LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
ENTRANCESCHOLARSHIPS.
(TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPEOTATOR.1 SIR, —I think that the anomaly and injustice referred to in the letter of your correspondent " R. H. Q." last week, viz., the practical monopoly by the well-to-do classes of the educational
endowments intended for the poor, might, to a great extent, be obviated by a proper selection of the subjects of examination for entrance and other scholarships. Our experience in Sheffield may be of some interest to your readers.
In December several entrance exhibitions were founded at two of the highest class schools of the town, entitling the holders to free tuition as long as they might remain at the schools, and the subjects of the examinations were as follows :—(1) Arithmetic, (2) English essay, (3) a searching viva voce ; in addition, a small number of marks were given respectively for (4) dictation, (5) read- ing, (6) English grammar, (7) elementary algebra, (8) elementary geometry, (9) elements of Latin, (10) geography. Four exhibi- tions were offered for competition last January, and 69 candi- dates entered from the public elementary schools of the borough, three from other quarters, all being under the age of fourteen. With the object of giving the poorer boys every chance, three of the exhibitions were made "close," i.e., were confined to the former class of candidates, but the result proved that this restriction was quite unnecessary, the best "open" candidate, though very good, being " 18th " on the final list. The marks were, on the whole, very good, and in addition to the four exhibitions offered, a fifth was awarded. During the nine months the exhibitioners have been at school they have done exceedingly well, rising place after place in the classes with remarkable rapidity. With regard to their social standing in the schools—rather a critical point—they have gained not merely the tolerance, but the respect of their school-fellows. It should be understood that to meet the case of the poorest class of candi- dates, a maintenance-fund was formed, and four boys receive assistance from this source. I should be trespassing too much upon your space if I gave fuller details, but they will be willingly furnished by the clerk of the Sheffield School Board or myself to any person interested in the matter. I think that the above scheme of examination has two great advantages,—(1) that the subjects are such as are as well or better taught in the public elementary schools than in any others, (2) that they are such as test more the natural ability of the child than the quality of the teaching it has received ; besides this, the children of the poor, being thrown early on their own resources, are quicker and readier, in fact older for their age, than other children, and will bear the strain of an examination better ; and this tends to compensate for the possible inferiority of the teaching they may have received.
To the schools which offer entrance exhibitions and to the country at large immense advantage would accrue, if our educa- tional endowments could be fully thrown open to the picked can- didate of the thousands of the poor, as well as of the hundreds of the well-to-do, and so the chance would be increased tenfold of obtaining candidates of that extraordinary ability which it is a national economy to cultivate to the utmost.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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