TRAINING OF TEACHERS 315 



required in view of the proposed formation of an agricultural 

 science class. 



This Committee was reappointed in February, 1879, and 

 reported in the following April that a favourable reply to 

 the memorial* presented by the Council asking for increased 

 facilities in training teachers had been received from the 

 Science and Art Department. The Department agreed to 

 meet the suggestions offered as to the best means for increasing 

 the number of teachers of agricultural science so far as to 

 give a special course of lectures to intending teachers during 

 the summer. In the House of Commons, in reply to a question 

 put by Mr. Pickering Phipps, Chairman of the Committee, 

 asking whether steps would be taken to give the necessary 

 publicity to this intention, the Vice-President of Council of 

 Education (Lord George Hamilton) invited the co-operation 

 of the Committee of the Central Chamber in making widely 

 known amongst teachers the proposal of the Government 

 to offer the desired instruction. Measures were taken there- 

 fore through local Chambers to call the attention of Elementary 

 Teachers' Unions and other educational agencies to the 

 facilities to be offered in the following July. Teachers in 

 some numbers attended the class formed by Professor Tanner, 

 and this encouraged a hope that the number of available 

 instructors would thereby be considerably increased. Sugges- 

 tions made to the Royal Agricultural Society were adopted 

 by that body, and the examinations for their junior scholar- 

 ships were thrown open to students passing the primary 

 examination in the principles of agriculture under the Govern- 

 ment scheme. The Cirencester College diploma and the first- 

 class certificate of the Royal Agricultural Society were also 

 accepted by the Government as a qualification for the position 

 of science teachers. Various efforts were then made to extend 

 the working of the Government scheme, and classes, which 

 owed their origin to the initiative of the Chambers, were 

 started in several districts ; while in at least one instance 

 (the Newcastle -on-Tyne Farmers' Club) a local exhibition 



* Dated 28th January, 1879, embodying 1, 2, 3 of paragraph 4 of 

 the above report. 



