Reports, we shall content ourselves on this occasion with supplying the usual statistics. We might, however, note in passing as a matter of interest that one important Education Authority has, since its first assumption of office in 1919, pursued the policy of raising no loans at all and paying for its capital undertakings, so far as not met from proceeds of sales of property and other odd items of capital income, from current revenue. Whether this policy might be adopted with advantage by other Education Authorities, either in its entirety or in a modified form, is a matter upon which the Department must refrain from expressing any opinion; but it is, of course, open to any Education Authority to conduct such investigation into the matter as they may think expedient.

A list of the loans sanctioned by the Department within the year 1923 is given in Appendix II. The total amount was £169,904, of which £25,800 merely represents payments made by Education Authorities to the Trustees of Voluntary Schools as the price of buildings transferred under Section 18 of the Education (Scotland) Act, 1918, by purchase instead of lease.

In Appendix III will be found particulars of the sales of school property sanctioned by the Department in 1923 under Section 36 of the Education (Scotland) Act, 1872, and paragraph 4 of the Fourth Schedule to the Education (Scotland) Act, 1918.

In 1923 there were 2,901 Primary schools, providing accommodation effective for 875,076 scholars; 101 Intermediate schools or departments, and 99 Primary departments of Intermediate schools with total accommodation (including that of the Primary departments) for 71,600 scholars; 148 Secondary schools or departments, and 118 Preparatory departments of Secondary schools, with total accommodation (including that of the Preparatory departments) for 106,814 scholars; and 49 Special schools for blind, deaf or mute, or defective and epileptic children, having accommodation, including that of special classes attached to 59 ordinary schools, for 11,659 scholars. In addition, there were 248 Side Schools (Article 19 D (a) of the Day School Code, 1915).

SUBSTITUTES FOR THE QUALIFYING EXAMINATION.

As stated in the last Report, the "Qualifying Examination," by which promotion from the Senior Division of the Primary school has been generally determined, was held by His Majesty's Inspectors, in the manner provided by the Code of 1915, for the last time in the summer of 1922. The arrangements by which it is replaced are now primarily in the hands of the Education Authority of each education area. Interesting accounts are given by His Majesty's Chief Inspectors in their General Reports for 1923 of the working of the schemes adopted for this purpose by the different Authorities with the approval of the Department. The methods pursued show considerable variety.

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experience; and the time has hardly come for a pronouncement of opinion upon procedure which is still tentative. But the general impression of His Majesty's Inspectors appears to be that the new machinery is working on the whole smoothly and satisfactorily. One of the Chief Inspectors, referring to the complaints which have been heard of late from Secondary schools of the unsuitability of the material supplied to them, mentions specially that these objections are at least no more frequent as a result of the new methods of testing fitness for promotion.

THE OUTPUT OF THE PRIMARY SCHOOLS.

Appendix VII contains a table classifying the output of the Primary schools for the year 1922-23 according to the pupils' attainments at the time of leaving, i.e., according to the extent to which they had advanced beyond, or fell short of, the "qualifying" stage. It will be seen that of the 99,898 pupils who left Primary schools (excluding the 15,673 mentioned in the last column of the table), 80,965 (a little over 81 per cent.) had passed a qualifying" test in elementary subjects, while 18,933 (nearly 19 per cent.) were unqualified. Of the qualified pupils, 13,796 left without receiving one complete year's supplementary instruction, 22,246 had completed one year only, 13,399 two years only and 1,391 three years; whilst the remainder, 30,133, proceeded to an Intermediate or Secondary school.

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It is noticeable that the Merit Certificate, which, under the provisions of the now superseded Code of 1915, could be awarded, on their leaving school, to pupils who had completed not less than a year's study in a Supplementary Course, was actually awarded only to 21,425 of the 37,036 pupils who had completed a course of the required length.

PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION.

Details as to the number of schools in which practical instruction in various subjects was given in the year 1922-23, and the number of pupils taught, are given in Appendix VIII. The falling off which occurred in the previous year in certain subjects has not continued.

INTERMEDIATE AND SECONDARY EDUCATION.

The total average enrolment in Intermediate and Secondary schools shows a continued increase, the figure for the year 1922-23 (69,778) representing an advance of more than 6 per cent. on the previous year's total, and exceeding that for 1918-19 by 30 per cent.

At the Leaving Certificate Examination held in 1923 the number of Intermediate Certificates awarded was 8,635, as compared with 7,464 in the previous year, a very noticeable advance.

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The number of pupils entering on the first year of the Intermediate Course in 1920 was not larger than in the previous year, so that the increase in the number of successful candidates in 1923, while partly accounted for by a higher percentage of passes among the candidates actually presented for examination, also denotes some decrease in the number of pupils who dropped out before they were due for examination. The "wastage which has been referred to in previous Reports has at least been arrested. This, in itself, is a welcome sign, and there is now reason to hope that the improvement will go further. With the development of Advanced Courses on the lines indicated in the new Code, crowned by the new School Certificate, it may fairly be hoped that the practice of taking up a Leaving Certificate course only to drop it before any real benefit has been derived from its characteristic discipline will, in time, become less frequent than it has been in recent years, and that a larger proportion of those who embark upon the course will continue to pursue their studies up to its final stage.

The number of Leaving Certificates awarded in 1923 was 2,532, as compared with 2,332 in the year preceding. The percentage of candidates who failed in the examination was slightly higher than last year, but the proportion shown by the number who gained the Leaving Certificate to the number who passed the Intermediate Examination two and three years previously is satisfactory as compared with the results of previous years.

The issue last year of revised Secondary School Regulations has already been mentioned. The chief feature of the revision. is a widening of the scope of the Regulations so as to cover, to such extent as they can be held to apply, those "Higher Grade schools providing less than a five years' course which were formerly conducted under the Day School Code. Several such schools, having satisfied the Department that they are now able to provide a full course leading to the award of the Leaving Certificate and to fulfil the conditions laid down in the Regulations, have recently been added to the list of recognised Secondary schools.

A slight modification has been made in the basis of grants to Secondary schools not under the management of an Education Authority. The conditions for such grants are now laid down in Regulations approved by Parliament last year under the title of the Education (Scotland) Miscellaneous Grants Regulations, 1923.

CENTRAL INSTITUTIONS.

Apart from one or two instances in which an extension of facilities has produced a slightly increased attendance, the number of day students has continued generally to decline, as a result of the continued operation of the causes indicated in our last report, viz., the gradual disappearance of the ex-service students and the prevailing depression in trade and industry.

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In 1922-23 there were 7,157 day students and 12,492 evening students, making 19,649 in all, as compared with 7,680 day students and 12,484 evening students, total 20,164 in 1921-22. In the last pre-war year the numbers were 5,348 day students and 11,675 evening students, total 17,023.

One or two new departures of consequence may be mentioned. At Robert Gordon's College, Aberdeen, a prolonged period of financial uncertainty has been brought to a close by the promotion of a new Provisional Order, confirmed by Act of Parliament, which received the Royal Assent on 2nd August, 1923. So far as the College is concerned, the main feature of the Order is the re-constitution of the Governing Body, following upon an agreement arrived at between the Governors and the Aberdeen Burgh Education Authority with regard to the annual maintenance of the Central Institution. The representation of the Authority has been increased from three members to nine, whilst the representatives of the Town Council have been diminished from nine to five. Negotiations are understood to be in progress between the College Governors and representatives of the University of Aberdeen with a view to joint arrangements being made in regard to the teaching of Engineering, a Chair in which subject has been instituted by the University authorities.

Increasing advantage continues to be derived from the close association of the Royal Technical College with the University of Glasgow. Extended facilities for instruction in the various branches of Engineering have been made available both in the University and in the College under the new University Ordinance for degrees in Engineering, which received the approval of your Majesty in Council in June last. Reference may also be made to the gift by Mr. Hood of the sum of £15,000 for the endowment of a Chair in Mining at the University of Edinburgh, on the understanding that the Professorship is to be a joint one between the University and the Heriot-Watt College. The Governors of the College and the University Court have drawn up the terms of an agreement under which this proposal for a joint Professorship will be carried out.

At the instance of the Department the authorities of each of the Art Schools at Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee are now arranging for the establishment of a lending museum of casts, ornaments and other art objects which will be available for use in the Secondary schools situated in their respective provinces. A scheme of this sort has been in operation in connection with the Glasgow School of Art for the past ten years with very satisfactory results, and it is hoped that the present extension of the system will tend to strengthen the influence of the Central Art Institutions, and to enhance the value of the Art instruction given in the Secondary schools throughout the country.

We may mention here an agreement which the Department, acting in concert with the Central Technical Institutions, have recently concluded with the Institution of Mechanical

Engineers for the joint issue of the Institution's diplomas and certificates in Engineering to Scottish students, and a similar arrangement made for the joint issue by the Institute of Chemistry and the Department of that Institute's certificates in Chemistry. The rules adopted in each case follow generally the lines of those already in force in England, with some not unimportant modifications needed to suit Scottish conditions.

The total cost of maintaining the Central Institutions and of providing the necessary staffs and material for the carrying on of the work in 1922-23 was £230,403; in 1921-22 it was £229,010 and in 1913-14 £118,138. The income set against the expenditure in these years was derived, as to £113,109 in 1922-23, £122,802 in 1921-22, and £49,062 in 1913-14, from fees and other returns for expenditure incurred. From other local sources Endowments, etc.), the income in 1922-23 was £35,994; in 1921-22 it was £34,286, and in 1913-14 £14,063. The income from grants by the Department in respect of the years 1922-23 and 1921-22 reached the approximate figures of £85,192 and £77,049 respectively; in 1913-14 the grant paid was £59,948. Two of the Institutions continued in 1922-23 to be self-supporting.

By a Minute of the Department laid before Parliament and dated 2nd July, 1923, provision was made for the payment of maintenance grants under revised regulations. These regulations became operative in respect of Institutional years ending after 31st August, 1922. For the first of such years, however, Institutions were entitled to claim any additional benefit which would have accrued under the conditions previously in force.

CONTINUATION CLASSES.

Last year's Report described how the process of retrenchment had affected Education Authorities in their arrangements for the organisation of Continuation Classes during the session 1922-23. The number of centres was reduced by 26 per cent. from that of the previous session; the number of classes provided at those centres was restricted by the adoption of a minimum standard of enrolment as a condition for the institution and continuance of a class; and the fees were increased, especially for the less strictly educational forms of instruction. The statistics of attendance for that session, which are now available, show a decrease from the numbers for the previous session such as was to be expected. The numbers of students, arranged in the usual groups, are-Under 15, 19,383; between 15 and 18, 46,362; over 18, 53,864; total, 119,609. The numbers for the preceding session were :-Under 15, 22,320; between 15 and 18, 62,926; over 18, 82,246; total, 167,492. It will be observed that the group with the lowest proportional decrease is that of students under 15, that is to say, of students who have just left the day school; while the greatest decrease, nearly 35 per cent., is in the group of oldest students, where the less strictly educational form of instruction

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