348 RURAL CALIFORNIA 



instruction are well solved, is along the line of prac- 

 tical, direct-to-life instruction for the youth of high 

 school age. For some time there has been a tendency 

 to break away from the solid academic character of 

 secondary education and while leaving ample oppor- 

 tunity for the ten per cent of students who will 

 attend higher institutions of learning to meet en- 

 trance requirements, yet giving more adequate atten- 

 tion to the needs of the ninety per cent whose educa- 

 tion must end with the completion of the high school 

 course. This revolution is practically completed in 

 California where nearly every high school has its 

 courses in commercial and domestic arts, manual 

 training and mechanical arts, agriculture and school 

 gardening. This instruction, however, with very 

 few exceptions, is purely pre-vocational . . . and 

 still falls far short of providing the youth with a 

 mental and manual equipment for immediately en- 

 tering a trade or industry. The real need, therefore, 

 was seen to be an entirely new type of education; an 

 education so practical in its nature and application 

 that it would not only lead to a life work but be a 

 valuable productive unit in the line of industry 

 undertaken." 



The undertaking thus outlined actuated the State 

 Board of Education and its Commissioner of Voca- 

 tional Training. Its purpose is to impart better 

 preparation to those who desire to pursue higher 

 technical training and better to equip those who go 

 from the secondary schools directly to participation 

 either in rural industries or in urban commercial or 



