Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 17.djvu/297

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281


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968,599 acres to the outer ring. The population of the administrative coimty ana city was 4,483,249; of the outer rin;;, 2,992,919. a total of 7,476,168. The other large cities with their respective popula- tions are: Birmingham 919,438; Liverpool 803,118; Manchester 730,551; Sheffield 490,724; Leeds 458,- 2SSd, Of these, Birmingham, Manchester, and Shef- field made the greatest gains in poi)ulation since 1911. Blackpool made a gain of 64%, its population in 1921 being 99,6M. The movement of the popula- tion of Enguind and Wales is seen in the following statistics:


Year


Estimated Population


Total Birtha


Illegiti.

mate

Birtha


Deaths


Mar- riaces


1910 1920


35,791,902 37,609,600


896,962 957,994


36,635 44,267


483,247 466;213


267,721 379.658


In 1919 the total immigration was 201,504, com- pared with 22324 the year before; the total emi- gration in 1918, was 25,970; in 1919, 193,601; in 1920, 283^705. The destinations of British subjects leaving the United Kingdom for non-European countnes in 1920 were mjEonly the United States (90,429), British North America (134,079), Aus- traha (49,357), British South Africa (20,019), India and Ceylon (19^26).

Education.— The war had important and far- reaching effects on the educational institutions and educational ^stem of Great Britain, and has also led to important measures for the organiza- tion and development of educational methods. It was estimated that 500,000 school children under foiurteen were employed before the war; 600,000 others were estimated to have withdrawn from school during the first three years of the war. Attendance at colleges fell off, compulsory school attendance laws were suspended, and many school buildineps were taken over for military purposes. Reorgam- sation was urgently needed. The matter was taken over by the Keconstruction Committee, later the Reconstruction Ministry, which introduced a Bill in May, 1918, requiring children up to fourteen years of a^e to give full time to school education and requinng compulsory part-time education for children between fourteen and eighteen. According to the provisions of this Education Act of 1918. elementary and secondary education in England and Wales is imder the control of the Boani of Education. The local administration is vested in the councils of counties, of county boroughs, of non-county boroughs with a population of over 10,000, and of urban districts with a population of over 20,000. The local authorities maintain all public schools and control the expenditure neces- sary for the purpose. '^Non-provided" schools simply furnish the building, but must comply with the directions for secular instruction. Education funds are derived, from State giants (to the extent of at least half the net expenditure recognised by the Board of Education), local rates, etc.; the education authorities have borrowing powers. Ele- mentary education is free and compulsory for those between the ages of five and fourteen, which may be extended to fifteen. All children under the age of eighteen must attend a continuation school for 320 nours in the year, unless they have received full time education up to the age of sixteen. The student's employment may be sus- pended during the day on which attendance is neoessaiy at these schools. No child under twelve years of age may be employed, and children over that age may be employed on school days onfy


after school-hours and before 8 p. m. In schools provided by them the local authorities must not pav for religious instruction: in schools not pro- vided by them, they can neither forbid nor impose religious instruction.

In 1919 the elementary schools in England and Wales numbered 21,473, and the attendance was 7,100,000. In 1920 there were 12,266 voluntary schools for ordinar}^ public elementary education with 2,730,000 pupils, and 8705 coimcil schools with 4,355,000 pupils; total ordinary elementaiy schools, 20,971 with 7,085,000 pupils. The average attendance at these schools in 191^19 was 5,108,000 and the number of teachers 168,000. The higher elementary schools numbered 44 with 11,550 regis- tered pupils. Of the special schools 57 were for the blind (3200 pupils), 50 for the deaf (4600 pupils), 198 for the mentally defective (15,500 pupils), 162 for physically defective children (11,400), and 53 were certiified efficient" schools.

In 1917-18 1061 recognized secondary schools (with 238,314 full-time pupils) were on the grant list; in addition there were 134 other secondary schools with about 26,000 pupils; 10 preparatory schools with 1140 pupils, and a number of technical institutions, art schools, nautical schools, and part- time schools. Of the continuation schools, 56 re- ceived grants in 1918-19, and the attendance was 21,628. There are also provisions for nursery schools, holiday and school camps, playing fields, physical training, and the medical inspection of places of higher education. On 31 March, 1919, there were 59 poor-law schools, and in 1920, 87 training colleges for teachers for elementary schools in England with accommodation for 13,542 students. The following table taken from the Statesman's Year Book (1921) shows the number of students and professors at the Universities of England, 1920-21:


UnivenitiflB


Profenon. et€.


Studentfl


Oxford


100 160 174 1250 265 187 224 250 169 210


4200


Cambridge

Durham


4360 1250


London


7000


Manchester


3000


Birmingham ...................


1880


Liverpool


2540


Leeds


1930


Sheffield


3100


Bristol


1000




Total


2989


30,260


The members of the Board of Education are: a president appointed by the Crown, the lord presi- dent of the privy council, the principal secretaries of State, the first commissioner of the treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The presi- dent or secretary may sit in Parliament.

Government.— The supreme power of the British Empire is vested in Parliament, which is summoned by the sovereign, by advice of the Privy Council, at least twenty days before its assembling. Under the Parliamentary Act of 1911, its duration is limited to five years, but during the war it was extended to eight years. It consists of a House of Lords and a House of Commons. To the House of Lords belong the peers of the realm, who hold their seats by hereditary right, or by creation of the soverei^, or by virtue of office (Law Lords), or by election for duration of Parliament (Scottish peers), or by election for life (Irish peers). In