Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1874-12-06
SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN GER.
MANY.

From the Chicago Tribune
The bureau of education ia Washing
ton has done good work in devoting
the third of its ''ciTculaTs of infOrma-
tiOnn to an calculation Of the German
system of secondary schools. School
superintendent, teachers, and all who
are interested in American educs-
ton, viii do well to provide themselves
with copies Of this pamphlet and make
themselves familiar with its contents.
A system of education which is uni
form and steady development of more
than two centuries may well command
the attention of q country where school
ing is largely q matter of individual and
arbitrary preference, and where there
are at least a score Of different systems,
each independent Of all others, and none
possessing the assistance of authority.
Education in Germany has enjoyed the
advantage of governmental supervision
and direction since the time Of the Great
ElectOT, Frederick William, in the mid
die of the seventeenth century; and par
ticularly since the days of Frederick the
Great, three generations ago, there has
been a harmony of system and unity
| of purpose that find counterpart only
in the organization of the German army.
The secondary schools Of Germany oc-
cupy the middle place between the ele-
mentary and university systems. They
are Of two general classes-the gymna-
stun and the real school, these being
again subdivided respectively into the
| gymnasis and prO-gymnasia, and the
! real schools Of the first and second
classes, and the higher burgher-schools.
We have not the space to follow the
qualifications ofthese subdivisions. The
tue main classes, however, differ one
from the other in about the same way
that the classical and scientific courses
Of our American colleges differ-the
gymnasium corresponding to the former
and the real school to the latter. All
are under the same general authority,
each province maintaining a school
board Of its own with the power of sp.
pointing teachers, making rules and
regulations, selecting textbooks, etc,
etc. Both the gymnasium and the real
school have six classes, and the full
course Of each requires nine years, one
year each in the sixth fifth, and fourth
classes, and two years each in the third,
second, and first classes. The condi-
tions for admission are materially the
same in both. The applicant must be
nine years of age, read German, write
iegibly from dictation, be versed in the
four fundamental rules of arithmetic,
and be conversaHt with the history
of the old and new testament.
The scholastic year generally begins
at Easter, and contains about ten
and half weeks of vacation in all, dis
tributed in about five different terms.
Admission and promotion take place
only once year. The~1Iscipline isThe
same in both, and punctual attendance
is the strictest of all requirements.
Corporal punishment is rare, and is con-
fined to the three lower classes; it may
never be administered except when the
rector is informed of it. For the other
classes, there is 8 system including re-
primand; bsing "kept i'm after school;
imprisonment in the school lookup for
not more than six hours, employed with
writing exercises; q notification that
parents must Withdraw the refractory
scholar; and finally expulsion. The ex-
pense Of attending these schools vsries
from about four hundred and seventeen
dollars to twenty-seven dollars year ia
addition to the cost Of the textbooks.
The teachers devote themselves about as
follows; the rector, sixteen hours a
week; Higher teachers twenty-five to
twenty-fouT hours; elementary teachers
twenty-eight hours. The salaries vary
from four hundred to three thousand
Prussian thalers, so that a teacher rarely
receives more than two thousand dollars !
a year, and most of them much smaller /
sums; but there is a graduated system of /
pensions regulated by the term Of SER
vice, which induces most persons who /
enter upon teachers life to continue at /
it as long as they work at anything. /
Thus far, the gymnasium and real |
schools are alike. The difference be- /
tween them relates to the studies and /
the number of hours devoted to them.
In the gymnasium, the studies are reli-
gIon, German, Latin, history and geOg-
raphy, mathematics, natural history,
drawing, and penmsnship in the lowest
class, with twenty-eigbt schOOl-hOurs a
week, or nearly five hours day; in the
class there are the same studies, with
the addition of French; in the fourth
class, natural history and penmanship
are dropped, and Greek is added; in the
third class, drawing is dropped, and
national history restored; in the second
and first classes, physics is added to the
other studies. In all years except the
first the school-hours are five each day.
The studies in the real school are the
same as in the gymnasium, except that
Greek and physics are not taken at all,
and English is substituted. The great
est difference, however, is in the num-
Der of hours devoted to the different
studies. In Latin, for instance, ten
hours a week are devoted TO the gym
nasium every year in the course, while,
in the real school, only eight hours are
given to the sixth class, six in the fifth
and fourth classes, five in the third,
four in the second, and three in the
first. In the gymnasium, natural
history is studied in only three of the
classes; in the real school, the natural
which are substituted for it, are
studied throughout the entire course.
Drawing is studied in only thee classes
in the gymnasium, whereas it is retain
ed in all six of the real school These
instances will serve TO illustrate the
essential differences between the two
classes of secondary schools. The lack
Of space precludes any effort to indicate
the subdivision OF the various studies,
but they are very thorough and compre-
lensive. The passing of an oral and
written examination after the compile
lion Of the course in either the gymna-
.ium or real school is necessary to regu-
ar matriculation in German UNIVERSE
". Some idea Of the immensely of the
Iystem Of secondary schools may be
gathered from the fact that they number
me thousand and forty-five in the Ger
nan provinces having pc Julation Of
i ,05S, 1876. or these 564 are classical
md 4Sl non-elassical. The number of
Professors employed is II, 707 and 196, 264
tudents are given Instructions. The .
libraries connected with these secondary
cho0ls contain 1926, 1853 volumes. .
here is one secondary school to every
{, 800 inhabitants, and one person in /
SO OF the population receives seeon-
airy education superior, IS a rule, TO
hat received in the average American /
ollege. The benefit Of such 8 system !
> the empire OF Germany needs no 5
4
lis better to have loved and lost, than. L
ever to have had 4 mOther-in law h