254 



SCIENTIFIC NEW^S. 



[Mar. i6, l5 



(/. ) That power be given to remit the fees of deserv- 

 ing students attending secondary schools, the fees so 

 remitted to be paid by the municipality. That munici- 

 palities may provide the necessary funds for taking ad- 

 vantage of the Royal and other exhibitions, under the 

 Science and Art Department, whereby students of excep- 

 tional ability are admitted from provincial schools to the 

 normal schools of science and art, and other higher 

 schools or colleges. That special encouragement should 

 be given by such means to the training of teachers. 



(g.) That each municipality may appoint on its educa- 

 tion committee, the Chairman of the Local School Board, 

 the President of the Chamber of Commerce, and such 

 other representatives and friends of education as may 

 hereafter be determined upon. 



(/i.) That municipalities may, if they think fit, and 

 subject to representation on the governing bodies, assist 

 in the provision of accommodation for science and art 

 purposes in existing endowed grammar schools, and in 

 providing scholarships for deserving pupils from elemen- 

 tary schools tenable in endowed grammar schools. 



(i.) That municipalities may supplement the accom- 

 modation provided with the assistance of Government 

 building grants, by the addition of such special accommo- 

 dation and apparatus as may be required for local trade 

 teaching, such trade teaching to be maintained by the 

 locality, without the assistance of the Science and Art 

 Department. 



Municipal Technical Night Schools — 



{a.) That the secondary and technical day schools 

 established by the municipalities, with their teaching 

 staff and apparatus, be utilised for evening classes. 



{b.) That municipalities may conduct evening classes 

 free of charge, and that the Science and Art Department 

 shall not require the payment of fees from artisans as a 

 condition of the earning of grants, on the subjects on 

 which grants are now or may be made by the Science 

 and Art Department. 



(c.) That municipalities may conduct, maintain, or 

 contribute to the maintenance of evening technical classes, 

 in which trade teaching may be imparted. 



Existing Technical Schools and Classes in Science and 

 Art, S'c— 



(a.) That municipalities may, in accordance with the 

 sanction of the trustees and governors of existing techni- 

 cal schools, take over such schools, either by purchase, 

 rental, or gift, to be controlled and administered as if 

 such schools had been built by the municipality. 



(6.) That municipalities be empowered, subject to re- 

 presentation on the governing bodies to contribute to the 

 maintenance of existing technical schools and classes, or 

 to the maintenance of day or evening classes in specified 

 subjects, that may be conducted by mechanics' institu- 

 tions, or similar non-political and unsectarian agencies. 



(c. ) That municipalities, subject to representation on 

 the governing bodies, may establish scholarships admit- 

 ting students from elementary schools to technical 

 schools under the Science and Art Department, not 

 provided or controlled by the municipalities, and that 

 municipalities may provide the funds necessary for 

 taking advantage of the Royal exhibitions under the 

 Department, enabling students of exceptional ability to 

 be admitted from local schools to the normal schools of 

 South Kensington, or other selected colleges, free of 

 charge. 



Technical Schools and Free Libraries. — That it be 

 a recommendation to municipalities, wherever possi- 

 ble, to unite in one building or group of buildings the 

 local technical school, museum, art gallery, and free 

 library. 



Higher Technical Scientific and Commercial Education. 

 — For masters, managers, works-chemists, and other 

 responsible persons ; also for the training of teachers. 



((7.) That building grants be made to university 

 science colleges on the same conditions as to secondary 

 science schools. 



(6.) That annual grants for 'maintenance be made, as 

 at present to the Welsh and Scotch colleges, the amount 

 to depend upon the number of students in attendance, 

 and the provision for their instruction. 



(c.) That scholarships from secondary schools provided 

 by State and municipal funds be tenable in these univer- 

 sity colleges. 



(d.) That grants be made by the Education Depart- 

 ment in aid of elementary teachers who may be trained 

 at such colleges. 



General System of National Education — : 



(a.) That the organisation of public education in the 

 United Kingdom cannot be considered satisfactory until 

 public schools are brought into connection with each 

 other by a series of steps leading from primary to secon- 

 dary schools of the technical, commercial and classical 

 types, and from these to the modern science colleges or 

 the universities. 



{b.) That for the effective control and development of 

 such a system of national education a Minister of Educa- 

 tion is necessary. 



The above recommendations, if adopted, would enable 

 the municipahties of the country, after the administra- 

 tion of elementary education by School Boards, to estab- 

 lish secondary Technical and Commercial Schools, of 

 the character of those which have done so much to 

 stimulate the manufacturing industries and commerce of 

 other countries, types of which have already been 

 founded and conducted with marked success in some of 

 the towns of England. The schools would be attended 

 in the daytime by students, from eleven or twelve to 

 seventeen or eighteen years of age, who would receive 

 a practical English education with the addition of modern 

 languages, and supplemented by such art, science, and 

 technical subjects as would be applicable to the wants of 

 each manufacturing or agricultural district. It is to be 

 hoped that a fair proportion of the students would be 

 winners of scholarships from elementary schools. The 

 classes would also be open to young men' engaged in 

 local industries, who would be able to obtain specific 

 instruction in science, art, commerce, or technology. 



Just as the elementary schools of a district would pre- 

 pare the scholars for the secondary schools, so from 

 these, by means of scholarships offered to talented 

 students, there would be an open door to the South 

 Kensington normal schools and the university colleges, 

 which would also provide extended courses of higher 

 instruction for employers and others of greater means 

 and leisure. 



Existing technical schools would need to be taken 

 over or assisted by the local authorities, because experi- 

 ence has shown that it is impossible to bring the in- 

 struction within the reach of the artisan on a self-sup- 

 porting basis. Yet it is upon the skill and knowledge of 

 the artisan that our national prosperity so much depends, 

 and, therefore, the fees must not be too high for the 



