SECTION D. — EDUCATION. HISTORY, MENTAL 

 SCIENCE, POLITICAL ECONOMY, GENERAL 

 SOCIOLOGY AND STATISTICS. 



President of the Section : Rev. B. P. J. Marchand, B.A, 



THURSDAY. JULY 5. 



The IVesident delivered the following" address : — 



I propose to discuss — very briefly, seeing that I was called 

 upon to preside at the meetings of this Section at very short 

 notice — some points in reference to progress in educational 

 matters. 



There are, one is glad to note, considerable and encouraging 

 movements in the direction of solving the problems connected 

 with (a) industrial instruction, with {b) bringing into school 

 the large numlter of children who are still outside, and with 

 (f) educating the public in the protection of child life. 



In a paper read by Mr. W. J. Home at the Annual Session 

 of this Association in 191 5,* he advocated very strongly the 

 claims of vocational education. The National Advisory Board 

 for Technical Instruction has already done, and is doing, excel- 

 lent work in this direction. There are now in existence also the 

 Juvenile Advisory Boards established by Government in Cape- 

 town, Durban and Johannesburg. In Capetown this Board has 

 put itself into communication with the Cape Division School 

 Board, and cards are provided to the teachers at the different 

 schools for registering the pupiis who are anxious to be em- 

 ployed in a ];articular trade. Lists are also made out of the 

 pupils that are likely to leave school at the end of a term. In 

 this way employers and apprentices are brought into relation- 

 ship. An indenture form is being prepared by the Advisory 

 Board, on which, I may say, the trades are represented, and in 

 this form compulsory attendance at an evening school or con- 

 tinuation classes is a chief feature. 



An endeavour is also made to include compulsory attendance 

 at day sch(X)ls for vocational or general instruction. Pressure 

 is also exerted to make compulsory day attendance at school a 

 feature in the agreement entered into by apprentices in the Gov- 

 ernment and City Council offices. 



This year a beginning will be made with the erection of an 

 up-to-date Technical Institute, which will cost about £40,000, 

 on a most central site granted by the Corporation of Capetown. 

 The character of this Institute has not been finally settled, but 

 there is no doubt that it will take the form, more or less, of 

 a Trades School, at the outset at any rate. 



At present there are in connection with the Cape School 

 Board five night schools, with an attendance of 386 pupils, and 



*Rept. S.A. Assoc, for Adv. of Science, Pretoria (1915), 694-71 



/• 



