=The Schools.=--The common school (Volksschule) of Germany reaches every child, as we have seen. In villages the sexes are taught together; but in cities they are generally separated. The school hours are from eight to eleven in the forenoon, for six days in the week, and from two to four for four days in the week, Wednesday and Saturday afternoons being holidays. These hours may be varied to suit local conditions. The school is in session for about forty-two weeks each year. Each teacher is required to give about twenty-eight hours of service per week, while the pupils must attend from sixteen hours (for beginners) to twenty-eight. The common schools of Prussia are now practically free. The common school is intended for the common people, and it is not followed by a high or secondary school. This is the greatest weakness of the German school system. It perpetuates the class system, and effectually prevents the child from rising above his station. The sole opportunity for the child of the lower classes to receive a higher education is through the normal school, and even this privilege is limited to a small number of the pupils who show special ability. We may mention also the _Continuation_ schools, which are held evenings and Sundays. These schools are rapidly multiplying and becoming more efficient, as many of them are held in the daytime. They furnish an opportunity for the child who has completed the common school to review his work, and also to add some subjects that will be of utility in his lifework. In general, there are three classes of secondary schools,--the _Gymnasium_, the _Realgymnasium_, and _Oberrealschule_. Each prepares for the university, and each has nine classes; namely, _Sexta_, _Quinta_, _Quarta_, _Untertertia_, _Obertertia_, _Untersecunda_, _Obersecunda_, _Unterprima_, and _Oberprima_. These schools differ chiefly in the amount of classics they offer, the _Gymnasium_ laying stress upon the classics and the _Realschule_ upon the realities.[172] Neither of these schools succeeds the common school, and the boy who is to pursue one of these courses of study must begin at not later than nine or ten years of age.[173] Thus, if a professional life is chosen for a boy, he cannot attend the common school,--at least not for more than the first three or four years,--but must be sent to one of the schools above mentioned, for they alone prepare for the university, and without a university course he cannot enter a profession. The university is the crowning institution of the German school system.