The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1914-05-07
EDUCATIONAL.
(BY G. w. MEISNEST.)
THE DANISH RURAL SCHOOLS.

mark has been subject of much com
ment in recent years. There was
time when Denmark was not prosper
GUS. 1t is small country and its soil
is poor at least it was poor until the
farmers began to build it up by fertili-
zation, irrigation, drainage and scienti-
fic farming.
1t is said that no other country in
the world has been so successful in
adapting the work of its rural schools
to the needs of its rural population.
Believing that the Danish school sys-
tenn was worth studying, the United
States Bureau of Education last winter
sent three representatives to Denmark
to make tirst-hand study of the or
ganization and work of the rural
schools.
The first result of the investigation
has appeared in the form of bulletin
entitled "The Educational System Of
Denmark" Subsequent bulletins will
enter more largely into details. The
present publication is by II. w. Foght,
one of the bureau specialists who made
the journey of inquiry.
The decade from 1880 1890 was a
period of great rural distress and re-
suited in Denmark's greatest emigra-
tion to the United States. The cities
at that time were outgrowing the coun-
try, but in $780, Mr.. Foght, says "when
cooperative enterprise got its first real
hold upon the farm population the
tide began to turn. The rural popula-
tion is now 81 per cent, of the entire
| population. OF the rural Denmark of
to-day Mr.. Foght says:
THAT which strikes the investigator
most forcibly is the uniformly inten-
sive and highly scientific agriculture.
The soughs and marshes have been
checked, and the heather reforested.
The fields and meadows are kept in a
high state of production by careful till
ing and fertilization. The great mac
adamized turnpikes, winding through
the landscape wherever needed, further
emphasize marked stability and per-
manence in rural life. No one thing
has played a greater part in this pros
perity than the spirit of cooperation,
which prevails on every side. Coop
erative stores, dairies, bacon factor
les" egg export associations, and cred
it societies for assisting small holders
control practically the entire agricul-
tural output and become the means Of
economic independence. i"
The reason for this prosperous con-
diuon is summed up as "the applica-
tion of broad general intelligence to
converting a poor, war-crippled coun-
try into rich, happy one" The
schools have played an important part
in the work of rehabilitation. Mr..
Foght tells of these schools in general
outline. The system embraces the
elementary schools, the folk high
schools, the local agricultural schools
and the schools Of household econom-
les"
The elementary. school is compulsory
from the age of to IA, but most of
the children enter school at 6. The
compulsory law is so rigidly enforced
that practically no children evade it,
The schools are taught by mature,
professional teachers, who devote their
lives to work in the country" The
teachers are well paid and rank high
socially. The rural schools "have done
their greatest work In the marked
ability with which they inculate in
their pupils a love of soil tilling as a
life calling"
The folk high schools are essentially
for "mature young people," The stud
ents come from every walk in life
The main object is development OF
character, and the aims Ut the school
are summarized by Mr.. Foght as fol-
lows:
"First-To make broad minded,
moral citizenship, second, to foster n
deep seated love Of the soil and native
land; third, to give a correct outlook
on agricultural life; fourth, to free the
people from class domination and show
them how best to utilize their growing
political power; fifth, to lay broad
cultural foundation for the technical
subjects to be- pursued in the local
agricultural schools, and sixth, to pre-
pare the young people to face intelli-
gently the great struggle for existence
that presses hard on all alike in the
older European countries"
There are twenty-nine agricultural
schools and there are many strong
schools OF household economics There
is also a peculiar character OF school
for the benefit OF small farmers. These
combine the most valuable features OF
the folk high schools with those Of the
agricultural schools, and make "a strong
point of short courses for small farm
ers Of any age or preparations, no mat
ter how old or how poorly prepared.
The side lines OF agriculture receive
much attention. "lndeel, any small
holder with problem, it matters not
what, may enter these schools and OBJ
tain the desired assistance" AS there
are 1900 farmers In Denmark whose
farms range from three to seven acres
In size, the need OF such assistance Is