EDUCATION GRANTS.— HAMPSHIRE.
In presenting our readers with the accompanying particulars relating to the distribution of the grants annually made by Parliament towards the furtherance of the educational movement, and which have been gleaned from a mass of statistics embodied in a return laid before the House of Commons last week on the motion of Mr. Henley, it would be as well if we offered a few words explanatory of the various headings, and stated as concisely as possible the means which the Privy Council have taken for promoting the diffusion of knowledge through the poorer classes. This is the more necessary as within the last six months the question of national education has seriously occupied public attention, and is even now the subject of warm controversy within the walls of the legislature.
The object of the Privy Council, to whom the administration of the sums voted by Parliament for educational purposes is entrusted, is to promote education among the children of the labouring poor; and it does so by giving assistance to voluntary efforts on the part of schools in connection with some recognised religious denomination, and where the reading of the scriptures forms part of the daily routine. No grant is made to a school unless the inspector has certified that this condition has been complied with. These grants are of three kinds : — First, the capitation grant, which is given for each child who has attended school for 170 days and upwards in the year, and varies from 3s to 5s for girls, and from 4s to 6s for boys, and is coupled with the condition that 14s per child has been expended on the school. This grant amounted last year to £77,000.
The second grant consists of certain allowances to certificated teachers. This grant includes the sum paid to pupil teachers on their attaining a certificate, and is styled the augmentation grant. The condition under which it is made is that the managers of the schools shall contribute twice as much as the augmentation grant. For example — an augmentation grant of £20 will not be payable unless the managers contribute at least £40. This item amounted last year to £122,000.
The third grant is made to pupil teachers and apprentices who have been received into the schools at 13, and have continued on it for five years. The payment for the first year is £10, rising by annual increasements of £2 10s to £20. The Government wholly provide for these sums, which were met in last year's estimates by a vote of £500,000.
The following figures relate entirely to that portion of the grants which have fallen to the various established schools in the county, and are interesting as showing at a glance the actual state of education among our labouring poor, and the relative state of the schools attached to the various sectarian denominations.
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Buriton National School.—Certificated teachers 10l.; pupil teachers, 15l.; masters and mistresses, 5l.; capitation, 2l. 5s. — total, 32l. 5s.
Lyss Parochial School.—Certificated teachers 12l. 10s.; capitation, 7l. 5s. — total, 19l. 15s.
Meon (East) National School.—Pupil teachers, 37l. 10s.; masters and mistresses, 9l.; capitation, 12l. 10s. — total, 59l.
Meon (West) National School.—Certificated teachers 16l.10s.; Grants to assistant or probationary teachers, 25l.; pupil teachers, 27l. 10s.; masters and mistresses, 10l.; capitation, 8l. 8s. — total, 87l. 8s.
Petersfield National School.—Certificated teachers 37l.; pupil teachers, 95l.; masters and mistresses, 24l.; capitation, 27l. — total, 183l.
Petersfield British Schools.—Certificated teachers 18l.; pupil teachers, 42l. 10s.; masters and mistresses, 17l.; capitation, 20l. 15s. — total, 98l. 5s.