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WALES AND THE REVISED CODE.

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WALES AND THE REVISED CODE. (From the Quarterly Educational Advcrtiatr.) We are credibly informed, from all parts of Wales, I that the operation of the Revised Code has had most disastrous effects upon the educational establishments connected with Government. This is not at all to be wondered at, for the great opposition experienced prior to its coming into effeet was based on statistics which no man could well withstand, unless some ulterior cause acted to force it upon us. We believe that coun- try schools have received such a shock that some power- ful pecuniary agency must come to their rescue, or we must learn, to our sorrow, that a great number of them have soon fallen to the A-ttiik- level as their predecessors —the dame schools. Committees are perplexed, teachers are dissatisfied, parents and children have learnt that something is wrong, and that the whole structure "f school education has received a terrible blow; and we are forced to Uelieve. that the new Code is not a progres- sive, but a decidedly retrograde movement. We grant that the old Code had its flIltsan.1 what grand edifice is devoid of thorn ?—but we assert, that if the Committee of Council had delegated its much esteemed and able inspectors t, do this work of reform, which was rashly entrusted to one very able, hut opinionated personage, we would now have to recount achievements, and enumerate encouraging facts, rather than record the verv reverse. Up to 1862, Wales was progressing most, favourably in the noble work of educating the working classes; schools were erected and everywhere sought lor I a- rents seemed anxious to supply their quota of children to fill these schools, committees of ennr;;etic and intelli- gent persons there were found, who willingly undertook the management of these schools—lime and money were liberally dispensed by them in furthering the interests of these .icllt)ols-wtil trained, educated, and energetic men were easily found to undertake the care of schools, and, as a general rule, good schools sprang up on all sides, as we learn from the Inspectors' report^ and from the testimony of thousands of parents of the working classes, whose sons and daughters were educa- ted in these establishments. Boys and girt.g)a))y accepted the office oi pupil teachers, and their education was entrusted to men well ijvialifted, aud paid for the work of training these apprentices. The position of the teacher in the neighbourhood, the respect paid him, his success, and his fair emoluments, all tended to impress on the apprentices a wish TO BM TEACIIFIIS. Is this the state of affairs at present? Are our National and British Schools in Wale* so vigorous and so successful in their "resuhs" as they were prior to the coming of the New Code into operation ? Do our senior and more intelligent and advanced of our pupiU seek the office of pupil teachers ? Po the pupil teach- ers, who were apprenticed, and are paid under the articles of the U-. vise I Code, pass from their school s to the N,,rrt)al C,)Ile,;es? To all these questions, in nine. teen schools out of twenty, we answer, No A blast of discouragement has passed over c(lll)mittel, t ilchfr, and puiI teachers, and ai tlioie ;ti-e the ftiztiii sp inas o action, we cannot expect su salutary results as we would wish, and as we have witnessed for years past, under the operation (ii the Old Code. Committees are running into debt, teachers' salaries arc reduced, and the services of pupil teachers are dispensed with as much as possible, or, when obliged to have any appren- tices, their pay is wholly inadequate to secure clever and really valuable bids. The best boys shuu the office of a teacher, they have heard it insinuated at home that the Committee of Council has not kept faith with then- teachers, and they prefer to become shoemakers, tailors, or try their fortune on the sea, or in the bowels of the earth. They know full well that there is no Committee of Council powerful enough to introduce new codes to the shoemaker's business, and that the fortunes of sea life, and the occasional disasters of the miner's and col- liers life are far preferable to the continual drudgery and certain vicissitudes of school life. Such is the picture that has been p mrtrayed before the eyes of our the voting is noble, and that a teacher inn it participate in senior lads at school. It is idle to try and convince them that they are in error—that the work of educating the character of a missionary, 4'd that money should be a secondary consideration Boys of thirteen and four- teen years of age like to read of missionaries, and of their exploits in the discharge of their onerous and perilous duties, but they are unwilling to allow them- selves to become missionaries. They shun the work. and leave the principal teacher to select his assistants from the less gifted of their co-pupils. In less than two years' time the fine race of pupil teachers is a matter of history in one half of our schools, and in their stead we have paid monitors. In the other half the number of pupil teachers has been reduced to a very small fraction of what it was. This is seen in the reduced number of pupil teachers seeking entrance to our training colleges last Christmas. We believe that the number seeking admission could well be accommo- dated in two out of all the three colleges iu operation, and, it is not unlikely, unless some liberal change takes place in the Minutes of the Committee of Council, that one training college will be sufficient for Wales in another five years. This is also the case in Kngland. Highbury College has not been re-opened after Christmas, 1864, and we are pretty nure to hear of a similar fate to other flourishing training colleges. We would willingly close our eyes upon these matters, but they force themselves upon us. We are convinced that the most pleasing feature of the Old Code was the pupil teacher system, and there are many important considerations involved in its existence. The New Code has done its work well—the system has received a blow, and no inducement to enter training colleges will com- pensate for the injury doue. The school is the fountain head, and until something is done to remedy the evil of the origin, the whole system of Government education must suffer. Our schools are fast falling back to the old monitorial system, several of our best teachers have left and others are leaving the profession. In recent speeches to their constituents, some of Mr. Lowe's friends have been in great pains to convince peo- ple that the late Vice-President's illustrious, but unfor- tunately short, career in office has brought about some wonderful "results" —that previous teaching in elemen- tary schools was "all wrong," and that the timely ap- pearance of Mr. Lowe has set matters "all right." This may or may not be a fact, but we are sure that the real results of education are not answered to such a degree as was the case three and four years ago. We are con- fident that the cure is not far distant, and that public opinion will ere long he awakened to a sense of the re- trograde effect of the late radical changes in the system of Government aid, and will force our statesmen to seek a remedy. Numbtr of Candidates in Training Institutions in 11alei. 1861 1802 1863 1864 Bangor, 20 26 38 29 Carnarvon 13 16 14 13 Carmarthen. 15 27 7 9 Total. 48 69 59 51

A PRACTICA T, JOKE. I

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