4,2 4, REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. 
secondary education at the present time. They are of opinion that this 
‘overcrowding’ is due to two causes :— 
(1) The disproportionate amount of time bestowed in many schools on 
the two ancient languages, which leaves only a small residuum for each 
of the other subjects now increasingly regarded as essential items of 
education, the result being that the pupil obtains only a smattering of the 
knowledge of such subjects. 
(2) The ill-founded belief that the curriculum should be an abstract of 
all modern knowledge. 
6. The Committee desire to see a great simplification in the arrange- 
ment of examinations for secondary schools, and they strongly recommend 
that examination and teaching should go hand in hand, the examiners 
co-operating with the teachers and acting in conjunction with them in 
order to further the interests of real education. 
The Committee would urge upon the universities and professions to 
accept as qualifying for entrance the leaving certificates granted by each 
university to the schools which submit to its inspection. 
The aim should be to examine in accordance with the teaching, and 
to pay special attention to the special peculiarity of each school, or group of 
schools ; and it would be a great relief, and at once improve the teaching 
of the higher forms, if the results of such examination were accepted by 
universities and professional bodies without further entrance test. 
The Committee particularly deprecate any uniform or centrally 
administered examination applied to all the schools of the country. For a 
uniform State examination, if it were made the door of entrance to all 
higher courses of study and to the professions and Civil Service, would 
do much evil, focussing the efforts of teachers and pupils upon those 
parts of the school curriculum in which alone examination is possible, 
Further, the rivalry between schools would cause the standard of attain- 
ment steadily to rise, until the over-pressure became serious and intel- 
lectual vigour and independent thought were killed, 
7. The Committee feel that no scheme of secondary education can be 
satisfactory unless it is carried out by teachers of learning and force of 
character,’ and they would urge that every effort should be made, by con- 
ditions of appointment, by scale of salaries, and by retiring allowances, to 
attract a high class to the teaching profession, which should be regarded 
as a very laborious, but very hcnourable, form of public service. Prompt 
action in this matter is urgent and imperative ; for, unless something is 
done without delay, the best interests of the schools, and especially of 
boys’ day-schools, will be sacrificed to a false and disastrous economy. 
