171. There were during the summer of 1923 four vacation courses in England organised by bodies other than Local Education Authorities, three of them being under the auspices of the Educational Handwork Association, which were recognised as day technical classes. These courses, which were arranged for the benefit of teachers, varied in duration from one to four weeks, the total number of students in attendance being 441. Instruction was provided in such subjects as Arts and Crafts, Geography, Physical Training, various forms of Handwork, etc.

4. Developments of Vocational Instruction.

172. An encouraging feature in regard to the larger Technical Colleges has been the successful continuance and development of the schemes for the issue of certificates and diplomas by the Board in conjunction with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Institute of Chemistry, a subject to which we have referred in previous Reports. Examinations in Mechanical Engineering were held in 1923 for students from seventy-seven schools, 1,323 students entering for examinations for certificates, of whom 728 were successful, and 104 students for the examinations for diplomas, of whom sixtyeight were successful; 188 students from fifteen schools entered for the examinations for part-time certificates in Chemistry, of whom 102 were successful, and two for the examination for fulltime certificates, both of whom failed.

A substantial number of applications have also been received for joint approval by the Institution of Electrical Engineers and the Board of schemes in Electrical Engineering. The majority of these have been approved, the courses beginning in the autumn term 1923. The first examinations will be held in 1924, and further particulars will be given in our next Report.

We have also been engaged in investigating with the Institution of Gas Engineers the question of the issue by the Institution of grouped course certificates to be endorsed by the Board. It has been contemplated that the arrangements would differ from those obtaining in the other cases mentioned above, in so far as the certificates would be awarded by the Institution alone, though the Board would be in a position to satisfy themselves that the conditions were appropriate, and such as to justify their endorsement of the certificates. An agreement on this matter has been reached, and will be described more fully in our next Report.

Apart from the above-mentioned schemes, we have also been considering very carefully certain general matters connected with examinations and the award of certificates in relation to courses

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of study provided at Technical Schools, and have been in close cousultation with the various bodies concerned. We hope shortly to be able to report substantial progress and we believe that the result will be an increase not only in the internal efficiency of the schools, but also in their ability to meet the demands made upon them by industry and commerce.

5. Junior Technical Schools and Similar Schools.

173. Junior Technical Schools. The figures for 1921-22 relating to the schools recognised under the Regulations for Junior Technical Schools showed some advance as regards the number of students. There were eighty-six schools with eighty two-year courses, thirty-four three-year courses, and a total of 12,071 students, 10,302 being boys and 1,769 girls. The number of schools. in 1922-23 is the same as in 1921-22. It is noteworthy that in spite of depression in the industries for which they prepare, the number of pupils in these schools continues to increase, and also that it has been found possible to place the pupils advantageously at the end of their school careers. We have also satisfactory evidence of the ultimate success of ex-Junior Technical School students in the occupations which they have entered. A valuable characteristic of these schools is that they send forward a considerable number of well-prepared students to senior and advanced evening courses of instruction.

174. Schools of Nautical Training.--Under the Regulations for Schools of Nautical Training six schools were recognised in 1921-22. All the schools are residential and non-local, and some of them belong to institutions, the main purpose of which is to maintain and train for useful occupations boys who would otherwise be ill-cared for. The educational purpose of a School of Nautical Training is to give a two-years' course of training from the age of thirteen, which is designed to continue their general education and to give some practical training which will fit the boys for employment either in the Mercantile Marine or in the Royal Navy. The number of boys in these schools in the year 1921-22 was 1,380.

175. Other Junior Schools. Full-time Courses in Commercial and in Domestic Subjects for junior students.-These courses and the students in them are accounted for in the general particulars already given in this chapter on the subject of day technical classes.

There were twenty-two courses which provided for pupils under fifteen on admission special instruction, in addition to a continuance of the general education which most of the pupils had received in Public Elementary Schools, intended as a preparation for employment in clerical or in commercial work. Such courses are as a rule of two years' duration. Fourteen of the courses were in large Technical Colleges, all but two of these being under the direction of the Local Education Authority. The

eight courses organised apart from important Technical Colleges were all under the direction and control of Local Education Authorities. In the twenty-two courses, 960 boys and 1,712 girls received instruction in the year 1921-22.

There were also sixteen courses for girls mainly under fifteen on admission in which instruction in Domestic Subjects constitutes the whole or the greater part of the curriculum. Such courses normally occupy the full time of the students for one year, but there are longer and shorter courses. In the longer courses the curriculum is planned so as to provide a substantial continuance of the general education which the girls have received in Public Elementary Schools. Four of the courses were in large Technical Schools, all under the direction of the Local Education Authority. Of the twelve remaining courses eight were under the direction of the Local Education Authority. The number of full-time pupils in the sixteen courses was 723. Four of the courses were residential. In these there were 166 girls.

6. Part-time Instruction in Schools other than Technical Colleges. 176. The work which falls under this head is of extraordinary variety, and the standard ranges from that of the Evening Continuation School to that of the Evening Commercial Institute which, though held in the premises of a Public Elementary School, may have among its students candidates for the final examinations of professional bodies. It should also be noted that a school in the connection in which it is used below may represent nothing more than a single class. Where several classes are held at one centre the school, as a rule, is the entire group of classes. The grand totals of schools and students given below include all classes for adult education other than three-year and advanced tutorial classes.

The figures for 1921-22, which are the latest available, show that there were 4,029 schools, attended by 607,954 students, under the direction of Local Education Authorities, as against 4,253 schools and 623,687 students in 1920-21, while under the direction of other bodies there were 291 schools and 18,053 students in 1921-22, as against 284 schools and 17,406 students in 1920-21. The decline in the figures for schools directed by Authorities is the more significant, because the numbers in statutory Day Continuation Schools, which are included in the figures given above, increased to 94,000 in 1921-22 as compared with 52,000 in 1920-21. Increases are shown in the number of students attending courses for teachers (346 courses and some 29,000 students), and also in courses for adults organised by the Workers' Educational Association, or by University supervising bodies (338 courses and some 12,000 students).

177. It follows from these figures that there was a most serious. decrease, amounting to something like 60,000 in the number of students attending part-time evening courses in 1921-22, as compared with the previous year. The situation in rural areas is such as to call for special consideration. It was no better in the year

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1922-23 than in 1921-22. The country evening school system, even under the most favourable conditions, had not the stability even of the town evening school, and each year a considerable number of new schools appeared and a considerable number of old schools disappeared. It is possible that some schools which maintained a precarious existence before the were hardly justified as parts of a system of public education, and may not in all cases have given adequate return for the money spent upon them from public funds; and due weight should be given to the observations relating to Wales set out in paragraph 180 below. We cannot but feel, however, that the decline, in some instances approaching extinction, of the evening school system in rural areas is much to be regretted on educational grounds. We are informed through the interdepartmental committee by which the Board's administration is kept in touch with the educational and other interests with which the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries are concerned, that the Ministry share our concern at this state of affairs which must necessarily hinder the development of technical instruction in agriculture.

A special investigation of the problem of further education in rural areas is now proceeding.

B.-TECHNICAL COLLEGES, ETC., IN WALES. (INCLUDING MONMOUTHSHIRE.)

1. Technical Schools and Colleges.

178. The work of the Technical Colleges in South Wales has been successfully maintained and there has been a small increase in the number of students. A senior part-time (certificate) course in Mechanical Engineering was recognised at Swansea under the arrangements for the award of national diplomas and certificates by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Board of Education. There is now a diploma or certificate course in this subject at each of the Technical Colleges. At the South Wales and Monmouthshire School of Mines there was a further drop in the number of students, from 421 in 1921-22 to 379. This is attributable partly to the completion of their courses by ex-service students.

2. Junior Technical Schools.

179. The number of students in the Junior Technical Schools in Cardiff and Newport was 200, as compared with 185 in the previous year. At the Smith Nautical School at Cardiff, which opened in October 1921, the full three-years' course was in operation for the first time and the number of students rose from thirty-one in 1921-22 to fifty-three.

3. Part-time Instruction in Schools other than Technical Colleges.

180. The decline in the number of students at Evening Schools referred to in the last Report was much heavier in the year

under review, the total number of students being 23 per cent. less than in the previous year. This was, no doubt, partly due to the financial conditions then prevailing, and in some areas, perhaps also also to the higher fees charged. But other influences seem also to have been partly responsible, especially when a comparison is made with a pre-war year and with the exceptional year 1919-20. Even in the latter year the number was only about three-quarters of the pre-war figure and in 1922-23 it was not much more than half. The following table illustrates in a general way the change that has taken place in four groups of areas, the number of students in ordinary Evening Schools conducted by Local Education Authorities in each of these years being expressed as a percentage of the estimated corresponding total for 1912-13 :—

It should be remembered that during this period of ten years the developments in higher education have been in other directions. More extensive provision of technical education has been made in the Technical Colleges, and the Schools of Art contain more students. The need, especially in rural districts, for the old type of elementary instruction for more or less illiterate adults has practically disappeared, and adult education has developed, at the other end, through University Tutorial Classes, very few of which were in existence in 1912-13. Probably, too, the general standard of education among adults is rather higher than it was ten years ago. On the other hand, the proportion of young students between the ages of fourteen and sixteen has increased from about 20 per cent. of the total in 1912-13 to about 28 per cent. in 1922-23. In the County Boroughs it increased from 28 per cent. to 548 per cent. The proportion of students between sixteen and eighteen years rose from 14 per cent. to 17.3 per cent. In the County Boroughs it remained. about 18 per cent. This increase in the proportion of young students is remarkable in view of the increased general interest in and desire for full-time education over the age of fourteen. Thus, the number of pupils in Secondary Schools has more than

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