Egerton Ryerson and Education in Upper CanadaPutman, J. Harold (John Harold)
History
Egerton Ryerson and Education in Upper Canada
Putman, J. Harold (John Harold)
Education -- Ontario; Ryerson, Egerton, 1803-1882
[109] It should be remembered that while a Public School pupil drew less
than one dollar per year Legislative grant, the moment this pupil was
enrolled in a Grammar School he drew from $20 to $35 yearly. In 1872,
the average Legislative grant to a Public School pupil was 40 cents, and
to a Grammar School pupil $20. See D. H. E., Vol. XXIV., p. 302.
Dr. Ryerson was not the man to diagnose the case. But the hour brought
forth the man, and that man was George Paxton Young, one of the
Inspectors of Grammar Schools. In two very able Reports[110] presented
in 1867 and 1868, he sets forth clearly and convincingly the defects of
the system then in operation and suggests the direction that reforms
should take to make the Grammar Schools serve a useful purpose. He
wished to see their character wholly changed. He did not undervalue
classics, but he believed that a smattering of classics was of no
benefit, and that it caused a waste of time that might be given to
subjects of real value. He wished to see High Schools that would give an
advanced English training, together with natural science, mathematics,
and history. He did not believe in forcing all to study Latin, nor did
he believe in apportioning grants to High Schools on the basis of the
number of pupils studying Latin. He wished to see better Common Schools
and objected to the plan of union which robbed the Common School of its
older pupils and degraded its function. Speaking of this, he says: "The
number of union schools is increasing and is likely to increase. In many
of the schools of this class all the Common School pupils, boys and
girls alike, who have obtained a smattering of English grammar are
systematically drafted into the Grammar School. The consequence is that
in localities where such a system is followed there is no mere Common
School education (observe I say mere Common School education) given to
any pupils, boys or girls, which is not of the most elementary
description; and not only have the Grammar Schools thus become to a
great extent girls' schools as well as boys' schools, but--what is
especially noteworthy--the girls admitted to these schools are in a
majority of instances put into Latin as a matter of course; in other
words, the study of Latin is made practically a condition of their
admission into the Grammar School. Will any man say that this state of
things is satisfactory, a state of things in which the Common Schools
are degraded by being suspended from the exercise of all their higher
functions? Unless I misunderstand the object of the Common School law,
the Common Schools are designed to furnish a good English and general
education to those desiring it. But how can this end be accomplished
where the Common Schools are subject to arrangements under which the
highest stage of advancement ever reached by the pupils is to be able to
parse an easy English sentence? ... Children under thirteen years of age
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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