The Irish standard., 1908-07-11
catholic school collects tuition.

Catholic school collects tuition.
The schools Of Ireland are controlled
by a national board of twenty men,-
bers, appointed nominally by the lord
lieutenant, one-half Protestant and
one-half Catholic. and an executive
council in charge of administration, al
so appointed by the lord lieutenant
one Of whom, that is myself, is always
on duty at the headquarters of tha
board in Dublin.
Funds for the support Of the schools
are voted by parliament every year
with the usual budget, which are abso-
lutely controlled by the board, who
make an annual report Of their disro-
sition. This year we have e1.e0O,0oo,
which is equivalent to about eight
million dollars in your money. The
larger amount,whic is about $780,
900, goes to the payment of the salaries
of teachers; the next for the construc-
tion OF new buildings and repairs; ,he
next item is for the maintenance Of
central model schools which are Oh
ject lessons. The rate of expenditure
per pupil is about s3, or SIS, year
and has been gradually increasing
from time to time with the allowances
that have been given us by the gov
ernment. Ten years ago the allowance
for primary education was about G1,-
250,oo0, or $6,25o, 900 in American mo l.
ey, and the per capita was about $3.50.
There are now about $500 primary
schools in Ireland, with 10000 teachers
and an average daily attendance Of
100000 out of school population en-
rolled of 100000.
The following table will show tile
number and the average daily attend.
ance at the different schools:
No. Schools. Av. Attend.
Ordinary schools -. $500 100000
Model schools ...... 7s e,e5l
Convent and 'rnonas-
teries ............... 1884 So.712
THE money is. divided among these
different, schools as follows:
,@.' Amount. Per Capita
Ordinary schools ..E1.o3s,s54 s2 is 1od
Model schools 49,. 27,755 8 19s 1od
Converts and monas-
teries .......... 164,04S 2, is Sd
THE average daily attendance seems
very small and is due to several rea.
sons; first, the lack of accommodations
and the long distances between school
houses in the thinly settled sections
along the west coast of Ireland. wher.
some families are many miles from a
schoolhouse, and where the children
have no means of conveyance to reacn
them. In all the. poorer sections of tho
country, where the men Of the family
go off to England or Scotland to do
labor. the children have to stay at
home and look after the place. They
take care of the COWS and the sheep
and the pigs Many parents make their
children work where the compulsory
education law and the child labor laws
are not enforced. In the factory towns
of northern Ireland the laws prohibit
children under eleven years old work.
ing and they are pretty we'll enforced
The following table will show the
number Of children of the different re-
ligious denominations enrolled in the
national schools:
Roman Catholic. .541 ,63S, or 74.4 per cent
Church of Ireland S7,904, or 12.1 per cent
Presbyterian ... s2.434, or 11.3 per cen.
Methodists. 500. 1887, or 1.3 per cent
Others -. ........ 6.794, or 90 per cent
"Of the. Catholic children a. larg,
number, perhaps 10000, are in the
converts. The Catholic families prefer
to send their girls to be taught by the
nuns. And about 10000 boys are in the
monasteries.
Every teacher is required to pass
an examination prepared by the COM
missioner Of education as a test Of his
or her qualifications. and the teacher
is responsible to the educational de-
partment for the enforcement of t:,e
rules and the application Of the meth
DDS Of instruction that have received
its Endorsement. But: as rule, teach
ers are nominated by the priests OF
the Roman Catholic church or the
clergy Of the Church of ireland c.
those Of the non-conformist churches.
as the case may be. The consequent G
is that there have to be separat,
| schools for each denomination, which
naturally adds to the cost of mainte.
nance. In two thirds Of the schools.
however, you will find both Protestant
and Catholicc hildren. Any sect. that
| can furnish twenty pupils can have a