TECHNICAL EDUCATION FOR QUEENSLAND. 795 



During a recent tour in Europe, I was struck with the fact that 

 quite a number of Austrahans tilled prominent positions in the 

 engineering world. These young men, having in their youth studied 

 subjects for which there was no scope in Australia, were forced to 

 leave their country in search of employment in their particular branch 

 of industry. 



At the end of last centuiy the demands of technical instruction 

 had, in this State, outgrown the possibilities of the original organisa- 

 tion, and reached conditions which called for a complete reorganisa- 

 tion. Successive Ministers have tried to solve the difficulties, and in 

 1905, under the present Minister, a general syllabus was evolved, 

 which, owing to its elasticity and the moderation shown in applying 

 it, has produced very satisfactoiy results. Much remains, however, 

 to be done, especially in the direction of co-ordinating the secondaiy 

 education of the State with the primary, and the Government has this 

 year obtained powers, by the Technical Colleges Act of 1908, which 

 should enable the Department to deal amply with the matter. 



The first beginnings of technical education in Queensland were 

 made in connection with the local libraries or " schools of arts,"' and 

 in many of the smaller centres the work is still controlled by sub- 

 committees of those institutions. In larger centres the teaching insti- 

 tutions have become independent, but their management and their 

 financial aiTangements still bear the imprint of their evolution. The 

 assistance given by the Government is still in the nature of a per- 

 centage on the fees received, and they are managed by committees 

 Avhich are generally more in touch with the commercial than with the 

 industrial interests. As a consequence of this, and of the fact that 

 classes on commercial subjects call for less costly equipment, the 

 tendency has been in the past for these institutions to develop on the 

 commercial side to the detriment of the industrial side. Typewriting, 

 shorthand, bookkeeping, together with continuation school work, have 

 been the chief field for their energies. In 1906 a new system of 

 endowment was introduced, which gives increased aid to the industrial 

 and technical subjects. The results have been very satisfactoiy to 

 those institutions which have art and science classes, and has also 

 acted as an incentive to an increase in the number of classes teaching 

 subjects other than commercial. At the present time the chief defect 

 of our system is that the committees are driven by it to charge higher 

 class fees than they would charge if they were 'receiving an attendance 

 endowment, as in New Zealand, or a fixed annual endowment. This 

 will probably be remedied in the larger centres by the State assuming 

 complete control of the technical education as is now proposed for 

 Brisbane. With the resources of the Education Depailment at its 

 disposal, technical education may be expected in the near future to 

 make rapid strides in Queensland, and hence the importance of the 

 lines to be laid down now in regard to the future course of develop- 

 ment. The first question to decide is the degree of specialised teaching 

 which is to be aimed at. Shall we follow the lead of Birmingham, 

 and try to replace the apprenticeships by practical work at the 

 colleges, or shall we follow London and provide the means for our 

 youth to acquire theoretical knowledge at our colleges while he 

 acquii"es skill in the ordinary workshop. 



