On this page
-
Text (1)
-
374 EDUCATION IN FRANCE.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
4§Kb- ' No. Iii. The A Variety Present O...
It is also to be remarked that a commune may procure , from tlie Academic Council of its Departmenta dispensation empowering it
, to establish , a Free Primary School instead of a Public one , on condition of making * such Free School gratuitous . The religious
instruction of such a school is conducted by a minister of the creed professed bthose who support tlie school ; if children of various
creeds are y admitted , each child is instructed by a minister of the one to which he belongs , the law expressly forbidding all interference on
tlie part of any minister in the religious instruction of children of another creed .
Of the Free Primary Schools , those instituted by the Catholic fraternitiesso often alluded to in this sketch , are by far the most
numerous . , Under Louis Philippe the " brethren" and " sisters " of these orders underwent the same examination , and by the same
to authorities pass on , present as the ati lay on candidates of the 6 < letters ; but the of obedience former are , " granted now allowed them
loj their ecclesiastical superiors . Moreover , while the lay-schools are submitted to the inspection of the authorities of the University
and the commune * the clerical schools are inspected by ecclesiastics chosen by the Minister of Public Instruction , on presentation of the
Bishop of the Diocese . An immense number of these schools , which " are all gratuitousare in existence in this countryand exert , on tlie
minds of the children , of the lower classes , an action , which is much deplored by the friends of enlightenment and progress : less ,
however , on account of any inferiority in the quality of the teaching iven in them as compared with that of the Communal Schools—for
the g necessities of their position , as the competitors of the Lay Schoolscompel the clerical party to provide a course of instruction
, equivalent to that given by their rivals—than from disapproval of the peculiar tone pervading this class of establishments .
A prayer , recited aloud by the pupils , and the singing of a hymn , with which the exercises of the day begin and endtogether with
, the exposition of the leading points of faith and duty , made at stated times by a priest , or by a minister of the non-Catholic creed
professed by tlie school , form the staple of the religious teaching , properly so calledin the Communal Schools ; while , in the schools
established by the , religious orders , a host of opinions and of ceremonies are imposed on the children , who are trained to look at every
subject through the medium of a j > eculiar creed . The effect of a constant reference to the principle of ecclesiastical authority , and of
an exaggerated inculcation of ritual observances and foregone theological conclusions , is regarded , by the more liberal portion of the
community , as being unfavorable both to the intellectual and moral development of the pupils .
" I can always tell , within an hour after the entrance of a new scholarwhether she comes from a Lay School or from the Sisters , '"
observed , to me the mistress of a Girls' School , . herself a sincere ' and
unquestioning' Catholic , and regarding the regular but moderate in-
374 Education In France.
374 EDUCATION IN FRANCE .
-
-
Citation
-
English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Aug. 1, 1860, page 374, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01081860/page/14/
-