58 RELATION OF HIGH SCHOOLS TO TECHNICAL COLLEGE. 



Recommentations in respect of Preparatory Education: — 



1. It is desirable that a boy intended for the Engineering Profession; 



should, before leaving school and commencing to specialize, have 

 attained a standard of education equivalent to that required by the 

 Institution Studentship Examinations ; and that he should not 

 commence his special training until he is about 17 years of age. 



2. A leaving examination for secondary schools, similar in character to 



those already existing in Scotland and in Wales, is desirable 

 throughout the United Kingdom. It is desirable to have a standard 

 such that it could be accepted by the Institution as equivalent to 

 the Studentship Examination, and by the Universities and Colleges 

 as equivalent to a Matriculation Examination. 



3. Advanced teaching of History and Geography, with instruction and 



practice in Essay-writing and in Precis-writing, should be included 

 in the ordinary school curriculum; and the instruction in English 

 subjects should include at least an introduction to English Litera- 

 ture. 



4. Greek should not l)e required, but an elementary knowledge of Latin 



is desirable. The study of Latin should, however, be discontinued 

 during the last two years of attendance at school, or after the 

 standard required for the leaving certificate has been attained. 

 Modern languages, especially French and German, should be studied, 

 and should be taught colloquially or in such a way as to give the 

 pupils a practical knowledge of each language, sufficient to enable 

 them to study its literature and to converse in it with some degree 

 of facility. 



5. Instruction in Mathematics sliould be given by methods diflfering 



considerably from those usually adopted in the teaching of this 

 subject merely as an intellectual exercise. The geometrical side of 

 Mathematics should be fostered, and before they leave school, boys 

 should be conversant with the use of logarithms, and with at least 

 the elements of trigonometry, including the solution of triangles. 

 It is also of importance that instruction in practical arithmetic should 

 be carried further than has been generally the case hithert(^ with 

 the object especially of encouraging the use of contracted methods 

 and operations in mental arithmetic; and of encouraging also the 

 expression of results with only such a degree of (numerical) pre- 

 cision as is consistent with the known degree of certainty of the 

 data on which they are or may be supposed to l)e leased. 



6. It is preferable that boys should attain at school a general knowledge 



of elementary Physics and Chemistry, or what is sometimes called 

 " Natural Philosophy,'" rather tlian that they should pursue in detail 

 some particular department of science. 



7. Special attention should be given to drawing; the instruction should 



include ordinary Geometrical Drawing with orthograpliic projection. 

 Curve-drawing, Freehand-drawing, and Practical Mensuration. 



8. Work in the nature of handicraft, such as Carpentry or Turning, or 



elementary lield-surveying, may be encouraged as a recreation. biU 

 should not ))c required' as a school exercise. 



9. It appears to lie impossible, in the general curriculum of school^ work, 



to include advantageously time for instruction in such a subject as. 



Surveying, which has been suggested. 

 The Conunittee recommend that this scheme of Preparatory Education 

 should be officially communicated to the Board of Education and widely 

 circulated among.st those engaged in the conduct of Secondary Schools 

 and Engineering Colleges, in order that future schemes of tuition of 

 youths who contemplate entry into the Engineering profession may be 

 guided thereby. The Committee are of opinion that if this course is taken 

 it would assist in overcoming one great difficulty now universally felt in 

 Institutions in wliich applied science is taught. At present a considerable 



