The Scranton chronicle., 1904-03-12
swEDEH's GOOD SCHOOLS.
Th~x Are AMONG The Besf n ths
WorIa-Edacaffona standard
Constantly Rising.

Sweden seldom attracts the attention
OF he average American teacher. a.
/ though n matters educational i has
many lessons for educators throughout
the void. The standard of popular ecu-
cation q Sweden has been steadily rs
/ Ing from the tlmeof the reformation. ano
+ the Indications point 10 even greater
F efficiency ahead. states al edueationa.
. Journal L should be noted that large
preponderanee Of the population Of the
Kingdom has remained q 4 rural eharae-
aeter. and public education has been
adapted most closely 70 agricultural
needs The frst beginnings of the na-
tional schoo. system were made IN 1855.
IN that year a laU vas enacted 10 IN
sure for AL children a sound religious Cd
ueafion. 50 far as reading and knowledge
Of the Lutheran eathecism were con-
serntd In 1872 the national compulsory
law Of education was introduced. Mod
lfving acts have appeared since. bur the
present system comes from that date.
As 4 result Of It's excellence practically
everyone II the county can read ana
write
The boundaries Of parish and a
school district usually coincide. The
dellberative authority Is the parish
council. and the executive is school
board. which IS made Of the pastor as
chairman and four men chosen by the
council The national government en-
ploys Il inspectors appointed for six
years. 10 take a general oversight Of the
schools. These inspectors are under the
direction of the general department OF
education II would seem as though this
elaborate system Of supervision might
account for the prevailing high stand
ard Of excellence. Each school dis
trict IS compelled by law to have at
least one school II possible II must
have two divisions junior and Sc
nior In the larger places there are
schools somewhat like our high schools
The school age begins with the end ofthe
child's seventh year and ends with its
fourteenth although even then he may
not be exempt unless he has reached a
certain grade. The course Of study in
cludes. as obligatory. religious instrue-
ton. the ordinary elementary subjects,
geometry. physical and natural science,
gymnastics, manual training and gar
dening.
There are l. training colleges In the
country. seven for men and five for wom-
en-. Each has q practice school at
tached to It, Considering the quallfica-
tlons required the teachers salaries
seem small The salaries of senior
certificate masters and mistresses are
only 1852 for the first five years. with
increases of s27 for each succeeding pc
riod of five years. up to 1916. They re-
ceiye In addition lodgings, fuel, forage
for a COW or equivalent in money. The
cost OF maintenance is divided between
the school district and the state. The
districts provide and maintain the
school buildings. furniture. apparatus.
cleaning and warming. and, with gov
ernment aid, pay the salaries. The
state supports the pension funds and
maintains the training colleges and the
inspectors. The Swedes have intro
duced a number of interesting features
into their system. Among these are
holiday colonies for weakly children.
workshop refugees for the very poor and
high schools intended to educate younger
persons OF the humber classes in civic
duties and the like