The Rhondda Leader

RHoidda School Board. The Site for the Higher Grade. Shall the Pupil Teachers' Centre be divided P Members have a Field Day of Speeches. A special meeting of the Rhondda School Board was held at the Council Offices, Pentre, on Monday, Rev. W. Morris (chairman), pre- SHung. Other members present were Mr. T. Jievan (vice-chairman), Miss Ada Jones, lie v. \v-u- W*s' Rev. Rowland Morgan, Rev. Thos. Williams, Rev. W. Charles, Messrs. W. Jen- uns, 131. Thomas, Henry Abraham, Dd. Lloyd D. K. Jones, with the deputy clerk, Mr. T. 'G. Jones. Mr. Al-illiait, Rees, Llanybyther, was ap- pointed as assistant master of Ynyswen school, at a salary of f,94 per annum. A Site for the Higher Grade. A letter was read from the agent of the i alley estate, offering to sell an acre of free- hold land on the Bailey estate, near Maindy, top. the sum of £ 1,870. The Building Com- mittee recommended the purchase of this site. oeveral memb- rs asked the reason of the high sum charged. The clerk explained that there wcto two interest* involved, viz., the landlord and the Salvation Army. It appeared that Mr. Cory made over the lease on the land to the ba vation Army and tlifey now claimed their share, so the Board had to pay two interests. 1 •' The Chairman Fourteen hundred nonmU the Build'iTHr r R matter came before trtf Oln"ttoe and they recommend he in^v Jf t t US 8lte' 1,ut «mt a clause ° ln*ft'ted to guarantee the Board against w^kinos!ge t0 th° buil,lin^ l,y underground other '°n,as a better site than the 1 he Clubman There is no comparison. On the lIIotioil of the Rev. W Lewis, sec- onded by the Rev W. Charles, it was decided that the site now before the Board be adopted, satisfactory terms can be arranged v th General Booth with regard to the re- duction of the £ 1,400, and provisionally upon t c ause being inserted guaranteeing the >oaul against damage to their buildings through subsidence. Division of the Pupil Teachers' Centre. A number of motions were down on the agelHla dealing with the proposed division of the Centre at Porth. A letter was read from Mr. W. Edwards, H.M. inspector, stating that one of the members nad written to him to give his opinion of the proposal to divide the Pupil Teachers' Centre, He had replied that it would not be wise for luin to give his views to an individual mem- ùer, but that lie would meet the Board in conference, and would come oil Friday for that purpose. Mr. Daniel Thomas said it was lie who had written to Mr. Edwards, an 1 he had also written to Mr. D. E. Jones, the Science nspector, from whom he had received a reply. 1 an Proposed that the Board pro- ceed without the Inspector's opinion. He had been speaking to Mr. Edwards on the matter, and he had his opinion, but he did not think it tair to give it without prrmission. rl, ,.eu'<s moved tliat they proceed 1 lsc.l*sslon> hat that no decision be Edwards UU a er the interview with Mr. tikimr S,,airm^t said a great change was eJs' cfenl re? 'tV .regard to the P,ll'il Teach- of the Pni 'i £ ? was uow 110 examination T^Je^. Centre; it was an schools -f Higher tirade and Elementary Board to L- would impossible for the in,r* ° T the weak points in the teach- forth If?? T,» ^c'' of the school. Hence- Teachers' Sire. ^1118pection of the Mr. Daniel Thoma: What course do you ^ou havp ,teild pursuing with regard to it? to? • airf f.m^oa t0 the Centre into divis'imi Vl('ar into three. As far as the (A lon.r r (0!U:erne<l you are in. unison. m,, tt J'Us.sion followed as to whether the thnf ri S 0] I30 discussed and voted up n dison a,i' was ultimately resolved to the matter fully, but to come to no T_ b 0n until after the interview with the inspector.) rr„0e,v" ^'Lewis then moved that the Pupil tho plei5 Centre be divided. He referred to an educational institution, and .r i;, .at it was there the pupii teachers t-lmi. then-education during the period of 4.a^Pr^enticeship. Tliere they were in- <sr>l. i i • an(' Prepared for the Queen's ° arshipg, and it was of great importance P on the list. The efficiency of ptfi teachers' schools would tell upon the ciency of elementary education in genera1- ne thought it was well to bear that in mind, aiul do nothing without due consideration and calm deliberation. Whatever the cause, the results of the Pupil Teachers' School werenot satisfactory. He could safely assert that. True ne work had been carried on under great dis- a .^tages. The work was carried on in a hired 'Hiding, a building not adapted for that kind °t work. They must make allowance for all that of » considering the resulto. The Board had stalled the school well.- There was a splendid 8 11 a .headmaster and assistants thoroughly well equipped for the work. They had a com- mittee to look after the school, and everything that the Board could do to promote the efficiency of the Centre as- an educational institution had been done. A little pro- gress had been made it was better last yegr than the year before, and it would not be uncharitable to say th. t the progress under the present master was greater than under the previous one, because the present master had now obtained more experience and the Board also But taking everything into con- sideration, the results were not satisfactory. The results of the Queen's Scholarship was in 1897 showed that out of a total of 63 who sat, nine passed in the first class, 22 in the second, 15 in the third, and 17 failures. In 1898, eight passed in the first class, 16 in the second, 21 in the third and 13 failed So there had been a little progress. He would give the Board the results of the I upil Teachei b Examination in the different years. 1 > of the third year teachers—11 passed wei fairly, 19 below fair, and six failures; second year—16 well, 19 fairly, 15 below fair, and no failures first year—eight well, five fairly, il below fair, and two failures. In 1899, third year—eight well, il fairly, 18 below fair, and seven failures; second year—five well, nine fairly, 21 below fair, and one failure; first year—17 well, 14 fairly, 18 below fair, and no failures. That shewed, he thought, a little progress in the school. But he wanted to shew the results were unsatisfactory by com- paring them with the results of other schools, f he percentage of pupil teachers who earned the highest grant in 1898 in Ystradyfodwg was '22-5 in 1897, 16 "3. In Merthyr the per- centages were, in 1897, 24'00; in 1898, 33-00. Pontypridd in 1897, 8-6; in 1898, 45-00. f|e would, like to remind the Board that ie work of instructing the pupil teachers ^as carried on in those schools in the same ^ay as at Ystradyfodwg, viz. in iiired uilaings and yet in the Rhondda they had omy gone tip from 16 to 22, whereas Ponty- hftd gone from eight to 45, and Merthyr a 24; to 33.. So he did not think the un- state: of affairs was to be attri- buted to the buildings. He thought it was owing to the present arrangement of all the pupil teachers to one centre. The shape of Ystradyfodwg Parish was like the first letter of its name, Y there were two brandies an.l astern, amltlie W1' centre was at the junction of the stem There were 240 pupil teachers, and that was mimber likely to increase, because they had a new school «at Stanleytown and Blaencwnu Within a radius of two miles ot the centre there M'ere only 40 teachers, all the rest came from a distance of seven or eight miles. Let them consider the teachers of Blaenrhondda •uid the teachers of Hafod, I orth or Cymin No one could say they were on an e'l'.l,ahty' and it «'as to remedy that inequality he moved the proposition. The Board spent £ 489 per year in railway passes fo[ teachers, and that.amount would be The teacher at Blaenrh ndda had to leave home at seven o'clock in the morning and then got home much later than the other. He did not believe in cramming all thinp Cjmmer or Porth; there were other places CqS^)anieliThSs Ystrad, for instance. The Vicar Yes, Ystrad. Here the business of the Board has been carried on since the commencement. If we had inoie 1 Teachers' Centres it wonld be far better fo the pupil teachers there would be more titiie for study, and less time spent in travellIng. We complain of the conduct of the I teachers, but it would then be very much lin- S We will also save £ 183. m mlway parses. It will cost more money I adimt, b cause there will be two buildings and tuo st-ifts but I don't think the ratepayers will <tru(l<fetheexpense when they see that the pupil teachers will secure the benefit. They wou 1 he better qualified, they would receive more individual attention, more careful supeiviaon, more time for study, and the result would be that the pupils would pass much h'^kei they came to pass the Queen's Scholarship. We would get more grants from the Gover mcnt because of ki^er percentages and the additional expense would not be very mucli. The total cost of the Pupil Teachers Centre annually is £ H01 19s. 6d. If we divide the Centre into two, each Centre would cost £ 8*9 15s. 0d., or a total of £ 1650-a difference of £ 250. I appeal to the Board, is it not worth while spending £250 to give t o the pnpil teachers greater advantages, greater facilities, more leisure, and more help to qualify for the Queen's Scholarship, and equip them for the calling in life which they have adopted. I don't think any member will deny that two schools will be more efficient than one, because more attention and super- vision will be given to each. I wrote to Mr. Edwards last June on this matter, and asked him his opinion on dividing the school. He replied: Mr. Bevan asked me on Tuesday what I thought of the proposal to divide the Centre between Porth and Ystrad, and 1 told him I thought it would be a good thing. Mr. W. Jenkins seconded Mr. Lewis motion for the reason that lie thought it would be wise to divide the Centre into three. Mr. Daniel Thomas then moved as an amendment, "That the Pupil Teachers Centre be not divided, and that it be an in- struction to the Pupil Teachers' Centre and Building Committee to proceed forthwith to secure a site at Porth to accommodate th -Ptipri iêi1:ciiérs:C;.r6(E; ingffer nrade Centre, and Cooking Class." (It should be here explained that if it was decided to divide the Centre, the Rev. W. Lewis intended proposing dividing it into three, and the Chairman that it be divided into two). Mr. Daniel Thomas said he intended quoting a speech of the vicar's which was delivered some months ago in favour of a division into three centres. The Vicar objected to this course, it was not fair, lie said. Mr. Thomas continuing, said the Vicar's motion came before them in the form of a re- commendation fri m the Pupil Teachers' Centre. That was technically correct, but it required a few words of explanation, for it would be unfair for the recommendation to carry with it undue weight or influence. If he remembered rightly, the committee consisted of eight members, and he thought he was right when he said that three of the number favoured a division and five were against dividing. On July 3rd six members were present at the committee. The Chairman, the Vicar, and Mr. Dd. Williams voted in favour of a division, and Miss Jones, Mr. John Davies and lie voted against. riie Chairman of the Committee, who was now Chairman of the Board, gave his casting vote in favour of dividing the Centre. He did not complain of the action taken by the Chair- man, for lie gave him credit that he took that course in order that the whole case should be constitutionally brought before the Board, so as to have it thoroughly thrashed out. The Vicar's speech was good, but his motion was bad. Bad in principle, and bad in its relation to details and organisation. If the Vicar's motion passed, then the Centre would be de- vided, but into how many parts remained to be seen. As to the extent of the mutilation, there seemed to be a competition between a Rural Dean on the one hand, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society on the other. Miss Jones, the Vice-Chairman and himself were placed in an awkward position, for they had a canon to the right of them, and a canon to the left of them, and who knew how many canons there might be in front (laughter). But with all the canonading, he sincerely hoped the bombardment of the Centre would not be successfully performed that day. He hoped every member would seriously consider the situation with an un- biassed mind, and that such a drastic measure as was proposed by the Vica.r would not be allowed to pass. Mr. Lewis submitted a scheme. But why propound a new scheme ? Had the present Centre proved such an utter failure ? He would read the evidence given by the mover of that motion given at a meet- in,, of tlitt Board on July I I.- "When I propose this arrangement (to divide into three), I wish to bear testimony to the excellent work accomplished at the pres- ent Pupil Teachers' Centre, and under great difficulties and amidst very discouraging surroundings. The results are as well as can be expected under the circumstances. He (Mr. Thomas) did not know of any head- master who would wish a better report on the work of his school from any one of H M. s Inspectors, and he also confessed that lie did not know of any Inspector who, after giving such a flattering report, could with the same breath recommend to the Education Depart- ment that such a school be divided into three parts. If the results of the school were not thoroughly satisfactory, why not devise some scheme by which it could be improved. He thought that the Vicar's answer to that query would be (a), That dividing the centre into three would be more economical to the rate- payers (b), That dividing into three parts would be more convenient to the pupil teachers, as the centre would be witlnn easy reach of the homes of the majority of them and more helpful to their efficient training by securing more individual attention (c) That by dividing into three parts the Science schools would be placed on a sounder and firmer basis. The Vicar invited criticism. His words were I hope my calculations will be tested." Surely, that was the langu- age of an honest man who had full confidence in his case, and the language of a nian who had no desire to thrust upon the Board a scheme which the majority might think un- desirable. He would call the attention of the Board to one or two items in the Vicars calculations. Assuming Mr. Lewis cheme would prove a financial gain, lie very much doubted the wisdom of amalgamating three departments so truly varied m their nature and requirements. Financial gams otten j meant educational losses, and a body of edu- cationists could never aiord to whine at the educational aspect of the question. Still, lie was rather sceptical as to the financial opera- tion of the proposed scheme. In the first place, Mr. Lewis assumed that there would be no necessity to erect a new building at Ferndale if his scheme were adopted. But he (the speaker) suggested that such a course would be absolutely necessary. The Higher Grade School at Ferndale, was opened ?n September, 1898,-only fourteen months ago—affording accommodation for 330 pupils. The number of pupils on books prior to the opening was 212,but in two months it reached 313—an increase of 101 in two months The number on books now was 343; which was 13 above the accommodation, and 131 above 14 months ago. Mr. Lewis might say it was not fair to base an argument on°the number on books, so he would say it was unfair to argue on the average attend- ance. An average attendance meant that' the attendance was sometimes below the number, and consequently at other times must be higher than that number and the Department expected the Board to find accom- modation for the higher number. But in order to be lenient, he would argue from the average attendance point. The average attendance 14 months ago was 168 8 last month it was 296 8, an increase of 128. If the average attendance at Ferndale during the ensuing 12 months increased at one third of that rate, the school would be over- crowded and the grant probably withheld. But assuming for a moment the scheme was adopted, then the 36 pupils proposed to be sent to Ferndale, would have to be added to the 296 in average attendance and the result was the school was overcrowded. He asked what could they do in the future to the pupils who would be constantly applying for ad- mission to the Higher Grade ? Either build a new Higher Grade or tell them to go to the Porth County School, or back to the element- ary school or to work. Mr. Lewis had set down £ 6000 fOT a Pupil Teachers' school at Porth. He (the speaker) said £ 3000 was sufficient, and those were his reasons. The Pupil Teachers' Centre at Porth would be built in connection with the Higher Grade School That building would not be required on Saturdays for Higher Grade purposes, and since the 240 Pupil Teachers only came down together on Saturdays the Higher Grade buildings could be utilised by them. Then they would only have to provide room for the number of Pupil Teachers who came during the week, which would be about 120 or 130, and surely £ 3,000 ought to be ample for that purpose. He would remind them that 1:3,000 spent for the accom- modation of 130 represented over zC23 per pupil. But he would call their attention to another serious error. In comparing the cost of his scheme with the present system Mr. Lewis under estimated his own by 1-3,000, and over estimated the other by the same amount. Consequently, he was at least £ 6,000 wrong. There were other items which would not stand to be tested. Then there was the question of the convenience of the pupil teacher. The Vicar said that the Centre at Porth was con- venient to 40, and inconvenient to the 200. From that, he gathered the Vicar felt anxious to equally recognise the rvrhf« of the pupil uo o 0I gome on u> tue n\>s teachers o« > -• y .cm iwv the various localities to a Centre, and hence proposed three Centres instead of one. One was to be connected with the Ystrad Higher Grade, one at Ferndale Higher Grade and one at Porth Higher Grade. Ifn a few w weeks, the Board would have in full swing five Higher Grades. What sin had the pupil teachers of Treherbert and Tonvpandy committed that they should be punished in that manner ? As men who had been recently returned to protect the interests of the children and pupil teachers of the whole parish irre- spective of localities, could they with any sense of justice and honour vote for the erection of a centre at Fern dale; for (i pupils, at Porth for 38, at Ystrad for 64, and totally ignore the claims of Treherbert with its 33, and Mid-Rhondda with its 69 ? Evi- dently the question of convenience of the pupil teachers as a body was not justly con- sidered under the vicar's scheme. Let them bear in mind that he (Mr. Thomas) was not an advocate of five schools, but he positively would not support three centres. If they wanted to consult the real convenience of the large majority of the pupil teachers, let them erect a well equipped school upon a spot where all pupil teachers could arrive at the same moment, and where teachers living at the extreme points of the parish could reach their homes at practically the same second. It was all very well to talk of the objectionable travelling feature. It could not be diminished to any appreciable degree unless they were prepared to spend thousands upon thousands of pounds in the way of buildings, and hundreds annually in the shape of rnainten- ance. Then there was the unwieldy aspect of the case. The mover of the resolution had said in his scheme "the classes would be made smaller, and more individual attention could he- given to the pupil teachers." The members of the Board, he said, that had seen the large classes at the centre, must know of the great difficulty of giving hardly any individual attention at present. He (the speaker) would remind them that the 240 pupils never attended the centre together except for about three hours on Saturday, and even if each pupil attended together, it would only give each teacher 34 pupils. There were already at Ystrad Higher Grade and Science School 315 pupils, and Mr. Lewis proposed to transfer 100 pupils there, making a total of 415. Hardly any individual attention could be given to 240 pupils at Porth, but it seemed that 415 could get it in abundance if they went up to Ystrad Higher Grade Rchool If the present centre was too unweildy, a conglomeration of three departments would certainly make it more unweildy still. With regard to the Science School aspect. Now the first and second, third and fourth year teachers could only put in four attendances per week, whereas the Science School pupils could attend ten times per week. He wrote to Mr. D. E. Jones, the Science inspector, and his reply was: "I know of no case in which half time attendance at a Science Centre is recognised, and I have no reason to believe the Department would recognise it in any form." That was final, hence connecting the Centre with the Higher Grade could render the Science School no help whatever. He further objected to Mr. Lewis' scheme because (1) It was almost impossible to blend the time table of the pupil teachers with that of the Higher Grade and Science School. The ir- regular attendance of the pnpil teachers, and the constant coming and going throughout the years, must necessarily be a disturbing element on the whole concern. (2) Pupil teachers' work was essentially distinct fron. either the Higher Grade or Science School. The subjects bore the same names, and that only. Arithmetic was taught in all the uni- versities and day training colleges. It was also taught in standard one, but the resem- blance was only in name. So with other sub- jects. (3) Higher Grade work was simply inspected every year, but the pupil teachers had to compete side by side with pupil teachers from the best equipped schools in the country, and the staffs in each of those schools weie solely engaged in that special work. (4) Such a grouped school would mean teaching six or seven sciences, and two or three languages. Pupil teachers were allowed to take only one science by the Department, ^cience schoo s would therefore be of very little help. (5). The pupil teachers' syllabus was specially issued by the Department, and included school management, and other subjects essentially connected with day schoolwewk, i.e., practical teaching. (6). The work ot training ft pupil teacher was such as could not properly be attended to when two-thirds of the attention I of the headmaster was occupied with othet .( i very important departments. Mr Lewis had given his reasons in favour of dividing the Centre into two. Whether the majority of the Board considered them of sufficient merit to justify the adoption of such an expensive course remained to be seen. Even if it could be positively proved (which, of course, could not be done), that a great improvement over the present state of affairs would be the result of a division, he maintained that that would not be sufficient justification. The Board hoped to do better, and he ventured to say that the Pupil Teachers' Centre Committee (over which the Chairman presided) fully anticipated the realisation of a vast improve- ment in the near future. If the Centre under better conditions could be made to bring about satisfactory results, why go to the expense of opening two schools,and if one could not be made efficient was it reasonable to think they could make two ? So opening two schools would mean at least an annual standing expenditure of zC300 or f 400. He predicted that that tri- ennial period would be by far the most expen- sive one the Rhondda ratepayers had ever experienced. This would not be the fault of the members, for in a very short time the Board would be deluged with applications for increases of salaries all round. The assistants, the head teachers of small schools, and the head teachers in general would soon apply, so it behoved the Board to be very careful not to multiply institutions if it could in any way be avoided. Then with respect to the un- satisfactory results of the examinations. Who was responsible for that state of affairs ? Had it been brought about through any inefficiency on the part of the staff, or was it on account of the unsuitability of the school ? If they were not so successful as other schools, there were causes to be found somewhere. Where were they ? He unhesi- tatingly held the Board solely responsible for the state of affairs. Did the Centre obtain poorer r suits than other centres which had to contend with the same disadvantages and difficulties ? If not, then they had no room to complain except upon the Board ? What were the trying and discouraging conditions under which the centre was carried on ? First of all they had to teach in a small chapel vestry then they were ordered to move up to the Intermediate School; then they were shunted to a dilapidated and disused National School at Cymnier on week days, and the Porth School, half a mile away, on Saturdays. They were minus the necessary appliances, laboratories and demonstration tables, and he thought the Board had been threatened that the grant would be withheld unless those matters were remedied. Besides this, from information supplied them by the Clerk, they found that their Pupil Teachers received on an average 6 hours per week less instruction than the Pupil Teachers of 27 Boards,—some of them being the largest Boards in England and Wales. They only allowed their Pupil Teachers about 9 hours per week, but Wolveritiiitptoii e, 18 and 15; Gateshead, 15; Sheffield, 18; Leeds, 15 Southampton, 2H; London, 15; Manchester, 15 and 21 Cardiff, 18 and 15 Salford, 15; Plymouth, 16, &c. True some gave less, but on an average they gave six hours per week kvs during the first three years of their apprenticeship, which would represent a loss of about-five months during that period. t roads and''31-Jtlie.number of months inter- Apafit, but still they had to p-Wxaiiiination vening iling to the rateable value wliefrin. and the QvKalue was placed upon a highe under the Boater parts of the county. H Boards mentioneL. time to protest to tt 14months. Wasnottl,i v to the pupil teachers ? Still, notwithstanding these enormous and trying difficulties, the percentage of the passes were far above the average percentage throughout Wales and equal to that throughout England. Given the same advantages all round as that of other Boards, lie ventured to predict that in a few years, they would have no room to complain. He now proposed to consider another aspect I of the case. It has been said the Centre was too large and unweildy to become efficient and to bring about satisfactory results, but the official information submitted proved the contrary. Bradford, with one centre of 200 pupils, passed 50 per cent.; SaJford, with one centre of 270, 63 per cent.; Manchester, 306, 32 per cent.; Leeds, with one centre of 462, 58 per cent.; Sheffield, with one centre of 407, 32 per cent.; Bradford, with one centre of 219, 50 per cent.; Nottingham, with one centre of 304, 60 per cent. He woukl now give them the passes of small centres Plymouth, with one centre of 6õ:pupil teachers, passed 20 per cent.; South- ampton, with 130 pupil teachers, 25 per cent.; Newport, with 48 pupil teachers, 6 per cent Mlddleston, with 107 pupil teachers, 27 per cent.; WestBromwich, with 67 pupil teacheis, 10 per cent.; Swansea, with 167 pupil teachers, 14 per cent. Those figures proved clearly that large centres did better than small ones. Mr. Henry Abraham Seconded, and referred to the recommendation of the Committee to divide the Centre. The Committee was not a/full one; had it been, the recommendation would not have been passed. He thought the results were satisfactory and they should take" into consideration the state of the present building and the inconvenience the teachers as well as pupils had to contend with. He did not think the building was healthy, and they had no t hings there for their convenience. If they had a good building, similar to other Centres, the results of the teachers would be very much more satisfactory. He hoped the Board would move at once in having a better building for the pupil teachers at Porth. As regarded expense, the Vicar had already ad- mitted there would be an increase of £ '259 18s. 4d. in the annual cost of the maintenance of the school, and the question of additional buildings had not been taken into consider- ation at all. If that were considered, the in- crease would be enormous, so from a financial point of view it would be very much more ex- pensive than the present mode of teaching the pupil teachers. Were they giving their teachers the best fair play ? He did not think they were. Were they getting the time they should have ? If they had more time better results could be expected from them. In all the large towns there was only one centre and it was the general belief among School Boards and educationists that one centre was more efficient. By dividing the centre they also divided the strength of the staff. There were 21 subjects taught at the centre by seven teachers. That would mean three subjects for each teacher, and to divide the centre into two would be to divide the staff into two, conse- quently the number of subjects for each teacher would be doubled. By doing that the teaching wonld not be so effective. The course adopted at the colleges was to have one com- petent man for each subject, and so give better education to the students. A man could not be well up in every subject, neither could a teacher lve efficient instruction in many sub- jects. Each class at the centre now numbered about 20 to 30 in each subject, but no advan- tage would accrue by dividing it, because it was as easy to teach 20 or 30 as 10 or 15. The Board should look' at the matter not only from a financial standpoint, but should con- sider what was the most effective for the students. Tliat would be to keep the centre her. and give the teachers as few subjects had been undei' the consideration of the De* partmental Commit Lw, and an executive com- mittee appointed by the Associated School Boards recommended something on that point. He believed it was premature to do anything to divide the pupil teachers' centre." The centre was doing its work well, and if there was anything amiss it was on the part of the Board. The pupils could not work when they were crammeo together in a small room. The Rev. Thomas Wiiliams supported the amendment. Assuming the centre would be divided into two, and the higher grade would be somewhere in Ystrad, that would mean a great inconvenience and great loss of time