Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-07-27
People of Australia Believe in
Liberal Education.
MANY PRACTICAL SUBJECTS TAUGHT
Country is Well Supplied With
Colleges and Newspapers.
THE DAIRY1NG INDUSTRY
Copyright. 1901. by Frank G. Carpenter)
special Correspondence Of The Evening Star

Copyright, 1901 by Frank G. Carpenter)
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
SYDNEY, New South Wales. 1901.
I find that the Australians have good
public school system. Every colony has its
own books and it's own methods. In Vic
toria the board OF education publishes
school papers which come out once a month
to take the place of the reading books used
In our schools. These papers are composed
of extracts and such original matter as the
teachers think will benefit the children.
They contain frequent references to the
news of the month, and the articles pub
lished on current topics and on matters
Australian. There are now many articles
about the Beers and the Chinese and the
wars which have been going on among
them. There are papers on how plants
grow, stories of geography, poems and
songs. The papers are Illustrated and seem
very attractive. Some of the poems are
parodies, and one of the songs which was
published a few weeks ago has the words
and air of Columbia" beginning:
Britannia. the pride of the ocean.
The hCme Of the brave and the free"
The remainder of the song is about the
same as our Columbia, the Gem of the
Ocean,
In nearly all the colonies education Is
compulsory and that notwithstanding the
children have to pay for attending school.
The charge is never more than cents a
week per pupil, and never more than a
shilling. or - cents, per week per family.
In New South Wales if children between
five and fourteen are kept out of school
during the school season, or during any
part Of 1t, their parents are fined 81. % for
the first offenSe and 50 or seven days i'm
prisonment for each subsequent offense.
There are school officers who go around
and hunt up the pupils, and the truants
are sure to be caught. There are compuI-
sorry school laws in Victoria, Queensland
The system Is not as well developed in
Western Australia, but even that colony
has fairly good schools.
Railroad Passes for School Children.
In some of the colonies school children
are carried free on the railroads in going
to and from school. They are given passes
to the school nearest them, and every eff
fort is made to give every one an educa-
ton. In the country districts there are
itinerant school teachers, men who travel
from place to place and teach for short
time in number of families, going back
again to carry on the work they have laid
out to be done in their absence.
At present there are about 5000 public
schools in Australia, with about 1900
teachers and almost 100000 scholars.
Nearly everywhere the schooling is secular
although in New South Wales where the
parents do not object a preacher is called
In for an no IT daily to teach religion. In
South Australia religious instruction is
given before school hours, If the parents SO
desire, but as a rule such teaching is left
to the Sunday schools, which are about as
numerous as in any country in the world.
Every one of the states has thousands of
Sunday schools, each church and denomi-
nation having Its own, including the Saliva
ton Army, which is teaching many thou
sands of poor boys and girls.
One of the queer features of education In
this part of the world are the schools of
art. Nearly every town has one. and con-
nected with it a library. In Queensland the
government will give dollar for dollar or
rather pound for pound to any town which
raises sum for this purpose. For in