ON EDUCATIONAL TRAINING FOR OVERSEAS LIFE. 293 
agricultural schools (called in Queensland “‘ Rural” schools) at the centres of important 
agricultural (including dairying) districts. In all these special schools the general 
education of pupils absorbs the greater part of school hours, but vocational subjects 
are substituted for the purely academic during the remainder. The underlying 
principle which is 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 in- 
terest 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 connection between their school course and the daily 
occupation of their elders. Parents likewise appreciate the usefulness and the 
economic value of the special instruction offered. 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 Austra- 
lian 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 sound elementary 
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 agricultural students entrance upon 
a programme of highly scientific agricultural studies.’ 
: GENERAL SUGGESTIONS. 
‘It is suggested that British boys who are sent out to Queensland for the purpose 
of entering upon agricultural pursuits should be equipped with some knowledge of :— 
(a) Subjects required by the curriculum of Primary Schools. 
They should have a sound elementary education. 
(6) Elementary agricultural operations and elementary principles involved. 
(c) Climatic conditions and primary products of Queensland. 
