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- EDUCATIONISTS IN CHESTER.…

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EDUCATIONISTS IN CHESTER. LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE INSTI- TUTES. ) PAPER BY LORD STANLEY. I LESSONS FROM SCOTLAND. On Thursday the sixtyYenth annual conference of the Union of Lancashire and Cheshire Insti- tutes was held at the Town Hall, Chester. The Mayor of Chester (Alderman R. Lamb) pre- presided at the opening, and there were also present, among others, Lord Stanley of Alderley, Lieut.-Colonel T. R. Jolly, V.D. (chairman of the council), Sir Henry F. Hibbert (chairman of Lancashire Education Committee), Col. Dixon (chairman of the Cheshire County Council), the Sheriff of Cheater (Mr. W. Ferguson), the Mayors of Birkenhead, Barrow-in-Fumeee, St. Helens, Dukinficld, Gloseop, Leigh and More- oombe, all wearing their chains of office; the Deputy Mayor of Southport, Mr. C. E. Thorny- croft, the Hon. A. Stanley, M.P., Mr. Mond, M.P., Mr. Jamee G. Frost (chairman of Chester rl Education Committee), Alderman J. Gooddie I I' the Rev. Canon Morris, D.D., Mr. J. H. Dickson (Town Clerk of Chester), Mr. R. P. Ward (Director of Education for Cheshire), Mr. R. Newstead, Mr. G. R. Griffiths, Mr. A. E. Lovell (Director of Education for Chester), etc. Altogether there were about 250 delegates present. The Mayor of Chester, who was received with applause, said it waa his duty and his pleasure to give the Union a very hearty and cordial welcome to the city of Chester. He understood from information given to him that the Insti- tutes last visited Chester in 1891. In that year only 28 exercises were sent from the city. and last year the number was 127. It shewed that the Union was doing excellent work. (Ap- Apologies for absence were received from the Duke plause.) I of Westminster, Lord Derby, Mr. Robert Yerburgh, the Lord Bishop of Cheater, the Dean of Chester, the Archdeacon of Chester, and a num- ber of other subscribers and friends of education. The Mayor of Chester said they all regretted the absence of Lord Derby. The Stanley family centuries ago played a prominent part in the government of Chester, and to him (the Mayor) it was a great disappointment that he had not the pleasure of welcoming his lordship there that day. They were all (Ie lighted to have Lord Stanley of Aiderley with thorn. (Applause.) Col. Jolly then took the ohair. After an ex- pression of regret at the absence of Lord Derby, he thanked the Mayor for the reoepti-on he had given them, and through him the municipality of Cheater for the excellent arrangements for the conference. The delegates ware greatly in- terested in having an opportunity of again visit- ing the fine, old oity of Chester, a oity of great antiquity and world-wide interest, whose authen- tic annals, he believed, commenccd with the arrival on the banks of the Dee of the Roman General Sultoniua Paulinus, A.D. 61. Review- ing the annual report, he said there was again an increase in the number of school's and stu- dents taking the examinations conducted by the Union. While the requ sition for examination papers and the number of exercises examined shewed a very satisfactory advance, the propor- tion of exercises which satisfied the examiners •hewed a decrease of 5.35 per cent., as compared w:th 1905. As the recent examinations were on exactly the same basis as obtained in 1905. it would appear that the falling-off must be at- tributed to some fault in <he ground work. At Preston last year Dr. H. Lloyd Snape urged that education committees should provide correlated courses of study for students attending evening classes, and endeavour to induce students to take a grouped course. It would appear that the matter had had attention, because each candi- date presented at the last examinations sub- mitted 153 exercises as compared with 1.48 in the preceding year. He bad so-on many pros- pectuses for the forthcoming session, and was pleased to find that grouped courses were being more generally adopted. Hearty thanks were tendered to tho various bodies contributing to the Union for co-operation and financial sup- port, and the Council desired to place on record its firm conviction that the Union as an examin- ing body continued to perform efficiently a work of the most vital importance to the vast number of pupils who attended the various Evening Con- tinuation Schools within the area covered by its operations. There was thus afforded for the local education authorities an effective and economical method of examining, which acted as a useful check on the expenditure of tho public funds, seeing that by the means afforded such authorities could readily gauge the value of the return scoured by tho expenditure of the money: The best test of the position which the examinations of tho Union had secured in the public estoem was shewn by the fact that 20 years ago the number who attended the ex- aminations was 1,432; the number this year was 40,180. In next year's syllabus the Council had decided to arrange for an examination in "Nature Study." In conclusion, the Colonel paid a high tribute to the excellent work of the secretary, Mr. Colas. He moved the adoption of the annual report. Mr. Wyatt (Manchester) seconded, remarking that fifteen years ago, when they held their an- nual mooting at Chester, the number of candi- dates examined by the Union was short of 5,000, while this year the number entering examina- tions had exceeded 60.000. No other organisa- tion could do the work better than it was done by the Union, and it was certain they would not get it done at anything like the price. (Ap- plause.) Tie motion was oarried. The Sheriff of Chester (Mr. Ferguson) pro- posed a vote of thanks to the subscribers and donors of prizes, the retiring Council, etc. He remarked that 2149 was received from private donors, and by means of this it was possible to award exhibitions and prizes. He personally testified to the benefit received from the Union in Chester. The operations of tho Union en- couraged a high standard of efficiency in lan- guages, science and handicrafts. It was re- quired in the present age tha-t a greater number in this country might have a wider technical knowledge of arts and sciences, and might be able to apply t-hem to everyday life. (Applause.) The Mayor of Barrow-in-Furness seconded, and it was carried. The Mayor of Birkenhead moved the election of officers, including the re-election of the Eaxl of Derby, K.G., as president, and the Duke of Westminster and others as vice presidents. After the election of the Council and certain amendments of rules, Southport was selected as the place for next year's conference. MODERN REQUIREMENTS IN EDUCA- TION. The Right Hon. Lord Stanley of Alderley read a paper on "The Relations between the Ele- mentary School and the Secondary and Con- tinuation School Systems." His lordship said if we wanted scholars ready and willing and fit to take part in technical or continuation school we must have a broad and intelligent preparation in the elementary schools. They were interested that the conditions of the elementary school should be favourable. They demanded moderate- sized classes, and must therefore urge that in planning schools a unit of forty for a classroom should be treated as the nominal typo, with some classrooms even smaller. The school should be so planned as to be fully available when better methods of teaching were introduced. If good el-emcntary school buildings with smaller classes were required, still more were good teachers. How far wer< we at present from that desider- atum The noble lord proceeded to contract the position of things in England and in Scot- land. In England we had one certificated teacher to about 81 children, compared with one to 59 scholars in Scotland. If the English certificated teachers bore the same proportion to the scholars as in Scotland, we should have 101,700 instead of 74,000, an increase of more than 36 per cent. In Scotland 69 per cent. of the certificated teachers were trained; in Eng- land about 55 per cent. were trained. Thus we saw what an enormous increase in training college accommodation was necessary before we could approximate to the Scotch standard of qualification in our teachers. They could not afford therefore, as interested in education which followed after the elementary stage, to neglect the interests of that stage, and they must, pend- ing the provision of adequate training colleges, see to it that by evening classes and otherwioo the existing teachers so imperfectly prepared were enabled to do something to raiee their status, and extend the range and thoroughness of their gfekitt* He did not intend to touch on the political aspects of the education question. We had heard plenty of these considerations, and we should hear plenty more during the next two months. But he should like to touch upon one or two points as to the range and borderland of elementary education and that which comes after it. After remarking that he had sometimes observed among those interested in secondary education a certain jealousy of the expansion of elementary education, his lordship alluded to the Higher Elementary Schools, and expressed his disappointment with the report on these schools by the Consultative Committoc of the Education Department. The report seemed to him rather imbued with the prejudices and written from the point of view which he had already noticed as sometimes characterising those associated with secondary education in their attitude towards the elementary side. Nevertheless, the fact that it was not written in a sympathetic spirit made its admissions the more noteworthy. It was quite evident the report recognised that there must be a large extension of these schools, and that, where it was not pos- sible to establish such a school as a self-contained unit there must be supplementary classes of an advanced character. It was quite essential that for day-school education it should be recognised that there were many scholars who might well stay at school up to the age of 15 or 16, and for whom a secondary school was not the proper place. In past years many of the Higher Grade Schools had proved by their success that they suited the wants of parents better than the secondary school. It was an unfortunate tiling that the pressure of the ratepayers compelled school authorities, for the sake of a large grant, to constitute most of these schools as schools of science. The narrow curriculum which used to characterise these schools had been largely broken down, and the present regulations of the Board of Education were much less hostile to the progress of education. Even now the curriculum of higher elementary schools was comparatively free, it was nothing like so free or so liberal as in Scotland. According to the last report more than five per cent. of all the scholars in Scotch schools were approved for enrolment in supple- mentary courses or higher grade schools. It might be taken that the standard of enrolment! was about equal to Standard VI. At that rate we should have in England five per cent of 6,000,000, or 300,000 above Standard VI. eligible for a course of instruction, with a liberal cur- riculum and liberal grants, in the e'ementary: schools. The latest returns gave us about 8,600 scholars in higher elementary schools, and there was no encouragement for the higher classes of an elementary school apart from these specially organised schools, the recognition of which was not a matter of right and had been charily given. After contrasting the Scottish and English grants, his lordship said m short the position in Scotland as to the expansion of its elementary system was infinitely superior to that of England, and it remained for friends of edu- cation to insist that this superiority should not continue. Another point which called for men- tion in reference both to higher elementary and secondary schools was the unnecessarily high standard of building, which acted as a deterrent; on local authorities, who would otherwise make; provision for better education. As to size of; classes, tho demands of the Board of Education • were reasonable. Intelligent teaching required moderate numbers, but the demands of floor space were excessive in secondary schools. If 10ft. per scholar was enough for children of 14 or 15 in an elementary school, they were enough in a secondary school. Central hai's of adequate dimensions should bo permitted for elementary as well as for secondary schools. There was no reason why a local authority should not be allowed to build a spacious hall, which was most useful for many local purposes. In short, lie desired to See a great expansion of local free- dom. with the imposition of a reasonable mini- mum standard of suitability. A more liberal in- tcrpretation of section 22 (2) was also required, and it was desirable that a local authority should have more freedom in extending its age limit from 15 to 16 years of age. He concluded: I should have been glad to have spoken to-day on the wider expansion of evening classes, which arc tho university of the workers whose days are pledged to earning their living. I have already taken up much time, and I can only say in conclusion, aa the Duke of Devon- shire said some years ago at Derby, that you cannot raise a liberal and generous system of advanced education if you stunt and dwarf the elementary education, which is the sole ill- heritance of nine-tenths of the nation. An interesting discussion followed. The delegates adjourned to the Grosvenor Hotel, where they partook of luncheon under the presidoncy of the Mayor of Choster. The visitors afterwards drove in brakes to Eaton. whom, by kind permission of the Duke of Westminster (one- of thoir vice-presidents), they were permitted to view the interior of the Hail. The itinerary relative to the Hall was prepared by tho Rev. Canon Morris, D.D., while that with reference to the Grosvenor Museum was by Mr R. Newsfcrad, A.L.S., etc. The Mayor and Mayoress of Chester enter- tained the delegates at tea in the Council Cham- ber at the Town Hall from five o'clock.

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