Germany and the Germans from an American Point of ViewCollier, Price
History
Germany and the Germans from an American Point of View
Collier, Price
Germany; National characteristics, German
In the strictly agricultural districts of Prussia the number of
courses open to those who work upon the land has steadily increased.
In 1882 there were 559 courses of instruction and 9,228 pupils; in
1902, 1,421 such courses and 20,666 pupils; and in 1908, 3,781 courses
and 55,889 pupils. About five per cent. of the cost of such
instruction, which cost the state 566,599 marks in 1908, is paid by
the fees of the pupils themselves.
To those interested in ways and
means it may serve a purpose to say that the total cost of these
elementary schools amounts to $130,715,250 a year, of which the
various state governments pay $37,500,000 and local authorities the
rest. In 1910 the city of Berlin spent $9,881,987 on its schools. The
average cost per pupil is $13.50. In some of the towns of different
classes of population that I have visited the number of pupils per 100
inhabitants stands as follows: Berlin, 11.1; Essen, 16.5; Dortmund,
16; Duesseldorf, 13.2; Charlottenburg, 9; Duisburg, 16.7; Oberhausen,
17.7; Bielefeld, 14.7; Bonn, 11.1; Cologne, 13.1.
There are 170,000
teachers in these elementary schools, of whom 30,000 are women. They
begin with $250 a year, which is raised to $300 when they are given a
fixed position. By a graduated scale of increase a teacher at the age
of forty-eight (when he may retire) may receive a maximum of $725. A
woman teacher's salary would vary from $300 to $600 as the maximum.
These figures are for Prussia. In other states of the empire, in
Bavaria and Saxony, for example, the scale of salaries is somewhat
higher.
The secondary schools are the well-known Gymnasien and
Progymnasien, the Realgymnasien, and the Realschulen. Roughly the
Gymnasien prepare for the universities, and the Realschulen for the
technical schools. Admission to the universities and to any form of
employment under the civil service demands a certificate from one or
another of these secondary schools.
In 1890, two years after the
present Emperor came to the throne, he called together a conference of
teachers and in an able speech suggested that these secondary schools
devote more time and attention to technical training. As a result of
this, the certificates of the Realgymnasien and Realschulen are now
received as equivalent to those conferred by the Gymnasien, where
Latin and Greek are, as they were then, still paramount.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account