Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - IV. Education and Mental Culture. Introd. by P. E. Lindström - 1. Elementary Education. By J. M. Ambrosius - Schools for the Deaf and Dumb. By F. Nordin - Schools for the Blind. By G. Åstrand
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
368
iv. education and mental culture.
pletion of their course in district schools and offers them a continuation course
of two years, in which practical training plays a leading part. The total number
of pupils in the public schools amounted in 1914 to 585, of whom 494 were
taught according to the articulation-method, 75 according to the writing, and
16 according to the method of signs. The number of classes is 80 and of teachers
83, 43 of whom are men, and 40 women. There is a Seminary for training
the teachers at the Manilla Deaf and Dumb School in Stockholm (Borg’s old
institute, but now a district school).
With one school, that in Lund, an agricultural and technical side for
deaf-mutes has lately been combined, and with another, a private preparatory school
in Gothenburg.
Since the beginning of 1914, the State has made grants towards the cost of
lectures for adult deaf-mutes. These amount to a maximum of 500 kronor for
each of the 7 districts. Such lectures have been welcomed with great interest
by the deaf-mutes.
The cost of the instruction and support of deaf-mutes amounted in 1913 to
about 690 000 kronor. The State makes a grant of 154 000, being (for 1914),
on an average calculation, 250 kronor for every pupil, and the County Councils
defray the rest. According to law, parents or guardians (or Poor Law authorities)
may be made by the County Councils to pay a yearly fee (50 to 100 kronor)
for each pupil; but some County Councils have not availed themselves of this
right.
In 1877, a Swedish Deaf and Dumb Teachers Society, one of the oldest of
its kind in Europe, was formed by the teachers at these schools. The Society
has, since 1880, published a magazine of its own, which in 1898 was re-modelled
as the common organ of the deaf and dumb schools of Scandinavia. The
deaf-mutes themselves have sometimes, after leaving school, formed societies for
mutual help and recreation, of which the Stockholm Society has considerable
funds at its disposal.
The total number of deaf-mutes in Sweden, according to the census of 1900,
amounted to 5 299, or 103 to every 100 000 inhabitants — on the whole a
rather large proportion. Of låte, there has been some considerable decrease in
the number, presumably due to improved hygiene. In consequence, a
representation has been made to the Government for a change in the organization of
the instruction of deaf-mutes, in order that the number of schools and thereby
the average cost per child may be reduced, and at the same time the
instruction may be more rationally arranged by transferring various categories of children
to special schools. The idea has gained ground that certain schools should be
turned into technical schools for the instruction of deaf-mutes after the close of
the actual time of general education. A demand has been made that the State
should take over the training of deaf-mutes, in the same way as it has that of
the blind.
Schools for the Blind. The teaching of the blind in Sweden dates from
1807, when Pär Aron Borg (cf. the article above on Deaf and Dumb Schools)
began teaching a blind woman adopted in his home. In 1808, Borg was enabled
to open his afore-mentioned institute, which, from 1810 inclusive, enjoyed State
support. This, however, soon proved insufficient for its twofold purpose, and
so the education of the blind ceased in 1816, and was not resumed till 1846,
when a special department for them was started conjointly with the Deaf and
Dumb Institute. This combination, however, proved a check on the instruction
both of the blind and of the deaf and dumb, especially of the former, who
were more and more forced into the background by the much greater
department for deaf-mutes. At length, in 1879, the teaching of the blind was re-
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
