121. It became clear many years ago that, apart from adult education, the main provision of instruction under the Regulations for Technical Schools, etc., must be made either by the local education authority or by bodies working under the direction of the authority. In the new Regulations for Further Education it is made clear that a school which is not controlled by the authority (or by a joint committee of authorities) will not be aided unless the Board are satisfied that it should be dealt with otherwise than as a controlled school. Certain general grounds will justify exemption if it is desired by both the authority and the governing body. If, for example, a school is of a very special kind and meets needs arising in many areas but to a small extent only in the area of one authority, control will not be required. Nor will the Board require those university institutions which are now exceptionally aided as schools for Further Education to accept control by the local education authority. In other cases the question whether direct grant shall be continued will require individual consideration.

122. The general policy of the Regulations for Further Education, as of revised regulations for other branches of educational work, is to enlarge, so far as is reasonable, the educational discretion of the responsible school authorities. Many detailed requirements and conditions of the Regulations for Technical Schools, etc., have accordingly been discontinued. The Board, however, reserve a right to intervene if they are dissatisfied either as to the organisation or the individual efficiency of a particular school, or as to the adaptation of the provision as a whole to local needs, or as to its co-ordination with other local provision including that made in university institutions.

2. The Work in England (excluding Monmouthshire).

123. In this and the following paragraphs we refer to some of the more interesting aspects of continuation, technical and commercial education during the recent period. The work of art schools is reviewed in the next Chapter.

124. Statistics.-Full statistical information about the work of the year 1925-26 is not yet available. For England and Wales the work of the year 1924-25 is statisticised in the Statistics of Public Education already issued.* The tables, which cover continuation, technical and commercial education (i.e. excluding art schools and adult education under universities and voluntary associations), are numbered 77-79 (Technical Institution Courses and Advanced Instruction in Arts), 80-83 (Junior Technical Schools), 84-86 (Day Technical Classes), 87 (Schools of Nautical Training), 95-107 (part-time Continuation, Technical and Commercial Instruction including Day Continuation Schools).

Statistics of Public Education for the year 1924-25, published by H.M. Stationery Office, price 7s. 6d. net.

125. For England alone the most important points concerning the volume of instruction in 1924-25 as compared with the preceding year are as follows (figures in brackets are for 1923-24) :—

(i) Technical Institution Courses, etc., which are only provided in the best staffed and equipped of the technical colleges do not develop. The number of institutions recognised for such work was 40 [39] and the courses were attended by 3,296 [3,393] young men and 398 [396] young women. (ii) There was no material change in the Junior Technical School provision. There were 70 [69] schools for boys attended by 9,878 [10,004] pupils and 15 [15] schools for girls attended by 1,813 [1,798] pupils.

(iii) Day Technical Classes in commercial, industrial and domestic subjects were more numerous. There were 290 [261] courses attended by 5,602 [5,104] boys or men and 5,781 [5,040] girls or women.

(iv) The Day Continuation School provision does not as a whole develop. There were 72 [75] schools and courses with 11,948 [12,069] boys and 12,114 [11,347] girls.

(v) In the 122 Technical Colleges and larger Technical Schools the ordinary part-time industrial and commercial courses were more largely attended, the numbers of students being 104,992 [99,699] boys and men and 39,721 [37,538] girls and women.

(vi) There was a considerable expansion also in the Evening School system outside the evening classes of the colleges and larger schools. The attendance in 3,432 [3,159] schools of this type was 242,465 [222,185] boys and men and 248,168 [224,295] girls and women.

(vii) There was also some development in the provision by local education authorities and voluntary associations of special classes for the further instruction of teachers. The number of part-time classes was 348 [240]; these were attended by 5,970 [5,436] men and 23,045 [22,596] women. There were also 22 [15] short full-time courses attended by 611 [421] men and 1,095 [796] women.

126. Such information as is available at present tends to the conclusion that the considerable expansion in part-time further education which is exhibited in the above comparison was followed by a further expansion in 1925-6 and that in the current session the development continues. There is some reason to think that the decline in the volume of the most advanced day work may be arrested, though there is at present no marked sign of a substantial development of this branch of further education.

127. The Factors which influence Part-time Attendance.-The number of students in attendance at technical and other part-time schools is determined by many circumstances. The kind of instruction available, the nature of the accommodation, the adequacy of the equipment, the quality of the teaching, the state of trade, and the recognition given, both inside and outside the school, to good and diligent work on the part of the students, all have their effect. This recital of the determining factors may appear to be a list of common-places, but for the time being progress in technical education as a whole depends on local and partial improvements in these directions proceeding continuously over a series of years.

128. The establishment of specialised instruction for retail traders, butchers, and boot and shoe dealers, and the holding of interesting classes for boys and men who have little need of vocational instruction in the schools have attracted fresh types of students. The success of the movement for the establishment of Women's Institutes in rural areas throughout the country is another instance of the success attending the provision of instruction suited to the actual needs and desires of a part of the population for whom hitherto little has been done.

129. That the nature of the accommodation provided is a powerful factor in stimulating or preventing the attendance of students is well-known. An illustration of this is the fact that the transfer of scattered part-time classes for women in Liverpool to a new Central Technical School for women has resulted in doubling the number of students enrolled.

130. As regards the influence on attendance of the state of trade, it is noteworthy that throughout the country the number of students in classes in building subjects is at present very high. In addition to the day schools for builders' apprentices which have been established at Liverpool and Manchester, there has been a considerable development of instruction for builders in London and in many other smaller centres. Provision has been made for the full-time instruction in junior technical schools of boys intending to enter one of the building trades at Cambridge, Willesden, and Rochester.

131. It is natural that a youth who has made considerable sacrifices in order to improve his qualifications in industry or commerce should desire some tangible recognition of his diligence and ability. Accordingly, the award of certificates by suitable examining bodies is always an important factor in securing the regular attendance and progress of students. In this connection, it is worthy of note that the recent establishment by a number of neighbouring local education authorities of the "Northern Counties Examinations Board" has stimulated attendance at part-time

schools in Northumberland and Durham. Similarly, the establishment of schemes for the award of National Certificates has had considerable influence of the same kind in different parts of the country. The increasing interest taken by employers in the education of their younger employees is exercising more and more influence on their technical training in schools. Signs of this interest are the greater readiness of employers to allow "time off " to their employées in order that they may attend school, the payment of fees, the award of prizes, and, in suitable cases where opportunity offers, promotion in the works.

132. There is inevitably a considerable leakage between the elementary school and the continuation school, and between the continuation school and technical schools. It is, however, rather a matter for satisfaction that so many young persons pursue their studies for one or more years after leaving the elementary schools than for dissatisfaction that the proportion who persist in their attendance should be so small. There are so many adverse circumstances the desire for freedom from restraint, weariness after the day's work, the interest of other pursuits-that it is not a matter of surprise that even in the most favourable circumstances only about 40 per cent. of the children leaving public elementary schools join evening continuation schools.

133. At Blackburn arrangements are now made for children in the last term of their attendance at the elementary school to pay a visit to the local technical college to see the textile equipment in the hope that their interest may be aroused. Boys and girls from the central schools attend for one session a week at the engineering, textile, or commercial departments of the technical college. It is too early to judge whether by such means the children can be led to take a more discriminating interest in the several occupations which await them on leaving school: but it is all to the good that the facilities which the technical school offers should be so directly explained to school leavers.

134. Progress in Buildings and Equipment.-Few technical schools in the great towns have accommodation sufficient to meet present-day needs adequately. Practically no extensions of the buildings of technical schools were made during the war, and since 1918 it has not been possible to overtake the arrears, although each year a number of schools have found it possible to increase their accommodation.

135. During the year under review, Wolverhampton has erected the engineering wing of an entirely new school, the old building, which had served many different purposes since its erection, having at last fallen down. The important engineering towns of Coventry and Derby have extended considerably their accommodation for

engineering instruction, and, like Wolverhampton, have received very substantial gifts of equipment from local firms. Engineering laboratories have been provided at Aston Technical School, Bacup and Rawtenstall Technical School and at Warrington Technical School. A disused church at Accrington has been converted into an engineering school for the Borough and is an attractive and wellequipped building. At Ipswich new engineering laboratories have been added to the secondary school for boys, which is used as an evening technical institute.

136. Increased attention is now being devoted to the training of recruits to the building industry, so far as this can be undertaken in schools. Accordingly, the Liverpool authority have equipped convenient premises for teaching building subjects, including various crafts, and a large number of apprentices attend the school during certain periods of the day each week, being released from work by their employers for this purpose. Similar arrangements for builders' apprentices have also been made by the Manchester authority. Additions to the accommodation and equipment needed. by the building students have been made at Blackburn, Salford, Southend, and Gillingham, while at Willesden a junior technical school for boys intending to enter the building industry has been equipped in the premises of the Willesden Polytechnic.

A mining school for the Forest of Dean has been built by the Gloucestershire authority, the Miners' Welfare Committee having contributed £6,000 for the purpose.* The technical school at Leigh has been extended by the provision of a new mining building, costing £8,000, of which £5,000 was contributed by the Miners' Welfare Committee; a new building to house cotton-spinning machinery has also been provided at this school.

137. A new technical school for women has been established in Liverpool, the premises having been adapted by alterations to an old elementary school. Additional provision for the instruction of women and girls in technical subjects is being made at the Barrett Street School of the London County Council.

138. There has been considerable activity in London both in the extension of existing buildings and in the erection of new buildings. During the year a new building was provided for the Wandsworth Technical Institute, previously housed in a very miscellaneous collection of adapted or temporary buildings, and the first section of the reconstruction of the Borough Polytechnic was carried out.

* Other developments with assistance from the Miners' Welfare Fund are proceeding or are in prospcct. Appendix IX of the Fifth Report of the Committee give the list of allocations, provisional or confirmed, up to 31st December, 1926.