any funds in the nature of endowment, or appropriation by the State or central Government, or by local taxation, or by subscription, or by school fees. If there are any funds appropriated by the State, you will ascertain the source from which they are derived, whether from the sale or allotment of State lands, or from general taxation, or from any other source; their amount, and the principle of their distribution among the various local bodies. If they arise from special or local taxation, you will ascertain the principle and manner of its assessment, and its amount relatively both to the income of the ratepayer and to the other taxation of the country. And in all cases you will ascertain the average cost of the education of a scholar, and particularly its full cost to the parents.

3. With respect to the administration of the schools, you will inquire into the relations which exist between the State or central government and the local government; into the constitution of the local governing bodies; into the relations between them and the teachers, and of the teachers among themselves and with their scholars; into the extent to which mistresses are employed in schools for either or for both sexes; into the character and frequency of any inspection or control by the governors; into

11643. a. c. 1.