CHAPTER VIII 



TECHNICAL EDUCATION 



Royal Commission, 1883-4 Foreign Experiences Our Report- 

 Addresses on Technical Education Royal Commission on Secondary 

 Education. 



DURING the summer of 1883 I was standing with 

 the other members of the Royal Commission on 

 Technical Instruction in the streets of Amiens, and I 

 called the attention of my colleagues to the fact that 

 the walls were placarded with notices, signed by the 

 Mayor of the town, stating that the Municipal Schools 

 in Amiens would be opened on a certain date. " How 

 long will it be," I said to my companions, " before we 

 in England see an announcement like this ? And 

 how many years shall we have to wait until our coun- 

 try is roused to feel the necessity, long foreseen in 

 France, of establishing a national system of technical 

 education ? " 



But the unexpected often happens. What then 

 seemed almost an impossibility soon turned out a 

 reality. Thanks to the influence brought to bear upon 

 public opinion mainly by the Report of our Commis- 

 sion England awakened, and, what is more, England 

 made up its mind that the thing had got to be done, 

 and Parliament showed this in the most forcible 

 manner possible, by finding the money to do it. Not 

 only do we now see notices like those in France posted 



