222 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. 



it. The various schools and classes are defined by the Board as 

 follows : — 



1. Secondary Schools. 



A secondary school, in the sense in which the term is used in the Board's 

 regulations, must offer to each of its pupils a progressive course of instruction 

 (with the requisite organisation, curriculum, teaching staff, and equipment) in the 

 subjects necessary to a good general education, upon lines suitable for pupils of 

 an age-range at least as wide as from twelve to sixteen or seventeen. The 

 provision, if any, made for pupils below the age of twelve must be similarly 

 suitable, and in proper relation to the work done in the main portion of the 

 school. 



The regulations also require that an adequate proportion of the pupils must 

 remain at least four years in the school, and that an adequate proportion must 

 also remain up to and beyond the age of sixteen ; but these requirements may 

 be reduced to three years and the age of fifteen respectively in the case of rural 

 areas and small towns, where such a course appears to the Board to be advan- 

 tageous in view of local circumstances. 



2. Technical Institutions. 

 A technical institution, within the meaning of the regulations (Article 35) of 

 the Board, is an institution giving an organised course of instruction in day 

 classes, including advanced instruction in science, or in science and in art, and 

 provided with a staff and equipment adequate for the purpose. Provision must 

 be made in such institutions for at least a two years' systematic course in science, 

 or in science and in art, either alone, or in conjunction with subjects of general 

 commercial, manual, or technological instruction. Except that for the present 

 students may be admitted between the ages of fifteen and sixteen, the attention 

 of the Inspector being specially drawn to any such student, no student may be 

 admitted to the course unless he has passed through at least a three years' course 

 of instruction in a school recognised under the regulations of the Board for 

 secondary schools, or is over sixteen years of age and is qualified from his 

 general education to profit by a course of advanced instruction. 



3. Day Technical Classes. 



Grants are payable under Article 42 of the Board's Regulations for Technical 

 Schools, &c, to schools and classes which are, as a rule, for students younger 

 than those in the technical institutions. Under this category there are included, 

 however, some classes of a standard equal to that required in a technical insti- 

 tution, but with courses not of sufficient duration to be eligible for grants 

 as technical institutions. Day technical classes vary in their aims, some being 

 preparatory to trades, such as engineering, others providing instruction of a 

 domestic type, others again being for blind or deaf students. The classes are 

 held in technical schools and colleges, and may be classified as (1) commercial 

 day schools; (2) trade preparatory schools; (3) special trade schools; (4) domestic 

 economy schools for girls; (5) training schools for domestic economy teachers; 

 (6) detailed classes. 



4. Schools of Art. 



A school of art, as defined by the regulations of the Board, is an institution 

 giving an organised course of instruction, including advanced instruction, in 

 ornamental and decorative art. The work must be carried on methodically under 

 recognised teachers, in day and evening classes, for not less than thirty-six 

 weeks in the year, and the opportunities for instruction and practice in the 

 several subjects must be adequate. The regulations for 1908-09 required that 

 the day classes must meet on at least two days a week for two hours at each 

 meeting, and that the evening classes must meet on at least three evenings a 

 week for two hours at each meeting. 



5. Evening Schools and Classes. 

 The defining feature of these schools and classes is that they are intended to 

 maintain educational facilities for those already engaged in some occupation which 

 takes up the greater part of their time. The usual time of meeting is therefor© 



