December 21, 1893] 



NA rURE 



187 



The work of the Berkshire Technical Instruction Committee 

 has been greatly facilitated by the establishment of the Univer- 

 sity Extension College at Reading. The college possesses good 

 teachers, and, owing to the proximity of Reading to London, 

 and the special relations which the college has to Oxford, the 

 services of specialists can easily be obtained to supplement the 

 leaching of the regular staff. For the sum of about ^300 per 

 annum paid to the college, systematic instruction is given to 

 teachers in elementary schools at four centres. The scheme 

 followed provides an excellent graduated course extending over 

 three years, and given by well-qualified instructors. An 

 agricultural department, such as exists at Bangor, Leeds, 

 and Newcastle, has been added to the college, so that 

 it will not be necessary to send students holding agricul- 

 tural scholarships out of the county for their instruction. 

 The establishment of University Extension colleges at strong 

 centres is certainly an admirable plan, and County Councils 

 would do well to assist in their foundation and adequate 

 equipment. 



An important report upon the relation of secondary schools 

 to a county scheme of technical education has been prepared for 

 Southampton county by Mr. Vaughan Cornish, and adopted by 

 the Technical Instruction Committee. The fact is recognised 

 that it is of little use to make provision, by scholarships or other- 

 wise, for the highest forms of technical training unless there are 

 schools which provide such an instruction. Hampshire at 

 present possesses very few schools of this kinl, but the com- 

 mittee proposes to assist, by means of capital grants to improve 

 the appliances for teaching, by capitation grants, and by scholar- 

 ships, the public secondary schools in the county that are able 

 to give an efficient general preparation for an industrial [i.e. 

 manufacturing, agricultural, or commercial) career. Something 

 can be said in favour of this scheme, hut great care will have to 

 be taken in the selection of the schools, or the funds may be 

 misapplied. 



From the report of the Wiltshire Technical Instruction Com- 

 mittee, it appears that that county shows a lower standard of 

 general elementary education than that of almost any county in 

 England. On this account, the majority of the students are not 

 fit recipients of higher or technical education ; and the fact 

 that very few technical or secondary schools exist within or in 

 the near neighbourhood of Wiltshire, has rendered the work of 

 the committee most difficult. It has been necessary to create 

 as well as foster a desire for technical education. In this con- 

 nection the following extract from a letter addressed to Lord 

 Fitzmaurice by Mr. Ashenhurst i; of interest : — 



" It must be borne in mind that mathematics are the real 

 foundation on which technical knowledge alone can be built up, 

 and I am fully convinced in my own mind that intending 

 students seeking instruction in the diffi;rent technological sub- 

 jects, for the teaching to be of any practical use to them, they 

 must of necessity study the above-mentioned subjects. Until 

 such times as classes for the study of the higher branches of 

 arithmetic and mathematics are established, it is almost useless 

 for the committees of different technical schools in the county to 

 expect a large number of students to derive advantage from the 

 various subjects being taught in technology. 



"These remarks are based upon the fact that, personally, I 

 have been obliged to teach arithmetic before the students could 

 make the necessary calculations for the branch of textile industry 

 I am now particularly engaged to teach, viz. cloth weaving and 

 designing. 



" Had such institutions as the Mechanics and Working Men's 

 Institutes, which have been so prevalent in the large towns and 

 villages of the North for this last thirty or forty years, been estab- 

 lished in this district, where evening classes could have been held 

 for instruction in elementary subjects, the educational standard of 

 this county would have held its own with that of any other in the 

 United Kingdom.' 



But though the committee has had to labour under such 

 difficult conditions, and has made some mistakes (which was 

 inevitable, perhaps, under the circumstances) it has worked 

 energetically and well in initiating and fostering technical 

 education in Wiltshire, and it has evolved a system of instruction 

 that ranks in point of excellence even with that of any northern 

 county. 



The real object and scope of technical education is thus 

 stated by the Devon County Council : — 



" It is not contended that technical education will prove a 

 panacea for all the evils resulting from the depression of trade 



MO. 1 260. VOL. 49] 



and agriculture, or that it will remedy all the difficulties arisin" 

 from foreign competition. But it is certain, that by due atten- 

 tion and reform in our educational methods, a good deal can be 

 done to remove some of the more serious defects under which 

 our industries are at present carried on. 



" Technical education has been described as being not so 

 much a specific subject, or group of subjects, as a victhod. It is 

 concerned with the 'why' and the 'wherefore' and the 

 'how.' It enables workmen to develop their faculties, to 

 obtain a knowledge of the principles underlying their work, and 

 to get thoroughly practical information with regard' to the 

 materials and the tools which they use. It provides a means for 

 the training of the eye and hand, and encDurages dexterity, 

 neatness, and order ; and while not in any way antagonistic 10 

 book learning, it relies to a great extent upon handwork rather 

 than upon headwork. It does not, however, involve the 

 teaching of the practice of a trade or industry, or the drilling of 

 individuals as apprentices would be drilled." 



This certainly reads very well, and may be taken as a sign 

 that Devonshire is at last beginning to work on good lines. 

 We notice with some regret, however, that the committee has 

 decided to relegate some of their powers to District Committees. 

 The whole provision of technical instruction is to be in the 

 hands of (i) the County Technical Education Committee ; 

 (2) the District Committees, who are responsible to the County 

 Technical Education Committee ; and (3) the Local or Parish 

 Committees, who are in turn responsible to the District Com- 

 mittees. The general opinion of those who ought to know is 

 that the system of District Committees or Divisional Committees 

 is a hopeless blunder. Such bodies may be of use for advising 

 purposes, but when money has been allotted to them for dis- 

 tribution, it ha? generally led to inefficient and extravagant 

 expenditure. It is satisfactory to learn that the instruction in the 

 technical and the science and art schools of Devon is increasing in 

 comprehensiveness, but there is yet much room for improve- 

 ment. The last report shows that all the schools devote con- 

 siderable time and energy to art, but few of them take up an 

 adequate number of science subjects. 



The committee of the Cheshire County Council does not 

 institute classes, but make grants to various centres to carry 

 out class work. A staff of lecturers is kept engaged in visiting 

 various places, and giving series of lectures on subjects mostly 

 connected with agriculture. Grants are made to grammar 

 schools, and considerable subsidies are given to various bodies 

 for building purposes. In addition to these grants, most of the 

 town councils and local boards in Cheshire tax themselves for 

 technical instruction purposes. The county also possesses a 

 comprehensive scholarship scheme. It seems a pity, however, 

 that the committee does not pay more attention to the teaching 

 of the rudiments of science, instead of concentrating their ener- 

 gies almost entirely upon "bread and cheese" subjects. 



Before the Technical Instruction Act came into operation, 

 Shropshire had done very little to foster education of any kind. 

 It is not at all astonishing, therefore, to learn that much of the 

 early work of the Technical Instruction Committee was futile. 

 In 1892 the scheme for agricultural and science scholarships 

 completely failed ; six were offered of the former, and ten of 

 the latter, but though the examinations were well advertised, 

 only one candidate entered his name, and he failed to obtain 

 half the total marks adjudged to the papers set. There was also 

 a very limited competition for the exhibitions and scholarships 

 offered this year ; indeed, ihe results have been so unsatisfactory 

 that the committee has rescinded the original scholarship scheme 

 and substituted another. Salop is not alone in this respect, for 

 quite a number of counties have had a difficulty in producing 

 candidates for their scholarships, to their discredit be it said. 

 The committees of these counties will have to work for many 

 years before they bring their charges up to the standard of 

 counties like Yorkshire. 



The work of technical instruction carried on in Somerset is 

 based upon broad lines, and is extending. From the outset, 

 however, the task of the committee has been made more diffi- 

 cult by the almost complete absence of fully organised schools 

 of science and art, the absence of any adequate provision for 

 science or technical training in the secondary schools, and the 

 consequent inefficient previous education and training of those 

 who have attended the classes in special technical subjec's. It 

 was to be expected in such a case that University Extension 

 lectures should be found a satisfactory means of reaching the 

 adult population, and also of great service in creating an interest 



