CHAPTER II. EDUCATION IN FRANCE.1 France, Republic: Area, 204,092 square miles. Population (actual), April 12, 1891, 38,095,156; domiciled or legal, 38,343,193. Civil divisions: For purposes of civil government, France is divided into 86 departments (90 if Algiers be included), each having its local legislative assembly formed by election. The departments are subdivided into arrondissements, and these into cantons. The smallest civil divisions comprised within the cantons are communes. For previous articles see the following: The educational system of France. (Report, 1888-89, Vol. 1, pp. 112-149.) Report of the educational congresses and exhibition held in Paris, 1889. (Report, 1889–90, Vol. 1, pp. 41-186, by W. H. Widgery.) Brief view of the educational system, with statistics, for 1888-89. (Report 1889–90, Vol. 1, pp. 249–261.) Elementary education in London and Paris. (Ibid., pp. 263–280.) Education in France: Statistics, 1890-91; progress of primary schools since Guizot's law, 1833; higher primary and classical schools of France. (Report, 1890–91, Vol. 1, pp. 95-124.) Education in France: Outline of the system and statistics for 1892; State faculties; proposed transformations and development of teaching functions. (Report, 1891-92, Vol. 1, pp. 73-95.) Civil service in France, by W. F. and W. W. Willoughby. (Ibid., pp. 369-412.) Education in France: Outline view, with current statistics; inspection of infant schools; recent changes in the baccalaureate; reorganization of medical studies and of the scientific course preparatory thereto. (Report, 1892-93, Vol. 1, pp. 219-237.) Education in France: Statistics for 1891-92-93; recent modifications in the department of secondary education; recent development of the faculties (universities); progress of the system of primary instruction; schools for adults; movements for the admission of American students to the universities of France. (Report, 1894-95, Vol. 1, pp. 289–312.) Education in France: Statistics for 1894-95; summarized view of primary schools, proposed modifications of secondary institutions; the law of July 10, 1896, transforming the State faculties into universities, with elaboration of its motives and purposes, and details of the scholastic and financial status of the universities; requirements for the admission of aspirants for degrees; status of medical students in France, with special reference to foreigners; Dr. Alcée Fortier on the French lycées. (Report, 1895-96, Vol. 1, pp. 611-639.) 'Prepared by Miss Anna Tolman Smith. 29 29 CONSPECTUS OF THE STATE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION, OR UNIVERSITY OF FRANCE. France has a highly centralized system of education under a cabinet officer, the minister of public instruction and fine arts. It is organized in three departments (superior, secondary, and primary), each under its own director. The minister is assisted by the superior council of public instruction, composed of eminent representatives of the three orders of instruction, 60 in number, one-fourth appointed by the President of the Republic and the remainder chosen by their peers. This council is the deliberative head of the university system. In certain cases of discipline affecting professors and teachers its decisions are final. The administration of the system is facilitated by its division into academies, 17 in number, each of which comprises, under the general direction of a rector (appointed by the minister), all the public institutions, i. e., primary schools, lycées, colleges, and universities of the respective districts. The rector must be a university man, holding the doctor's degree. By recent decrees and the law of July 10, 1896, the former State faculties have been transformed into universities. The State continues to appoint all professors and university officials, to prescribe requirements for admission and for degree examinations, to regulate fees, and to confer diplomas. The authority of the university, exercised through a council consisting of the academic rector, the deans of the several faculties, and two professors elected from each faculty, extends only to the adjustment of programmes, the control of students, of the income from tuition fees, and of the university property. Fifteen universities have been constituted under the law. To the department of superior instruction belong also special schools; one of these, the superior normal school, is designed to prepare professors for the service of higher education. The department of secondary instruction comprises the lycées or State classical colleges (in number 109) and communal colleges (227) maintained by the combined aid of the State and local authorities. The professors in both classes of schools are appointed by the minister from candidates possessed of the university diplomas. salaries are paid by the State. Their The scholastic and domestic affairs of the lycées (they are both boarding and day schools) are controlled by the minister and superior council. They have a double course, classical and modern, the former leading to the bachelors' degree. The studies of the local colleges are conformed as far as possible to the lycée programme. The State maintains also lycées and colleges for girls and a special normal school (Sèvres) to prepare professors for the same. The S6 civil departments of France (90 if Algiers be included) form also districts of educational administration within the academies. In the chief city of each 'Present minister, M. Rambaud, who succeeded M. Combes April 29, 1896. resides an official (inspecteur d'académie), charged under the orders of the rector with the supervision of secondary instruction. The department of primary instruction includes maternal schools, elementary primary and superior primary schools, and departmental normal schools. The law of 1833 laid the foundation of the system by imposing upon communes the obligation to establish public schools. Under the Republic the system has been developed through legislation, an efficient central supervision, and substantial appropriations from the Government. By law of June 16, 1881, primary instruction is gratuitous, and teachers must be provided with State diplomas (brevets de capacité). By law of March 28, 1882, primary education is compulsory (attendance upon private schools or home instruction meets the requirement), and public primary schools purely secular. By law of October 30, 1886, the studies and organization of the several classes of schools are determined and only lay teachers admitted to the service. By laws of June 19, 1889, and July 25, 1893, the State assumes the payment of the legal salaries. Communes provide residences for teachers and supplement the salaries. The teachers are appointed by the departmental prefect from lists of candidates offered by the departmental councils. These councils are composed of members of the superior council and directors of primary schools. They exercise advisory, and in certain cases judicial, functions in respect to primary schools. For the service of primary instruction there is a graded series of State inspectors appointed by the minister, comprising (1) general inspectors, assigned each to a particular section, inspectors of special branches, inspectresses of maternal schools; (2) the "inspecteurs d'académie," who conduct the examinations for teachers' diplomas and have the general direction of primary schools; (3) primary inspectors, about 450 in number, one for every 150 schools; (4) medical inspectors. The communal authorities have the chief voice in the choice of sites, buildings, etc., the mayors of communes have free access to the schools at all times, and local committees are appointed to keep watch over the schools. The communes must provide a fund (caisse des écoles) for the aid of indigent pupils. Every department must maintain a primary normal school for men and one for women, unless authorized to combine the two. Among the special schools comprised in the department of superior instruction the State maintains two normal schools (Saint Cloud for men, Fontenay-aux-Roses for women) to prepare teachers for the departmental normals. The authority of the minister of public instruction extends, in a measure, also to private institutions of all grades. He grants the privilege of conducting private schools, which must conform to official requirements in respect to sanitary and hygienic conditions. Children who are instructed in private schools or at home are subject to examination by the State inspectors. The latest official statistics of education and statistics of salient particulars for different dates are presented in the following tables: Educational statistics, 1894–95 or 1895–96. c By a clerical error the State expenditures for secondary schools given in the Commissioner's report for 1895-96, Vol. 1, table, p. 612, are tabulated against primary normal schools. d Includes 61 in Algiers. e Includes 74 in Algiers. f Includes $72,722 in Algiers. g State appropriation for university faculties. There were appropriated in addition for superior schools $545,700; for scientific bureaus and societies, for the national library, administration, etc., $1,441,784, making the total appropriation for the department of superior instruction $4,578,300. As the receipts of the faculties amount to about $1,250,000, their net cost to the State was little above that amount. Primary schools (elementary and superior)—Comparative view. 1894-95 4,215, 411 12.78 51,717 58,992 73,663 110,709 b $16, 615, 746 985 45 97 1760 1,324, 684 5,540,095 No census. 66,769 81, 384 150, 913d 37, 048, 012 a For public primaries only. Subventions from the State for buildings are not included. Reduced by 5 francs to $1. b Certain optional expenditures by the communes not included. c Algiers included for this and subsequent dates. d Includes expenditure for primary normals. |