Miscellaneous. 



[May, 1909. 



The cost of one course of instruction 

 will work out as follows :— 



Allowance to 50 teachers at Rs. 20 1,000 

 Allowance to lecturers, 12 lectures 

 and 12 demonstrations ... ... 240 



Payment to interpreters, maps, 

 stationery, specimens, and con- 

 tingencies ... ... ... 260 



Total ... 1,500 



Agricultural Schools. — The training of 

 teachers and others directly interested 

 in agriculture for a short period of at 

 least one year should be organized on 

 some definite lines. 



With this view a school of agriculture, 

 where teaching will be imparted in the 

 vernacular, should be established some- 

 what on the lines of those now in 

 operation in Ireland, where the students 

 should be in residence during the period 

 of theii course of study. This school 

 should be located, as far as possible, at 

 some convenient centre, such as the 

 Henaratgoda Gardens. The establish- 

 ment should be placed in charge of a 

 Principal, who should be a trained 

 teacher and who can be assisted by a 

 staff possessing special knowledge of the 

 subject of teaching. 



The importance of appointing trained 

 teachers for guiding establishments of 

 this nature is now fully recognized, and 

 the Indian Department of Agriculture 

 has appointed them with successful 

 results. 



All teaching should be carried on in 

 the vernacular or, where necessary, 

 through interpretation. 



Students admitted to the school should 

 be between the ages of 14 and 21, and 

 should have at least passed the Fifth 

 Standard in a Government or grant-in- 

 aid school, or should be able to pass an 

 entrance examination of a similar 

 standard. 



These students may be of three 



classes— 



(a) Those who have been nominated 

 by Government Agents as fit persons to 

 be appointed as village headmen. 



(b) Those who have passed the Govern- 

 ment teachers ' examinations and who 

 desire to obtain a training in practical 

 agriculture. 



(c) Those joining on their own account 

 and paying for the training received. 



There should be two sessions of teach- 

 ing during the year, and not more than 

 thirty students should be admitted each 

 term. Thus the institution will have 

 sixty students at a time, 



Selected candidates should be housed 

 at the place where they are to receive 

 their training, and should be under the 

 discipline of a tutor. The course of 

 instruction should be mainly practical 

 with as little use of books as possible. 



In addition to the Principal, who 

 should be a trained teacher from a 

 recognized institution, the services of a 

 Field Instructor might be secured from 

 India, and the lectures and ordinary 

 practical work arranged in such a way 

 as to enable the students to receive their 

 instructions in special subjects from the 

 scientific staff now in the service of 

 Government. 



Provision should also be made for 

 obtaining the services of an assistant, 

 who has obtained an Anglo-vernacular 

 teacher's certificate from the Govern- 

 ment Training College, and who should 

 assist the Principal, and among other 

 things undertake the work of interpret- 

 ing the lectures. 



The syllabus of studies should include 

 instruction in agriculture, with outdoor 

 classes in dairying, horticulture, bee- 

 keeping, veterinary hygiene, pests, and 

 diseases of plants, and the elements of 

 chemistry and botany. Instruction in 

 woodwork and ironwork, as far as it 

 relates to farmers' work, and the use of 

 tools and implements, should also be 

 included in the curriculum. 



A school on the above lines will be 

 able to train a number of teachers in the 

 general principles and practice of agri- 

 culture, to enable them to introduce the 

 teaching of agriculture in village schools. 

 It will also be the means of securing a 

 class of village headmen, whose training 

 will enable them to take an intelligent 

 interest in village agriculture, and 

 generally promote the welfare of the 

 villager. 



The next question that should be 

 considered is the provision of teachers 

 for the agricultural training school and 

 for the schools of agriculture which may 

 eventually be opened in different centres 

 of the Island. For these posts a class of 

 men with a sound knowledge of agri- 

 cultural science and practice will be 

 required. They should possess a good 

 knowledge of the vernaculars, and 

 should also have a training as teachers 

 if they are to do useful work. 



In order to obtain men with these 

 qualifications, a number of scholarships 

 should be offered annually to the 

 students of the Anglo-vernacular class 

 of the Government Training College, 

 Colombo, to enable them, after they 

 obtain their certificates at the Training 

 College, to proceed to an Agricultural 



