EDUCATION 423 cers for Dutch India, affording instruction in the Javan and Malay languages, Mohammedan law, the institutions, religions, geography, his- tory, ethnology, and statistics of Dutch India. Holland is rich in educational institutions for the army and navy. Provision is also made for instruction to the inmates of prisons ; and there are special schools for the instruction of children between the ages of 4 and 6. Supe- rior instruction is provided for by three uni- versities, Utrecht, Leyden, and Groningen ; two athenaaums, Amsterdam and Deventer ; and 55 gymnasia and Latin schools. The uni- versities have five faculties each : theology, law, medicine, mathematics and natural sci- ences, and literature. The athenaeums have the same faculties and the same course of in- struction as the universities ; the only difference between them is that the athenasum is not a government but a municipal institution, though under government supervision. The gymnasia and Latin schools afford a classical and ma- thematical education to students preparing for the universities and professional schools. The Swiss system of popular education bears a general resemblance to that of the United States. There is, in fact, no national system, but each canton has its own system complete. The administration of educational affairs rests primarily in the cantonal minister of public in- struction, aided by a board of three or more members elected from the communes or sec- tions, which are the only school divisions known to the canton. The gradation of the schools and plan of inspection are essentially German. The communal inspectors report to the can- tonal, and these to the minister, whatever re- lates to the fulfilment or evasion of the law and the general condition of the schools. Attend- ance is obligatory in all but four of the cantons, unless it be shown that children are receiving equally good instruction in private schools or at home; and even then, such children must undergo examinations. In some of the can- tons the prescribed school age is from 7 to 14, in others from 6 to 16. The schools are maintained by taxation. Gymnastic and military exercises form a prominent feature, and to provide competent teachers young men are sent by the government to receive instruction in the great gymnastic establish- ment in Dresden. There are three Swiss uni- versities, situated at Basel, Bern, and Zurich. These are cantonal rather than national, and are organized after the general plan of the German university, but are of inferior rank. In Italy all matters pertaining to education are under the control of the ministry of public in- struction, which has six divisions or bureaus. The first is the financial bureau, through which the payments to all the institutions dependent on the ministry are made ; the second has the administration, and gathers the statistics of all the institutions for the fine arts and antiquities, the musical institutions, the libraries, archives, the scientific and literary academies ; the third has the superior instruction, universities, schools for engineers, schools for veterinary surgery, and astronomical observatories ; the fourth the institutions for secondary instruction ; the fifth the institutions for primary instruction; and the sixth is the auditor's office, through which also all communications to and from the royal court of accounts are transmitted. Elementary education in Italy has been very backward, but the whole system of public instruction is now undergoing a thorough reorganization. The new school law provides for elementary in- struction to be given everywhere free of charge, for obligatory attendance upon the schools under penalty of fine, and that no one shall be appointed to any state, provincial, or communal office who cannot read and write. In China, more than in any other country, with perhaps the exception of Prussia, a learned education is the means of official promotion. Instruction begins in the family, where the boys are taught to enumerate objects, to count to the number of 10,000, and to reverence their parents and ancestors by a minute ceremonial. At the age of 5 or 6 they are sent to school. For the sons of the nobles a higher course of instruction is provided in universities under the surveillance of the state. One of these exists in most of the large cities, and the most advanced of them is the imperial college in Peking. Candidates for admission into this institution are required to pass a strict examination, and the graduates from it are at once appointed to public office. The education of girls is neglected, but the daughters of the wealthy are generally taught to read, write, sing, and sometimes to make verses. For a more complete account of educa- tion in this country, see CHINA. The new school law of Japan, when carried out, will secure a thorough system of education for that country. According to its provisions, the management of educational affairs throughout the country is vested in one central authority, the department of education. For educational purposes the empire will be divided into eight grand divisions, called collegiate, which will be subdivided into 256 academical districts, each to contain a middle or high school, and these again into 53,760 school districts, with one school each. There shall be appointed in every academical district by the local authori- ties from 10 to 13 directors, each to control from 20 to 30 schools. Every child of all classes must be sent to school from the age of 6 years, and continue long enough at least to finish the elementary course. There are to be three classes of schools : great learning (su- perior), middle learning (secondary), and small learning (elementary). The different grades of elementary schools embrace common, girls', village, charity, private, infant, and evening schools, and schools for imbeciles. The com- mon (public) schools will have two grades ; in the lower will be taught spelling, writing, con- versation, vocabularies, reading, morality, let- ter-writing, grammar, arithmetic, lessons on
