The Sun.
London, England, 1868-02-28 00:00:00

THE SCHOOLS INQUIRY CO2IIIIISSION.

In a day or two sa most elaborate report is to be pre-
sented to Parliament. Three years ago a Royal Commis.
sion was issued, to inquire into the provisions for the
education of the English middle class ; the labours of that
commission are now at an end, and the result is about to
appear. The report consists of twenty volumes, and,
contains a vast mass of information. The changes
which the commissioners propose are so many, and
in same cases so complex, that we can indicate
only in the most general fashion even those that
stand out most boldly. The commissioners suggest 'that
the schools should be divided into three grades—the
first for boys who remain until the age of 18, the second
for those who leave at 16, the third for those whose educa-
tion is to end at 14. A first-grade school would teach
Greek as well as Latin ; a second would omit Greek ;
a third would leave out both Greek and Latin. For
the sake of convenience, the country would be divided
into districts, which might be the same as the eleven divi-
sions of the Registrar-General. Each of these divisions
would have a certain number of schools, proportioned to
the population and to other local circumstances. A town
or parish might be allowed, although not forced, to
rate itself for the building and maintenance of schools,
and for the education of meritorious boys chosen
from the elementary classes of the parish or the
town; but the rates would be burdened for no
other purpose, and the general expenses of teaching
would have to come either from endowments or from
fees. In order that those funds might do as much good
as possible, they would all undergo the scrutiny of the
Charity Commissioners, and be diverted to such pur-
poses as Parliament might deem expedient. Parlia-
ment is also recommended to declare that charities of
certain kinds shall be convertible to purposes of educa-
tion, and that the black list shall include endowments
bequeathed for doles in money or kind, for apprentice-
ship and advancement in life, for marriage portions,
for the redemption of prisoners and captives, and for
objects which have altogether failed. The authors of the
report also suggest that the Charity Commissioners should
be empowered to examine all those funds and to say
whether each bequest was useful or not ; that a provincial
authority should prepare a scheme for the appropriation
of any particular charity to educational purposes ; that
the scheme should go before the Charity Commissioners
for approval ; and that it should then be submitted to
Parliament. Thus a large sum would be made available.
In no case, however, would the commissioners institute
free schools for the middle classes ; such schools they hold
to be most mischievous. A lung series of suggestions are
next made for improving the educational machinery ; and,
among other changes, the masterships of such endowed
schools as are not denominational would no longer be con-
fined to clergymen, but would be thrown open to the most
competent teachers. We have given only a few of the
leading facts and proposals, but the whole report merits
attentive study ; and never has Parliament received more
ample materials on which to base its judgment respecting
one of the greatest questions that is about to engage its
stte-tion.