The Coalville times. [volume] (Coalville, Utah) 1894-1923, 1903-11-27
EpucAIloN IN IAeAM.
The Teacher o. ratrinrchni 0entiomar
Seated ON Cushion.

Seated ON Cushion.
n you con Imagine O long room In
long house with matched roof. dark
plaslcrgd walls, broad doorwnys closed
with paper covered ntuccd frames
which slide iu grooves. bare floors cove
crcd with perfect fitting straw mats,
some tiny tables. one 10y two foot On
size and eight inches high -if you can
imagine this. then you can conceive Of
an ancient schoolroom in Japan.
Again, II you can Imagine palrl-
archal old gentleman with sparse
beard. a hcnd hnlf hnld. smnll twig
Of hair turned hack on the top OF his
head. then seated ON little cushion
hchInd one oi the Tiny tables ON which
e. q fiat ono inks,1ud u manuscript
school hool, md o. long bamboo pencil
at ono end OF which is q fine pointed
brush Tor writing; then think Of some
tiny chIidron-n half dozen probably
the boys heads shaved. except FOR n
circular bunch Of hair cxnciiy az the
crown. tho girls with long tnsscls OF
straight black hair hnuglug In front of
each car. all dressed I'm little flowing
garments with sleeves like the wings
Of birds these children sitting behind
other little tables. their brushes In
hand ana writing from the teachers
dlctnflon. strange shaped characters on
conrsc copy books Imagine this. and
you have am ancient Japanese school
In session. both teacher ana pupils
sitting unon the floor.
They never went beyond reading nnd
counting upon the soro-ban nhnoua.
Things have changed now. The old
has utterly passed away. A most en-.
Client educational system, Western IN
theory ana practice. Is now IN full
operation throughout Japan. Commo-
dlous common schoolhouscs. and Inn
posing college and university buildings
are dotted all over tho country. A
thoroughly graded system operates
from the primary school to the I'M
pcrlnl University, which ranks with
the highest American institutions. The
official or government schools are
worked out 20 cover tho whole field OF
education except tho religious feature,
and this they are cndcavorlng 10 sup
ply by nm eclectic system N morality.
both Oriental and Occidental.
Besides the rogulnr course. which OK
tends from the common school through
tho high common school. tho middle
school, the high school, to the unlyer-
sity. there are government technical
schools for every branch Of trade and
the professions commcrclal. army.
navy. agriculture. textile. mechanics,
law. medicine. normal. language. etc.
The government maintains sneclal
school for the teaching OF every modern
language Of Importance English,
French. German, Russian. Spanish,
Italian, Chinese and Korean. But the
English language precedcs all Other
languages. and II Is making such rapid
progress that II 70 destined 20 become
the spoken language OF the nation.
One serious criticism against Japan'a
educational system Il that II discour.
ages private schools. Pupils OF prl'
vate schools Of equal grade and Of
hciency with the government schools
cannot pass on 10 tho upper ofilclal
schools with the same facility as pu'
pills Of the government schools. When
we remember that the government
schools are not free schools. and that
many excellent private schools sup
ported by foreign capital give students
an education practically free, this dis
elimination Of the government would
seem 10 be unwlse. and II IN likely 10
be corrected IN the near future.
The American nation should be espe'
cinlly proud Of Japnn's educational
record. since II IA from America that
Japan has taken her lessons in West
ern learning. -Harper's Weekly.