ON EDUCATIONAL TRAINING FOR OVERSEAS LIFE. 281 



lying principle which ia being followed through the experimental stages is, "Adapt 

 the instruction and training to meet the probable necessities of pupils in after-school 

 life." 



' Regarding agricultural education, though the introduction of formal studies 

 bearing more or less directly on practical agriculture does not commence until pupils 

 have attained at least a competent knowledge of the principal rudiments (the three 

 R's), pupils in the lower classes of elementary schools have had their interest aroused 

 in nature study, school gardening operations, and, in many country schools, in milk 

 and cream testing. 



' In the " Rural " schools (virtually continuation schools) the programme adopted 

 by the Department is as follows : — 



' Upper-class children whose circumstances or inclinations or capabilities do not 

 permit of them proceeding to the ordinary Secondary Schools take up the study of 

 elementary agricultural science and the practice of agricultural operations ; they 

 are also employed in learning manual arts, such as carpentry, leather-work, metal- 

 working (including plumbing), fruit-packing. Girls are instructed in domestic arts 

 and science — cookery, laundry-work, dressmaking and millinery, preserving fruit, 

 etc. Both boys and girls learn how to keep household accounts and gain a knowledge 

 of such ordinary commercial transactions as they may be called upon to execute in 

 their future vocations. 



' The young students are not called upon to prepare for any set examinations. 

 The stimulus lies in the obvious connexion between their school course and the daily 

 occupation of their elders. Parents likewise appreciate the usefulness and the 

 economic value of the special instruction ofEered. Hence the demand for " Rural " 

 schools has been greater than State finances can satisfy. 



' As regards secondary education, the Department is arranging Junior (14 to 16 

 years of age) and Senior (16 to 18 years of age) Courses of instruction in agricultural 

 subjects. The work for the Junior Classes is largely cultural rather than vocational, 

 but there is sufficient agriculture to stimulate interest in rural problems. The Senior 

 Course is largely agricultural, though more cultural than any similar course in 

 Australian Agricultural Colleges. In the Senior Course the time of the student is 

 equally divided over lecture periods and practical instruction in farming. Instruction 

 is given in all common farming operations, and, in addition, courses in farm carpentry, 

 blacksmithing, engineering, and tractor-driving. The courses given in English are 

 the equal of those necessary to prepare secondary pupils for the University Senior 

 Public Examination. By means of such Junior and Senior Courses it is hoped to 

 make the farmer of the future a well-equipped and skilled worker who suffers not by 

 comparison in culture with what are commonly known as the middle classes. These 

 courses will also furnish the State with a group of young men keenly interested in 

 the application of science to agriculture from whom the official and unofficial leaders 

 of agricultural thought and activity will come. 



' These Queensland courses, conducted at the Agricultural High School and College, 

 Gatton, will furnish the new-coming youth from Britain, who have a general education, 

 with a sound knowledge of this State's agricultural methods and the principles 

 underlying scientific agriculture. 



' At a later stage it is intended to co-ordinate the activities of the Gatton College 

 with those of the University. When completed, the scheme will be capped by the 

 establishment of a Chair of Agriculture. The completion will satisfy matriculation 

 requirements and thus secure for aspiring agricidtural students entrance upon a 

 programme of highly scientific agricultural studies.' 



South Austealia. 



The Superintendent of Secondary Education describes the Agricultural Course 

 adopted in South Australia as follows : — 



' The course of study provides that in High Schools where facilities exist the 

 curriculum may be altered with the permission of the Director of Education to include 

 elementary agriculture. The course will extend over two years, and it is intended to 

 develop in the pupils an interest in rural life and to influence those with a natural 

 talent towards agricultural pursuits. It is not intended to provide a course of 

 training that will equip them for farm life, but rather to quicken their interest in 

 agriculture generally, to teach them the main underlying principles of farm operations 

 and to prepare them for further agricultural training at Roseworthy College or 



