398 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.—L. 
Mr. A. P. M. Fiemine, C.B.E.—The problem in a large centralised 
industry (10.25). 
The planning of a policy of technical education, whereby the demand 
and supply are qualitatively and quantitatively correlated, involves a con- 
sideration of economic and social conditions, which at the present time are 
in a state of flux. In these circumstances it is necessary therefore to con- 
sider the matter from fundamental principles. 
An ideal system of co-ordinating demand and supply of technical workers 
in industry would take into account such factors as numerical requirements 
of every type of worker, changes in the types of production and variations 
in forms of industrial organisation likely to affect the numbers and types of 
personnel, international policies in regard to shortening hours of labour, 
the introduction of entirely new forms of industry, considerations such as 
alteration of the school leaving age, the age of retirement, etc. Could these 
conditions be evaluated accurately, then it might be possible to assess in 
advance the number and types of technical workers required and to plan 
their pre-industrial education, technical training and practical experience. 
The difficulties of such planning are obvious, and at best it is only possible 
to discern the general trend of industrial requirements and be sensitive to 
variations in demand and supply which can never be completely synchronous. 
The paper indicates how a large engineering organisation representative 
of every type of industrial and commercial activity—research, technical 
design, production, sales and finance—attempts with the co-operation of the 
educational institutions to effect a planned system of co-ordinating demand 
and supply, having in mind the influence of the trend of development in 
types of engineering plant and apparatus, types and methods of production 
and markets for well-established and, as weil, entirely new engineering 
products. 
Mr. G. W. THomson.—The condition of technical education in Scotland 
from the industrial point of view ; the requirements and how they 
have been met (10.50). 
National planning of technical education is ahead of distributive planning 
of means of life. Attitude to technical education is governed by regard 
for industrial efficiency or the workers’ welfare. 
Technical educational facilities are ample for purely industrial require- 
ments, but efficiency to which they lead raises acute problems in rendering 
labour superfluous. Lack of industrial opportunity discourages technical 
application. 
‘Technical education, when not closely related to actual works, leads to 
entrance of pupils into specialised channels, and technical starvation in 
other directions. 
Apprenticeship training is unsatisfactory and insufficient working time 
is allowed by employers for study. Tired students cannot benefit from 
class work. Vocational selection leads to problem of industrial discards. 
Danger of excessive text-book training leads to inability to think and 
lack of initiative. Standardisation at work has bad mental effects on 
pupils. 
Old apparatus in college laboratories and teachers lacking acquaintance- 
ship with modern work unsatisfactory. 
Evil effects of exclusive vocational training to be deplored. A claim is 
made to an important place for English in technical curriculum. 
7 1 Read by Major J. W. Buckley. 
