THE EDUCATION OF FISHERMEN 221 



tion " disappeared as a distinct subsection in the curricula of the 

 day schools, in reality the way was opened to a wider and more 

 definite course in this subject. The statistics of pupils from Scottish 

 day schools presented for examination in navigation, nevertheless, 

 shows a considerable decline between the sessions 1892-93 and 

 1900-01 ; in the former year 532 were presented, of whom 369 

 passed, whereas in the latter year only 279 were presented, of whom 

 194 passed. 



Cooking is also taught to boys of the fishing population. From 

 1900 to 1911 the Scottish steam drifter fleet increased from 70 to 

 794 vessels, each of which required a crew of eight men with a boy 

 as cook. The question of good cooking on board fishing vessels is 

 of paramount importance as being so intimately connected with the 

 comfort and well-being of the men, who now spend a large part of 

 the year in following the fishing. It is therefore satisfactory to 

 learn that according to the last available statistics no less than 

 362 boys were undergoing a course of instruction in cookery in the 

 day schools at the various Scottish fishing towns and villages. 



The great majority of the students attending the continuation 

 classes in navigation and seamanship in Scotland are adults. In 

 1909 the Board of Trade intimated that it proposed to make com- 

 pulsory the possession of a certificate of competency by skippers 

 and second hands on all steam drifters of 50 tons gross and upwards. 

 The immediate result was an unprecedented demand for continuation 

 classes for fishermen at centres all over the Scottish coast, and 

 especially in the Moray Firth area. The number of continuation 

 classes in navigation in Scotland increased from nine in the session 

 1908-9 to thirty in 1909-10, and to forty-six in 1910-11. " It 

 says much for the ability and resource of Scottish teachers that 

 these classes were in most cases conducted by head masters or 

 teachers in seaboard schools."^ 



The chief difiiculty to be contended with is that whereas the 

 boy leaves school at fourteen years of age he is imable to sit for 

 the second hand's certificate until he is nineteen. These five years 

 form one of the most important and critical periods in his life ; and 

 the future development of continuation classes should be largely 

 concerned with the provision of suitable instruction for young lads 

 during that period. The special training of day-school teachers in 

 navigation need not detain us, though it is not without importance, 

 seeing that a trained teacher is almost invariably a more successful 

 instructor in navigation than a retired seafaring man. 



^ Departmental Committee on North Sea Fishing. Report, Part I, 1914, p. 121. 



