Page image
Page image

E.—ls

7

tongue. The school has a staff of 20 teachers, and an average ofSabout 12 pupils per teacher. There is a somewhat similar school,?ca!ledfa ing School," for boys at Carouge, with 47 pupils. There a are twofgirls' househo'd schools which may be classed with these —viz., at Geneva and Carouge, having 45 pupils in all, the instruction being directed towards domestic science. 11. Continuation Schools and Vocational Schools. These are varied in kind. The simplest form of Continuation School is that already mentioned —the Complementary School. The attendance at schools of this kind is not compulsory except for children under 15 in the Canton of Geneva and in four other cantons, but it is compulsory in the remaining cantons, although one or two of them allow communes the option of exercising compulsion. The continuation schools in Geneva have 743 pupils— namely, 496 boys and 247 girls, besides 245 recruits, for whom attendance is compulsory. There is also at Geneva a Commercial Continuation School for boys, with 413 pupils and 24 masters, and, in connection with the School of Horticulture mentioned below, there are shorter continuation classes for gardeners' apprentices. Besides the continuation schools there are in the Canton of Geneva several kinds and grades of vocational schools : — (i.) The Kcole de Metiers, or Trade School, which " has for its aim the training for the building trade of workmen possessing theoretical and practical knowledge necessary to enable them to exercise their trade under the best possible conditions." It comprises four sections : carpentry and joinery ; brick and stone masonry ; tin-work, plumbing, and other metalwork ; furniture-making. The programme includes 16 hours a week of theoretical instruction, and 32 to 42 hours a week in the workshop. The ordinary duration of the apprenticeship is three years. During the last year pupils can be placed in the workshops or workyards of private employers, but they remain under the supervision of the school, and have to attend the theoretical lessons regularly. The age of admission is fourteen. The school is free for Swiss, 50 francs (£2) a year being charged for foreigners. At the end of the third year a diploma is granted to pupils who pass through the course satisfactorily. This is recognised as carrying a right of admission to the trade. (ii.) The Mechanical School (Kcole de Mecanique) is also an apprenticeship school; it is intended for the training of engineer workmen. There is also an Kcole d'Horlogerie, or Watchmakers' School, but part of its work has been recently diverted to training workers in the making of motor-cycles. (iii.) The " Technikum " provides a course following on the last two, and is intended for the training of contractors, foremen, inspectors, draughtsmen, clerks of works, &c, connected with the building and engineering trades. In the words of the prospectus, " the instruction in the technikum is to be such that those trained therein may be able to grasp easily the projects of the engineer or the plans of the architect, and to direct their execution with intelligence ; such also that those who feel that they have special aptitudes and the will to go forward may be able by personal efforts to acquire knowledge that will enable them to aspire to positions still higher." There are two sections —namely, the section of building and civil engineering, and the mechanica 1 and electrical section. Each course lasts for three years, and the programme in each case is one of forty-four hours a week, by far the greater part being practical even in the early years, and the last year being almost entirely practical. (iv.) Rural work is represented by the Cantonal School of Horticulture at Chatelaine, with 47 pupils. This gives a theoretical and practical course of three years in arboriculture, fruit and ornamental ; floriculture ; marketgardening ; landscape gardening ; viticulture ; bee-culture ; and forestry : with such practical drawing, mensuration, chemistry, physics, and meteorology as is necessary. In other cantons the schools of agriculture occupy a more prominent place than in the Canton of Geneva, and are concerned not only with horticulture and arboriculture, but with agriculture proper, dairy-work, cheesemaking, &c. (v.) Geneva has also a higher Commercial School with 169 pupils. It may be remarked that not included in the above are the Technical and Commercial Departments of the College and of the Girls' Secondary and Higher School (Kcole Secondaire et Superieure dcs Jeunes Filles). (vi.) Ecole dcs Arts Industrieis, or School of Arts and Crafts, which is free and under the direction of the Council of State, the latter delegating

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert