Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-08-31


formation of interest to pupil, teacher and
! parent alike, not to say those who have
| fond memoEies Of school days. This gov
crnnent bureau receives reports from
every country in the world, descriptive of
school systems. When We consider that
| Uncle Sam prides himself on giving his
young people better educational advan-
| tages than any other &C untry in the world,
these hints from other governments would
not at first appear valuable. But new and
| original schemes for training the young
| idea how to shoot, or at least how to aim,
are continually cropping out in every en-
1ightened nation. Here are some of the
more interesting of these peculiarities.
which will In great measure cause the
| student of the United States to be thankful
that he is where he Is.
School Children In Germany.
Next to the United States Germany
| sends more of her children to school than
any other nation. In that empire every
parent is required to send to school every
| boy or gil between the ages of six and
fourteen. No children can attend any but
the public schools, unless their teacher es-
tablishing a private school has undergone
! a rigid examination. The boys and girls
going to the public schools in that country
must get up every morning and be at their
desks at o'clock. They remain at school
until l O'Clock. except in the case of the
very young children, who are dismissed at
noon. There is a vacation of one week at
Christmas, one at Easter. one at Whitsun-
tide and three at harvest time, in Septem-
Der. This harvest holiday corresponds to
our summer vacation. The German stu
dents therefore get six weeks more school,
ing each year than Is had by the school
children of the United States. But worse
than all this, the German boys and girls
must also go to school on Saturday Sum-
day being the only whole holiday in each
or rTSr.1 hale Iary
are allowed In the cities these are usu-
ally spent in such places as the botanical
gardens, museums, ETC., where everything
Is fully explained by their teachers, who
always accompany them.
Beginning mt Six Years of Age.
A popularity of the German school sys-
tenn is that a parent on first sending his
son to primary school, at the age of six,
must then decide whether he is to go
through the classical, scientific or business
high schools. A separate elementary
course, beginning with the first day of tut
ton, prepares the pupil for one of each of
these. Now, If a father wishes one of HIS
boys to be physician, another a clergy
man and another to follow mercantile DUR
mentary school at the age of six. The low
er grades, In Germany, only require four
years of study, when the high schools are
reached. In the high schools. however, the
course Is ten years. Thus by the time a boy
graduates at the high school he is at least
twenty years OF age. IT he desires to take
an extensive course in the university the
army service required Of each boy is re-
duced to one year. Thus each boy is en-
couraged to learn much as he can Cor
the sake of reducing this service.
Girl Pupils and Women Teachers.
In Germany boys and girls attend the
same school only in the lower grades.
Many more girls than boys in that country
go to private culture schools, supported
partly by the government. There are quite
as many girls as boys, however, in the
high schools. There was not a woman's
university in Germany until a few years
ago. There are ten times many men as
women teaching school in Germany. This
is on account of the long summer eXcur-
s:ons. which women could not conveniently
conduct. A great part OF the harvest va
cation is spent in long journeys around the
country. and sometimes into foreign coun-
tries, visiting great factories, ship yards,
government institutions and every con-
cefvable place where valuable object les
sens can be learned. AS a rule, the school
master is strong man, who can whip
hard.
Corporal punishment is allowed in Ger
man schools. Throughout the whole en-
pire will be found in each school room a
standard instrument of discipline to be
used on the pantaloons of bad boys. This
is known in school parlance as 'nought
comma, FIVE" written 80. 81 which means
a half meter. The rod, therefore, Is the
half of a meter stick.
The French Kindergnrtcns.
In France public schools are provided for
babies only two years old. These are con-
Quoted as kindergartens. and are always