300 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 



Secondary Course extends over five or six years from the ' Qualifying Stage,' which 

 is generally reached at the age of twelve or thirteen years. Subjects may be pro- 

 fessed on the ' higher standard ' or on the ' lower.' The higher standard may be 

 defined as a reasonable standard of attainment in a subject which has been studied 

 continuously throughout the secondary course for about four hours (or five periods 

 each nominally of three-quarters of an hour) per week, and the lower as a similar 

 standard for three years' study, or for a shorter weekly allowance of time. Before 

 1924, passes on the higher standard were required in three subjects and a pass on the 

 lower standard in one, as the minimum for the issue of the certificate. The choice of 

 subjects was limited and the higher subjects commonly offered were English, a 

 foreign language (classical or modern), mathematics or science. Apart from the 

 paper on Geography which was included under the subject of Lower English as 

 Paper III, Geography on the higher standard could be professed only as an additional 

 subject. 



Two important alterations were made in the regulations of 1924. The first was 

 the abolition of the Intermediate Certificate, which was a group certificate on the lower 

 standard, and for which some geography was obligatory. The subject is still obligatory 

 for the first three years, but there is now no official written examination at the end 

 of that period. As a result of the demand for time devoted to those subjects which 

 have a value from the point of view of a school anxious to obtain leaving certificates, 

 it has actually disappeared beyond the third year's curriculum in many secondary 

 schools. 



The second alteration of the 1924 regulations is the marshalling of the subjects 

 of a secondary course in four groups. Group II offers a choice between mathematics 

 and science. Science is defined as ' any approved combination of physics, chemistry, 

 botany, zoology, geology, geography.' Since the typical approved combination is 

 physics and chemistry, it may be assumed, as Circular 30 indicates, that the members 

 of a combination are normally two in number. 



Prior to 1924, the status of geography in Scottish schools was that of a full 

 individual subject on the higher standard, although the fact of its being regarded as 

 an additional subject prevented it being taken by many candidates. A maximum 

 of 200 candidates can never have been reached in any one year. As the total number 

 of candidates for the leaving certificate is in the neighbourhood of 4,000, less than 

 5 per cent, offered higher geography. The last candidates under the old regulations 

 were examined in the present year. 



While, however, under these regulations the number of candidates taking higher 

 geography was small, the fact that lower-grade geography formed a part of the com- 

 pulsory subject of English meant that all candidates taking Lower English were 

 required to display at least an elementary knowledge of the subject. 



Under the new regulations geography, with at least one other science subject, is 

 alternative to mathematics. Together with another science it ranks as co-ordinate 

 with English, a foreign language, art, music, or domestic science, and can be offered 

 either on the lower or the higher grade. It has, therefore, the status of a half-subject 

 only, with a correspondingly restricted amount of time for its study. In theory 

 geography may be offered in conjunction with physics, botany or geology ; but for 

 reasons indicated below such combinations are unlikely in practice. 



It is certain that the number of schools and of candidates offering higher geography 

 has greatly declined in the last two years. 



In most of the secondary schools physics is taught in conjunction with chemistry. 

 There is very little provision for the teaching of botany, and next to none for geology. 

 It has been suggested that botany and geography form a likely combination in girls' 

 schools. In Scotland, however, girls' schools are comparatively rare ; mixed schools 

 constitute the great majority. Moreover, it is illogical to assume that geography is 

 a subject of special interest and value to girls, and it is absurd to regard it as of minor 

 importance for boys. On the contrary, we believe that it is extremely desirable from 

 various points of view that boys should be encouraged to carry the subject on to the 

 end of their school course. This they cannot do, on account of the exacting demands 

 on their time, unless they offer the subject for the leaving certificate. Further, the 

 Sub-Committee feel that geography suffers from this grouping in another way. A 

 course must be an approved course, and the approval is presumably in the hands of 

 inspectors whose university training has not included geography, and whose sympathies 

 consequently tend to favour other science. 



The position of geography in the school curriculum is directly affected by the 



