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Scholarships FOR PUBLIC ele.…

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Scholarships FOR PUBLIC ele. MENTARY SCHOOLS. The following paper was read by Mr Hugh Owen at a meeting of teachers and other gentlemen interested in Public Elementary Education in North Wales, held at Rbianfa on the 18th October, Capt Verney, R.N., in the chair :— It has been my privilege to be connected with education in Wales, in one form or another, from the year 1843 to the present time. During the thirty-seven years that have elapsed, the progress ef libimntary Education has been remttrkable Thirty-seven years ago Wal?s was most scaulily supplied v. ith day schools; but now the number in proportion to the population is fully equul to that in England. The number of board schools in Wales, i" proportion to the population, in fact, exceeds tb., number in England: while the nunber of children in average attendance does not fall short in Wales, as compared with England, Neither in the progress of Welsh children in learning less 9atis- factory thnn that of English children. During the period referred to, Walts h.'a made provision for the train- ig of teachers for her schools by the establishment of colleges for the training of masters at Carmaith«M, Carnarvon, and Bangor; and of mis- tresses at Swansea. We may, therefore, regard the provision that at present exists ii ales, so far as Elementary Education is concert q fairly com- plete. Wllat seems now to be w. i the means ef bridging over the chasm that a the Ele- mentary bchool from thw Hifc'hei dchuol-in 0 -Irl other words, of assisting clever L pass on from the one school to the other, in or extend their education, and in some instance* rsparing them to compete for the priz- s offered colleges and universities. The question which I am now permitted to sub- mit for coi- iideratiori is this:—How we can best effect this obviously desirable object. Or, as the "programme'' before theA meeting states the ques- tion to be-The advancement 01 education in Public Eletiu-ntiuy Schools in North V/by'the award- ing of scholarships or exhibitions to boys and girls of exceptional merit. Tr,e scholarship* to be teiiuble in Higher Grade Schools, c r in colleges. The t,t,,1 number of nhildren in average ntten dance in daj school" in North Wales is stated to be 60,548. Tbehmitetaxeotcandidatts for scbolar- ehips is proposed to be fixttd at from ten to fourteen. But regard wil! be had also to the stan- dard reached by tha children. Generally, the candidates? will practically be restricted t.. those who have reached the sixth standard and it is be- lieved that the number < f ciiididates cannot exceed 10 per cent, uj on the children in average attendance, or about 5,OOU possible candidates from all the Public Elwrneinlary Schools in North Wales. At this rate the Anglesey schools would furnish 448 candidates; and the Carnarvonshire schools 1,318. I would suggest that the following sources may be relied upon to S'u.ply the funds required for the purposes of the propased scho)arship!t :— 1. The Subscription of the children-say Isa year, or Id per month,—a sum ,0 small aa to be within themfansofthepoortst. It is well known that a cona del-able proporiion of those attending day achools in Wales are not the poorest but are the children of farmers, tradesmen, and artisans, who may reasonably be expected to concur cheerfully in the proposal that their children should become subacriber-i to a fund formed for their own benefit. If one half only of the children in average atten- dance were to subscribe the sum mpntioned. the total of fh-e subscriptions for the schools in North Wales would amount toX 1,263 per annum or, it we take Anglesey and Carnarvonshire separately, the, nmourt for the former would be £ 1 12, and for the latter £ .'129. Happily it accords with the habits of the Welsh people to depend, in K- reglt measure, upon themsalvea to secure the advantages which they feel tb* need of. They do not. ns a rule, look to others to do for them wbat they can do for themselves. I cherish much confidence that this source is one that iiiay safely be relied upor. But the hearty co- operation "f the teacher is assumed, that being an element essential to success. 2. The annual subscriptions and donation of School Managers and others.-I would suggest that the minimum annual subscription and donation ■qualifyirg he subscriber or donor tomemberehip of an association, should be fixed at the low sums of 5s. per ari turn subscription, and £3 donation in order to secure the interest and co-operation of the many. Tbis s.>urc« is cipable of any amount of extention, and ought to produce not less than £ 5 on the average for each of the ol-f schools in North Wales, or a total of £ '2570; or if we deal with Angelesev and Carnarvonshire ssparatily, where we have 53 and 117 school, the amount will be for Anglesey S.265, and for Carnarvonshire £ 585. 3. Scholarships founded by individuals.—It is hoped tha' persons of means muy be found desirous of adopting this mode of advanciog education among the working classes in North Wales. The individual 'vl <doing this would connect his name with an act, the benefits flowing from which would be enjoyed from year to year to distant ages. 4. Charitable Endowments that may be author- ized to be applied for the purposes of Scholarships ia connection with Elementary Schools. When the proposal ow before us is in actual and successful operation, there is gleat probability thai the Charity Commissioners will fcel themselves at liberty to mutboriz" endowments under their control to be applied in the manner suggested. It is believed that these several sources may fairly warrant the attempt to give effect to our proposal; but the creation of some form of organ- isation lor the purpose is essential which to be effective must be simple and it is submitted that an association of which the following is an outline would eombine the requisite qualities to ensure ..ceesl An Aa-'ciation to be formed, t* be designated The El-iii, tary Schools Scholarships Association of North Wales. The qu .nca"on of Membership to be an Annual bu icription of not less than 5s, or a donation of not less than £ 3 or in the case of a Teacher, tb" collecting of a sum of Hot less than St. annually for every 10 Children in the school. A School in which the Children shall contribute aanaally in the proportion ot not lets than 5s for every 10 of the number, to the Funds of the As- sociation, to be deemed an affiliated School. The Association to have a President, Vice- Presidents, and an Executive Council, consisting of 20 Members, 10 of whom shall be Teache.fli, Domi- nated by the teaohers of the several affiliated I Schools. The executive Council to ba elected annually by the Members at their Annual Meetiog. I Every affiliated School to be coastituted aa Auxiliary Association, with a committee composed I of the Managers, together with any others that they may think fit to elect, who shall arpoint a Treasurer and Secretary for the Auxiliary. This committee I to assist in furthering the object or the Association. fipeeially in the matter of Funds. The Executive Council to appoint a Trpasurer and Secretary or Secretaries,—to appoint Exami- ners,—lo fix upon the place and time for holding the Examination,—10 determine the amounts of the Schotarship" and Exhibitions,—tbe period during which they may be held,—the Schools or other Institutions in which they shall be (enable,—and to do all such other acts as may be necessary for the oerrying out of the object of the Asscciation. The Executive Council to present to the Members an Annual Keport of their proceedings. Snch is the outline of the organization which I take the liberty of proposing. The Ext-cunve Council will probably limit their operations in the first instance to the counties of Anglesey and Carnarvon; and proceed grad uaIly to deal with the other counties under the guidance of the experience which they may thus acquire. The executive Council will find it necessary at an early date to consider, among others, the follow- points, viz., 1. The amounts of the scholarships; 2. The period during which they may be held; and b. b 3. The schools at which they may be held. As to the first point, the amounts of the scholar- ships must be governed a good deal by the amount of the scholarship fund, and alrfo by the numbers of successful canditates. As to the second point, I would suggest that the scholarships should, as a rulp, be held for « period of four years'. It we assume that the scholarship is fixed at .e25 a year, and -n tenable for four years; and if We assume further that we shall have two scholars every yem I Anglesey, and six in Carnarvonshire' the two scholars annually elected in Anglesea Would require in the first year £ 50; the geeOJld £ 100; the thirri, £ 150; the fourth, JE200, and the like sum in every future year. And th" six scholars annually elected in Carnarvonshire would require in the first year, £ 150; the second, £ 300; the third, £ 450; the fourth, £ 600, and the like sum in every future year. As to the third point, which is one of the utmost importance, namely the selection of schools in which the scholarships may be held, I would sug- gest that for the present scholars should be placed in such of the enduwed grammar schools; or other schools of Wales as may offer the greatest ad- vantages,—liberty being given to any scholar, whose parents may desire it, to hold the scholarship during a portion of the period in other than the school in which he may have been first placed. Although the wishes of the parents will be consnlted in the selection of the school in the first instance, or in the transfer of the scholar to another school or to I a college, the school or college must in every case have the approval of the council, who, will, doubtless, think it essential that the efficiency of the school or colle ge is satisfactorily attested by ex- aminers unconnected with the institution. It will interest the friends of this movement to learn the extent to which Wales is possessed of Endowed Grammar Schools. A paper read by Dr Harper, at the recent Church Congress held at Swansea. shows that there are from 25 to 30 such school. in Wales and Monmouthshire. The endow- ments of some of them are large. The gross in- come of the Monmouth Foundation is £ 4,500 a year Beaumaris, Brecon, and Caerleon, which in- cludes Elementary Schools, have each more than £ 1,000 a year Bangor, Gelligaer, Haverfordwest, Llandovery, Llanrwst, Ruthin, and Swansea, have educational endowments, exceeding £ 500 a year each, and for some of these considerable increase is anticipated, if not assured. Abergavenny, Bala, Bottwnog, Llanegryn, Llantilio, Crosseny, Kuabon, Usk, and Ystrad Meurig, are eeveraliy endowed with monies varying from £150 to £400. The paper referred to further shows the amounts of the scholarships attached to some of these Grammar Schools. Llandovery already provides 20 scholar- ships Brecon is to provide 24 of d620 each Ystrad Meurig, 10 of JB12 each; Haverfordwest, 12 of £10 each Bt-aumariø is to give £200 a year in exhibitions of the value of .620 or £ 30; Caerleon and Llanrwst are each to assign t200 a year and Ruthin £ 30 a year to be competed for in the first instance by boys from Elementary Schools, whilst in all cases gpvernors are to provide scholarships exempting bltYs from the payment of the whole or part of the tuition fees, and are auhorized to pro vide scholarships of greater value if their funds permit. The number of endowed Grammar Schools in Walws, their ineomes, and the scholarships attached to them, are matters of considerable importance in view of an effort to assist boys to proceed from the Elementary School to a Higher Grade School and so also is the existence of the University College of Wales, which is specially designed to advance higher education in the Principality, and which provides a number of Scholarships,-its expenditure for that purpose during the last seven years amount- ing: to < £ 2,830. With respect to girls who may gain scholarships, it is earnestly hoped that arrangements may be made for their admission into the Howell's Charity School for Girls at Denbigh the Dolgelley En- dowed Scheol for Girls; or the Anglesey or Car- narvonshire Endowed School of the future for Girls. I venture to submit that this brief outline points to a scheme simple and wolkable, and is not un- deserving of the attention of the present meeting. We cannot estimate two highly the advantages that may accrue from any plan that shall enable boys and girls in our Elementary Schools, who show special aptitude for acquiring learning, to continue their education in bigher grade schools. These advantages must reach not the children only, but also parents, fellow-scholars, teachers, and possibly even society at large. The teachers under whose care these privileged scholars are placed will ever be anxious, while seeking to advauce their mental culture, so to mould their character as that they shall become generous, un- selfish, truthful, and eminently good, The réading of Mr Owen's paper was preceded by an address by the Chairman, and was followed by a discussion in which the following gentlemen, among others, took part, vix., the Dean of Bangor, Mr Glynne Williams, M.A., head master of the Friars Grammar School Mr S. D. Orme, M.A, head master of the Beaumaris Grammar School Rev. D. Rowlands, M.A., and Mr John Price, principal and vice-principal of Piangor Normal Collfge Rev. Warren Trefor, M A.; Rev Mr Ivitctiine, Portsmouth; Mr H. Bulkley Price Mr T. M. Williams, B.A., Londoa School Board Air W. Cadwaladr Davies together with the fal- lowing head masters of Elementary School, viI. Mr John Mathews, Amlwch Mr Hugh Pritchard, Llaoerchymedd Mr Ebenezer Morris, Menai Bridge; Mr Richard Davies, Llangefni, Mr ii Grifliths, Llanrug; and Mr J. J. Paul, Bangor. Ultimately the following resolution, proposed by the Rev D. Rowlands, and seconded by Mr Giynne Williams, was unanimously adopted That the best thanks of the meeting be tendered to Mr Hugh Owen, for his lucid and interesting state- ment on the subject of intermediate education, and that this meeting further cordially approves of the scheme propounded by Mr Owen, and appoists the following gentlemen to consider its details, and prepare a report to be submitted, together with Mr Owen's paper, at the meeting of the Car- narvonshire teachers on the 25th inst., viz., Mr Hugh Owen, Captain Verney, the Dean of Bangor. Mr Bulkeley Price, the Head Masters of the Friar- and Beaumaris Grammar Schools, the Rev. Daniel Rowlands, and Mr John Price, of the Normal Col- ledge, the Presidents and Secretaries of the Angle- sey and Carnarvonshire Associations of Teachers, Mr W. Cadwaladr Davies, and Mr John Thomas, B.A." During the discussion Captain Verney announced, amid loud cheers, that be and Mrs Verney would contribute £100 to the fund, and the Dean of Bangor and Mr Bulkeley Price stated that friends of theirs were prepared to help the movement in a very substantial manner. The proceedings were brought to a close with votes of thanks to Captain and Mrs Verney for their hospitality, and the warm interest they manifested in the movement.

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR ELEMENTARY…

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LL A NFIHANGEL-Y-CRETJDDYN.

MACHYNLLETH.

TOWYN.

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