The university, of course, draws its students from all over the State. It has an attendance of one thousand, three hundred or more, about five hundred and fifty of whom are annually enrolled direct from the gymnasia. These students represent the best products of the country and generally they work with earnestness and zeal.
Table Giving Attendance at Teachers' Seminaries and the Number Passing Advanced Examinations.
Took Examination. Year. Attendance. Male. Female. Total. 1901-02 755 204 135 339 1902-03 980 192 129 321 1903-04 953 216 184 400 1904-05 902 174 119 293 1905-06 955 208 147 355 --- --- ----- Totals 994 714 1,708 Annual Average 199 143 342
Private schools have played an important role in Norway. They have had a long and interesting history. A number of them do part or all of the work represented by the state primary and secondary schools and teachers' seminaries. Most of them are located in the larger cities and receive recognition and patronage from some of the best homes in the land. Their influence upon education generally has been wholesome. The valuable and attractive features introduced by them have operated like spurs on those under state direction. The cooperative activity which has characterized the relationship between the two kinds of schools has resulted in the betterment of both and in the rapid advancement of educational ideals and activities throughout the state.
There are, of course, some fundamental differences existing between them. The private schools charge a regular tuition in every grade of primary and secondary work. The state primary schools are free and the tuition in its secondary schools is less than that charged in the private schools. It is self-evident that private schools are dependent upon tuition receipts for both running expenses and profits, while the state and communal schools are supported largely by public taxation.[8] Paralleling so nearly the work of the state schools, yet being more expensive, the private schools have been under the necessity of offering certain inducements in order to secure pupils. They have been made attractive in location, in buildings, in equipment, in the personnel of their faculties, and in other ways, and their efforts have been richly rewarded as a rule.