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E.—lc

The Victorian authorities are about to make radical changes in their system of training. They propose to establish a Junior Training College, to which entrance is to be gained by a system of scholarships. For these, boys and girls who wish to become teachers will have to compete, and the successful competitors will be given a two years' course in a well-equipped college or high school. At the end of this course they will be appointed as junior assistants at a suitable salary and for a period of two years ; and while thus employed they will have to undergo no examination, except in the methods and principles of teaching, in which they will be instructed by the teachers of the schools in which they are employed. At the end of this stage of their training they will enter the University Training College, where they will be taught by University professors the subjects of the Arts and Science Course. It is intended that the principal of the Training College shall be lecturer on education at the University. Teachers so trained will, it is considered, carry with them to the remotest parts of the State the ennobling influence of university life and ideals. As will be seen, the system is much like the one lam about to describe. Until recently the pupil-teacher system of South Australia was similar to our own, an apprenticeship of four years, which was followed by a year's training in the Training College. Thus the entire course of training extended to five years, as with us. Under the present regulations the complete course of training occupies six years, the first two of which are spent in the Pupil-teachers' School, the next two in actual teaching in the schools from which they were drawn, and the next two in the University Training College. The course of study in the Pupil-teachers' School is intended to prepare the students for the Junior and Senior Examinations of the University of Adelaide, and to give instruction in such other branches of knowledge as are taught in the schools of the State. The candidates are in the first instance selected by the head teacher of the school in which a vacancy is to occur at the end of the year; but before appointment as pupil-teachers they must satisfy the District Inspector as to their power to control and their aptitude for teaching, must pass the examination for entrance to the Pupil-teachers' School, must have reached the full age of fourteen years before the Ist day of January of the year in which they enter that school, and must produce a medical certificate of good health and physical fitness for the work of teaching. When they have satisfied these conditions, instead of teaching in their own schools during the day and studying for the annual examination at night, they are sent to be taught for two years at the Pupil-teachers' School. During the first year there males are paid £15 and females £12, and during the second year males £20 and females £16, books and materials being provided free of cost. At the end of each year they are examined by the University, which charges them no fee. The increase in salary does not depend upon passing the examination, but upon satisfactory industry and conduct at the school. Every pupil-teacher appointed to a country school and having to reside away from home to attend the Pupil-teachers' School is, in addition to his salary, allowed £20 a year as maintenance, and is granted two return fares home each year. During the third and fourth years of their course they teach in their own schools, the males receiving £30 for the third year and £40 for the fourth, and the females £24 for the third year and £30 for the fourth. During these two years they may be required to attend at the University of Adelaide and at other centres for the purpose of receiving collective instruction, and may further be required to continue their studies by correspondence with the University Training College and the Pupil-teachers' School. They are to receive from the head teachers of the schools in which they are employed adequate instruction in the most approved methods of teaching, and one hour's instruction daily in the morning, or at some time approved by the Board of Inspectors, to prepare them for entrance into the University Training College. Upon the satisfactory completion of their four years as pupil-teachers, such of the students as wish to may proceed to the University Training College on condition that they bind themselves to serve the Department for four years. If they comply with this condition, they receive a maintenance allowance of £30 per annum, which may be increased if it is shown to the Minister that the cost of travelling or family circumstances justify an increase in the allowance. Students not residing with their parents are required to reside in approved lodgings and to conform to such rules for their conduct as may from time to time be prescribed. They are under the direction of the Superintendent, who exercises a general supervision over them, and is responsible to the Board of Inspectors for their diligence, the direction of their studies, and for their training in practical work. He also directs the studies of the third- and fourth-year students. During their attendance at the college, students are to be carefully instructed in the best methods of teaching such subjects as are comprised in the course of instruction for pupils, to receive lectures in organization and methods from the head teachers of the practising-schools specially associated with the University Training College, and to spend at least one hour a week in practical work in one of these schools. It is considered by the authorities that students who have done well in the Pupil-teachers' School, kept up their studies during the two years of teaching, and been industrious at the University, should, at the end of their two years there, leave it with the degree of B.A. and a diploma in teaching. This is probably a too sanguine view. The scheme outlined above has but recently come into operation. In its main features it seems a good one; but the realisation of its promise will depend very largely upon the superintendents of the Pupil-teachers' School and University Training College and the head teachers of the practisingschools. The long monitorial course that precedes appointment to pupil-teacherships is, I think, a very objectionable feature of it. In 1900] there were twice as many monitors as pupil-teachers. Buildings and Teaching. I visited the Victorian schools after an absence of nearly a quarter of a century ; it was natural therefore that I should expect to see great improvement in buildings, in equipment, and in methods. I was disappointed; for I found that what these were twenty-five years ago they are in great