PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. — SECTION III. 49 



suitable recruits for the teaching profession has been due very 

 largely to the unsatisfactory conditions under which country 

 teachers are compelled to work, and the unattractive nature of their 

 prospects. With the consolidation of country schools the profession 

 would offer a better career both for men and women, and the 

 disinclination to take it up would therefore tend to disappear. As 

 regards the present staff, a judicious scheme of vacation courses 

 would gradually enable the best and most ambitious of them to 

 improve their qualifications, and some of them might even be 

 drafted into the Normal Schools to undergo a regular course of 

 training. In this way the standard and character of the teaching 

 might gradually be changed for the better. 



If such a sheme as I have outlined were to be definitely adopted 

 in South Africa, where the Governments have more or less of a free 

 hand, it would be necessary in the first place for the local authorities 

 to select suitable centres in their districts. The establishment 

 of such schools should proceed gradually, and only where a good 

 attendance would be assured within a radius of six or nine miles. 

 To begin with it would be advisable to restrict them to places where 

 at least about eighty children could be assembled, in order that the 

 staff of teachers might be sufficient to give instruction not only in 

 the usual school subjects but also in those other branches of study 

 which I have indicated should be included in the curriculum of a 

 country school. 



Probably it will be possible to extend the principle to schools 

 with a smaller attendance, but in the end there will alwa\'s be a 

 residue of children, scattered over wide tracts of country so sparsely 

 populated that they cannot be reached by any means except the 

 single-teacher school. In such cases all that can be hoped for is 

 that the best possible arrangement will be made to secure the 

 efficiency of such education as can be provided. By granting a 

 bonus or by giving special advantages to promising aspirants to 

 the teaching profession in return for serving in these small schools 

 for a certain period, it might be possible to induce young teachers 

 to spend a year or two in charge of such schools or even as governesses 

 to isolated families, and by this means the standard of work would 

 be considerably raised. Such an arrangement exists in some parts 

 of Australia, where service in the smaller remote schools counts for 

 or is made a condition necessary to promotion to schools of a higher 

 grade, and the results have been found to be very satisfactory. 

 The adoption of such a scheme in South Africa, where the appoint- 

 ment of teachers rests with the local authorities, would be somewhat 

 difficult, but doubtless even under the different conditions that exist 

 in this country some similar arrangement might be made which 

 would prove advantageous not only to these small schools but also 

 to the teachers who would assist in their improvement. 



One thing at least is clear. If the gradual migration of the rural 

 population to the towns which has become such a problem in Europe 

 and America, is to be checked in South Africa, and if the country 

 children are to be provided with a reasonably liberal education 

 adapted to their needs, some definite policy to meet the situation 

 must be adopted with as little delay as possible. 



