EDUCATION 55 
college last session was 855 ; at the evening classes the enrolment was 942. 
Plans for the erection of permanent buildings in the grounds of Robert 
Gordon’s College were approved in 1914, but operations were delayed 
by the War and other circumstances until the beginning of 1925, when 
a commencement was made with the erection of the main building and 
the extension of Gray’s School of Art. ‘These were completed in 1929, 
and the various schools, well housed and staffed, and supplied with 
up-to-date equipment, are in every way fitted to fulfil their purpose. 
Reference to the facilities provided for agricultural education will be 
found elsewhere in this publication, but some other special establishments 
require mention here. 
A Church of Scotland Training College for Teachers established in 
1873, and a similar Free Church Institution dating from 1875, were 
amalgamated in 1907 and placed under the control of a Provincial 
Committee consisting of representatives of education authorities, 
university, churches and teachers. New buildings planned in 1912 
were not, owing to the intervention of the War, fully occupied till 1922. 
Hostels to accommodate 115 women students were opened in 1927. 
The training of all classes of teachers, except specialists for Physical 
Training and Music, is undertaken, 54 male students and 241 female 
students being in attendance during session 1933-34. It may be 
recalled that Sir John Adams, the noted educationalist, was Principal of 
the Free Church College from 1890 till 1898. 
The Divinity Hall, Aberdeen, was opened in 1850 for the training of 
students for service in the Free Church of Scotland. Since the Church 
Union in 1929, working arrangements with the Faculty of Divinity at 
the University have been in operation, and negotiations for amalgamation 
are now proceeding. 
St. Mary’s College, Blairs, near Aberdeen, is a national Catholic 
secondary school devoted solely to the education of students in training 
for the Catholic priesthood in Scotland. After qualification, the students 
proceed to colleges for higher ecclesiastical studies in Glasgow, or on the 
Continent. There are at present over 100 students in residence at the 
college. 
The Sutherland Technical School, Golspie, erected in 1903, was looked 
on at the time as an interesting educational experiment. It is a residential 
school providing accommodation for 50 boys drawn from the families 
of fishermen and crofters in outlying districts of the county and giving 
them a three years’ course of education and training for trades and out- 
door occupations. It was managed by Governors till 1922, when it was 
taken over by the County Education Authority. 
Broadly speaking, the scheme of instruction in continuation classes in 
Aberdeen City may be divided into four sections: (1) Classes for the 
completion of general elementary education; (2) Classes and courses 
for specialised instruction for various occupations—industrial, commertial, 
professional ; (3) Domestic classes and courses; (4) Auxiliary classes, 
such as vocal music and physical training. With the exception of the 
industrial courses, the Education Authority are responsible for the whole 
of the training up to the final stages. In the industrial courses the 
