208 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES. 



First School Certificate, which now represents subjects normally studied 

 up to about sixteen years of age, is mainly a test of practical acquaint- 

 ance with facts and principles encountered in particular limited fields, 

 but not a single one affords recognition of a broad and ample course of 

 instruction in science such as I believe is required in addition to labora- 

 tory work. I have not the slightest intention or desire to suggest that 

 practical work can be dispensed with in the teaching of any scientific 

 subject, but I do urge that it becomes a fetish when it controls the 

 range of view of the realm of natural knowledge capable of being opened 

 for the best educational ends during school life. 



Advocates of both literary and scientific studies now agree that 

 science should be integrally and adequately represented in the educa- 

 tional course of all pupils up to the age of sixteen, and the Headmasters' 

 Conference has subscribed to this view, as well as suggested the scope 

 of the course, in the following resolutions : — 



(1) That it is essential to a boy's general education that he should 

 have some knowledge of the natural laws underlying the phenomena 

 of daily life, and some training in their experimental investigation. 



(2) That, in the opinion of this Conference, this can best be ensured 

 by giving to all boys adequate courses of generalised science work, 

 which would normally be completed for the ordinary boy at the age of 

 sixteen. 



(3) That, after this stage, boys who require it should take up science 

 work of a more specialised type, while the others should for some time 

 continue to do some science work of a more general character. 



As indicated in these resolutions, it is now generally recognised by 

 educationists that up to the age of about sixteen years there should 

 be no specialisation in school studies. The First School Examination 

 was organised with this end in view, and seven examining bodies have 

 been approved by the Board of Education to test the results of instruc- 

 tion given in (1) English subjects, (2) languages, (3) mathematics and 

 science, which constitute the three main groups in which candidates 

 are expected to show a reasonable amount of attainment. The number 

 of candidates who presented themselves at examinations of the standard 

 of First School Certificates last year was about 42,000; and of this 

 number, 12,500 took papers in sections of physics, 13,000 in chemistry, 

 11,400 in botany, 5,000 physics and chemistry combined under experi- 

 mental science, 113 natural history of animals, 31 geology, and 

 3 zoology. 



These numbers may be taken as a fair representation of the science 

 subjects studied in most of our secondary schools, and they suggest 

 that general scientific teaching is almost non-existent. Botany is a 

 common subject in girls' schools, but the instruction in science for boys 

 is limited to parts of physics and chemistry. The former subject is 

 usually divided into mechanic^ and hydrostatics ; heat ; sound and light ; 

 and electricity and magnetism; and candidates are expected to reach a 

 reasonable standard in two of these sections. They may, therefore, 

 and often do, leave school when their only introduction to science is 

 that represented by the study of mechanics and heat, and without the 

 slightest knowledge of even such a common instrument as an electric 



