282 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 



elsewhere. It is further hoped that it will be the means of stemming the tide city- 

 wards and of encouraging boys in country High Schools to seek their life's work in 

 the development of our vast areas. The special feature in any particular school 

 should be determined largely by the nature of the locality and the occupations of 

 the people of the district ; for instance, Murray Bridge, which is situated close to a 

 reclaimed area, will specialise in irrigation, dairying, and fruit culture ; whereas in a 

 hill district special attention should be given to dairying and gardening, together 

 with the growing of flax, tobacco, and potatoes. 



' The curriculum is to be divided into three groups : — 



(a) General studies : These will include English, mathematics, history and civics, 

 geography and drawing. 



(b) Scientific studies : Chemistry, physics, and botany, in relation to agriculture ; 

 agriculture (study of the soil, tillage, water, manures, irrigation, horticulture, planting, 

 training young trees, pruning, budding, grafting, spraying, picking, storing and 

 preserving fruit). Animal knowledge, bird and insect life in their relation to 

 agriculture. 



(c) Practical work : Farm mechanics, gardening, irrigation, dairying.' 



THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



In the Annual Report for 1928 the Secretary for Education states : 



' The extension of Vocational Education for boys and girls from smaller towns 

 and the countryside should in the immediate future be in the direction of agriculture 

 and housecraft. The Department feels that sufficient attention is not yet being 

 devoted to the special needs of these boys and girls. ' 



After referring to the difficulties of organising work of this kind in schools the 

 Secretary says : 



' I am convinced that the time for establishing more agricultural and house- 

 craft schools has now arrived. The problem of equipping boys and girls by means 

 of education for vocations is one with which all Departments of Education have to 

 deal, and the claim put forward by provincial departments of education that they 

 also are providing education which may be called vocational cannot be denied. 

 Conversely, the Union Department of Education must insist that the vocational 

 education which it supplies has cultural values equal to those which by tradition 

 are regarded as peculiar to the type of education given in provincial schools. It 

 claims that vocational subjects properly taught have a high cultural value, and it 

 strengthens this claim by including in its vocational courses a large amount of 

 so-called cultural subjects.' 



Agricultural Science is a subject for Matriculation of the University of South 

 Africa, but is conditional upon the candidates having successfully completed a two- 

 year course in Physical Science at least two years before sitting for the examination. 

 A High School in South Africa oSers three standard branches at the top of the 

 system: — viz., 1. Academic (Latin, other languages. Maths., History, Science). 

 2. Commercial (Languages, Book-keeping, Commercial Mathematics, History and 

 Geography and Science). 3. Agricultural (Languages, Book-keeping, Agricultural 

 Science, Biology, etc.). 



The Director of Education summarises the efforts made to bring education into 

 touch with hfe and nature in Southern Rhodesia as follows : — • 



1. 'Detailed courses in Nature Study are arranged, the emphasis being laid on 

 practical studies and on direct observation. 



2. ' Arrangements are made with the Department of Agriculture by which 

 occasional lectures, sometimes in the classroom, sometimes in the field, and sometimes 

 on the occasion of agricultural shows, are given to school classes by experts of that 

 department. 



3. ' There are special competitions in cattle judging provided for school children 

 at agricultural shows, for which prizes are awarded. 



4. ' Teachers' vacation courses are annually held in Sahsbury, and the subjects 

 studied at such courses invariably include lectures on subjects connected with Agri- 

 culture and Pubhc Health. Last year, for example, the courses included lectures on 

 gardening and forestry and on special diseases endemic in this country, e.g. malaria 

 and bilharzia, and their causes. 



5. ' Agriculture is taught as a subject, especially to pupils of the non-academic 

 type, at two of the seven High Schools in Southern Rhodesia, and experimental plots 



