294 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 



A course in general science at the School Certificate level, recommended 

 by the investigators appointed by the Secondary Schools Examination 

 Council, has been instituted by several bodies and is under consideration 

 by others. In some cases the scheme involves three sciences — physics, 

 chemistry and biology ; in others only two of these. Some of the schemes 

 already approved give geology a place. The Committee agree that the 

 syllabus in general science should not be divided into compartments corre- 

 sponding with the component sciences, but they strongly support the view 

 that it should cover a unified scheme in which physics, chemistry, biology 

 and geology should figure. They recognise the difficulties of designing 

 any suitable course in such a subject as general science, and they appreciate 

 that for some time the syllabuses must be of an experimental character. 

 They believe, however, that the inclusion of some geology in such experi- 

 mental syllabuses would be of much service, as it would be very helpful in 

 building up a synthesis of the other sciences. 



(b) Higher School Certificate and other Higher Courses. — The Committee 

 are strongly of the opinion that the introduction of more formal geological 

 teaching after the First School Certificate stage is a matter of still greater 

 urgency. This is particularly true in the case of students who may expect 

 to proceed to the University. For while the First School Certificate or its 

 equivalent was formerly the basis of matriculation for the great majority 

 of University entrants, most students now stay at school for two further 

 years, covering work which was formerly done in the Intermediate or First 

 Year course at the University. Their choice of subjects is thus made at 

 school, generally from a more limited range than is available at the Univer- 

 sity ; owing to the high standard to which these subjects are carried, students 

 usually find it impracticable to take up any subject with which they have 

 not already made acquaintance. Thus the fact that geology is rarely taught 

 at this stage in schools practically excludes it from the range of subjects 

 from which choice can be made on entering the University. If this higher 

 work is to be done at school, the Committee feel that it is the duty of the 

 schools to provide their pupils with a selection of subjects comparable to 

 that which is available to them at the University. 



If, as is suggested in some quarters, the scope of the Higher Certificate 

 examination is made wider, and courses in four subjects are required, these 

 considerations will apply with even greater force. Similarly, if the qualifica- 

 tions for University matriculation are raised and a special examination 

 of a higher standard than that of the First School Certificate is introduced, 

 it is very desirable that geology should be made available as an optional 

 subject, both by the schools and the examining bodies. 



Supply of Teachers. 



While it is no doubt true that any great immediate increase in the teaching 

 of geology would be to some extent limited by the lack of suitable teachers, 

 it is not likely that the position would be worse than was the case when other 

 sciences were first introduced ; many teachers with geological training are 

 at present teaching geography or other sciences. 



Relation of Geology to Geography. 



While the teaching of geology as such has diminished, the Committee 

 recognises that its physical side in many cases has been well taught in the 

 geography classes. They regret, however, that the growth of geographical 

 studies has not led to some corresponding growth in geological teaching. 

 It is true, of course, that many of the most successful teachers of geography 

 have received a training in geology, but the Committee understand that 



