That co-ordination of the two is essential--nay, vital--if Irish
education is to be placed on a sound footing, may be appreciated from
the fact that a large proportion, or 57 per cent, of the membership of
Intermediate Schools is recruited from the schools of the National
Board. There seem to be only two ways in which this co-ordination can be
satisfactorily effected. Either the pupils must transfer from the
National to the Secondary Schools at an age when they will be young
enough to profit by Secondary instruction, or some sort of higher
instruction must be given in the National Schools so as to fit the
children, when they leave the latter at rather a later age, for the
curriculum awaiting them in the Secondary system. It is the Treasury at
the present moment, and the Treasury alone, that blocks the way to this
reform. Since 1902 it has been asked to sanction the establishment of
higher grade schools in large centres; the National Board also has
repeatedly pleaded for the institution of a "higher top," or advanced
departments, in connection with selected Primary Schools in rural
districts.
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