230 



NATURE 



[December 14, 1911 



are enormous fli>1ictilti«>s in thr way of its imnipdiatc 

 adoption, and th«; smaller technical instituttone '" ^-•■•'■rulnr 

 will be very hard hit by the condition bring! : .mo 



into operjjtion dtirinf* the present session. Th iliies 



exist with reference to both day and evening work, but 

 it is in connection with the latter that the matter is one 

 of great urgency, and the following remarks will therefore 

 <l»al only with the principal changes afTccting evening 

 instruction. 



A. Changes in Subjects and Stages foreshadowed in the 

 Circular. ~-{i) The abolition of all Stage I, and practical 

 t?xarainations ; (2) the abandonment of all examinations 

 h"lH by the Board in the following subjects: sound, light, 



mineralogy, physiology, general biology, zoology! 



navigation, nautical astronomy, physiography, 

 .t^..iii;n,i.il science, hygiene, and elementary science of 

 common life ; (3) principles of mining becomes coal-mining 

 only; (4) for the purpose of constituting examining boards, 

 to include teachers in technical schools, the subjects 

 retained will be grouped as follows : (a) pure and applied 

 mathematics, (b) engineering, (c) physics, (d) chemistry, 

 (c) mining and metallurgy; (5) there will be two stages 

 only in each subject, viz. "lower," corresponding to the 

 old Stage II. examinations, and "higher," the standard 

 being intermediate between the old Stage III. and honours 

 examinations ; (6) in each grade of each subject, one paper 

 only will be set, with the exception of " higher " pure 

 m.ithematics, in which two papers will be given. 



B. Conditions of Admission. — (i) A fee of 3*. 6d. must 

 be paid by the candidate for each stage in each subject ; 

 (2) candidates must be over seventeen years of age on 

 July 31 following the examination; (3) students taking 

 full-time day courses will only be admitted under special 

 conditions ; ("4") in the following subjects : theoretical 

 mcchnnic'. ^ulids), theoretical mechanics (fluids), applied 

 iiwchanii-^ (niatorials and structures), applied mechanics 

 (machines and hydraulics), heat engines, heat, magnetism 

 and electricity, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistrv. and 

 metallurgy, a catTdidatc for admission to the higher 

 I xamination must furnish a certificate of having completed 

 a satisfactory amount of laboratory work, and submit 

 lalKJratory note-books signed and certified bv the teacher. 



C. Records of Successes. — The issue of personal certi- 

 ficates will be discontinued, result lists onlv being pub- 

 lished by the Board, with the following exceptions : (i) 

 certificates for the present will be issued for coal-mining; 

 (2) personal certificates to successful candidates at higher 

 examinations only, will be awarded provided (a) " that they 

 liave previously received appropriate group course certf- 

 ficates " endorsed by the Board, (/>) " that the examination 

 has not been approved in connection with the course for a 

 rortificate"; (3) successes in higher and lower stages, and 

 m other approved external examinations, such as the City 

 and Guilds Institute, may be recorded upon grouped course 

 certificates endorsed by the Board, but successes at internal 

 examinations may not be separately recorded. 



After studying the conditions detailed above, most 

 teachers will no doubt come to the conclusion that evening 

 students will not bo likelv to sit for the Board's new 

 examinations. The institution of the 3s. 6d. fee will alone 

 act as a sufficient deterrent, especially in the case of a 

 group course student wishing to take several examinations, 

 but this, when combined with the fact that a record of 

 success can only be obtained bv complying with certain 

 very difficult conditions, must reduce the' number of candi- 

 dates almost to the vanishing point. The past few years 

 has been a transitional period, and elaborate group courses, 

 suited to the local industries, have been adopted by most 

 schools in place of the system of detached classes' suited 

 to the Board's examinations. In most places, however, 

 the syllabuses of instruction are modelled on the svllabuses 

 of the Board's science examinations, no doubt with the 

 view of attracting certain students who still place faith 

 in the certificates awarded bv the Board; and this is the 

 case particularly with smaller institutions, where the loc.il 

 certificates have proved so far of little value. This must 

 continue until^ some means can be devised of giving a 

 definite and fairly uniform value to the certificates awarded 

 bv different institutions for corresponding vears of a croup 

 course. 



Undoubtedly the country is ripe for the introduction i.,'. 



]| n-.lir>fi-i| <lrr.iiii >Mllr..<. liV«itf-tn, aod we tJur..(..r .. liir. 



ex I' the Board 



7, 'I ; ' '•'cs in th, 



evening i>tudfnt)« the lioard i>uggests the < 

 courses into three grades : — (i) Junior cour 

 for youths leaving elementary schools at to 

 .Senior courses (three years), for students who ; 

 either (a) a junior course, or (fc) a three years 

 a secondary or higher elementary school. (31 

 courses (two years), for students who have 

 senior course. The Board is prepared to endorse ccrti 

 ficates in senior and advanced courses only under th" 

 following conditions, amongst others : — (1) The v,- 

 course system mtist previously have been approved \>\ 



Board, who must also be satisfied with the eqi;' 



the school, and the steps taken to admit on", 

 qualified studenis to the course. (2) No uncndo;„. ..;.. 

 ficates may be issued by the local authority. 



The local certificates of a few of the larger institutions 

 in the country have already become of some value to •• 

 holders in the local industries, and therefore the qu» • ■ 

 of endorsement is of little immediate importance to t' • 

 places, but in the case of the smaller institutions, in . 

 of the fact that the local certificates are not of great valu* 

 if any, where they are already given, the question of 

 endorsement becomes of prime importance. A cursor\ 

 glance at calendars of various technical institutions will 

 show that, although each may have many excellent 

 features, such a variety exists in the construction of ih- 

 courses that the Board cannot conscientiously apj : ■ . 

 many of these, and thus a grave injustice must b** ; r 

 during the next few years to a great number of stu'I : i 

 who have been working towards a definite objective. I . : 

 the first three years' courses dt Manchester, Brati : 

 Leeds, and Liverpool in chemical industries as examp- ~ 

 The total possible student hours in the three years arc, 

 respectively, Manchester, 660 hours ; Bradford. !;40 hours ; 

 Leeds, 697 hours; Liverpool, 630 hours; sufficient v.ir-.i- 

 tion, one would think, to result in a very different stan(!.i: : 

 of attainment at the end of the Board's senior courv 

 scheme, each institution admitting at the age of sixteen 

 years. The division of the time mentioned above i^ 

 apportioned as follows : — 



Theoretical Inorgmnic Chemistry 

 Practical .. .. 



Theoretical Organic Chemistrj'- 

 Practical ,, ,, 



Preliminar\' Mathematics 



'rhcoretical Elementary Physics 

 Practical ,. „ 



Principles of Analysis 



Chemical Calculations .. „. 

 Tutorial Work .^ ... 



Theoretical Heat (Stage II.) ... 



Practical ,, ,, 



Pure Mathematics, Staee II.,\ 



or Theoretical Me<3ianics,> 



Suge I / 



Theoretical Electridty, Stage \.\ 



or II _ .../ 



Practical Electricity, Stage I.l 



or II ( 



Technical Analysis 



Manchesterl Bradford 1 Leeds 



hoars 

 60 

 165 

 60 

 340 

 60 

 30 



nil 



hoars 



90 

 150 

 60 

 60 

 nil 



45 

 «5 

 30 



.•?o 



60 



nil 



hoort 

 97* 

 iSo 

 75 



^1 



37* 



37* 



35 



60 



nil 



Liverpool 



horn 



30 



(orElec- 



l tricity) 



45 



45 

 nil 



NO. 2198, VOL. 88] 



It should be mentioned that at Bradford the student tal 

 preliminary mathematics, elementary physics, and Stage I. 

 inorganic chemistry for two years in the branch technic " 

 schools as a preliminary, whereas the other institutior- 

 begin with Stage I. inorganic chemistry in the tec. 

 courses mentioned above. Further, in the three > 

 course above, Bradford completes Stage III. inorganic 

 chemistry, the other institutions completing Stage II. ; in 

 organic chemistry, Manchester and Leeds complete Stage II. 

 work, Bradford Stage I., and Liverpool does not include 

 organic chemistry in the three years' course. 



An examination of some 200 calendars of institutions 

 throughout the country has shown that the examples given- 



