E.—s.

(c) Length of Course. It is usual for primary teachers to spend two years in training, and secondary teachers one year, after graduation, but— (1) In Australia students training for primary teachers remain one year or two years, with provision for extension in special cases ; infant-teachers remain two years. The training-college course is followed by a period of probation before the student is accepted as a fifth-grade teacher. (2) In Scotland graduates (this group includes all the men) attend for three or four terms, and the non-graduates (this group includes some of the women) from one to four years or longer according to academic qualifications and experience. (3) In Denmark the course is three years following a year in the schools. In the first and second years the students study the subjects taught in the elementary schools, and in the third year they study the principles and practice of teaching. The Teachers' High School in Copenhagen provides courses extending from two weeks to a year in such subjects as foreign language, science, or advanced mathematics. A teacher may spend the summer vacation at this college and specialize in a particular subject with the object of teaching it in the mellemskole. The University at Copenhagen has no Faculty of Education. The graduates in the schools have either trained for other professions or taken a degree after entering upon teaching service in the schools. (4) In Ontario and British Columbia the elementary course lasts for one school-year —• actually nine or ten months. (5) In California the elementary course occupies four years, but I think the earlier part is mainly scholastic. (d) Emolument or Fees. In Australia student teachers are paid living-allowances and are not charged for instruction. In New South Wales they receive £26 per annum if they live at home, and £52 per annum if attendance at the training college necessitates their living away from home. In England " day" students attending a provided college receive the usual maintenance grant of £26 per annum for a man and £20 for a woman, subject to the condition that they must be in need of assistance. At a private (residential) training college I visited near Liverpool the students pay £50 per annum ; at Leeds (residential) Training College £40 per annum for the two-year course, and £50 per annum for the four-year degree course ; at the Carnegie Physical Training College (residential) in Leeds, £50 per annum. At a women's training' college under the control of the London County Council, recognized students are admitted at the following fees : — Tuition fee for day students, £20 a year. Resident two-year students or one-year students who are not graduates, £40 a year. Four-year resident students pay £60 a year for each of the first three years, and £50 for the fourth year. Graduate students taking a one-year course pay £30 as day students and £50 as resident students. Most authorities grant financial assistance to students in need of it. (e) Entrance Qualifications. Generally speaking, these are similar to the requirements in New Zealand —namely, a satisfactory medical certificate (some authorities, however, insist upon a much higher degree of physical fitness than others do), evidence of good moral character, apparent suitability for teaching, and a standard of education usually not lower than University Matriculation or its equivalent. In Scotland all male entrants to the teaching service must be graduates, and many female entrants are graduates. At present there is a demand among the Scottish teachers for amended regulations to require every woman applicant to be a graduate before she may be admitted to training college. In connection with this demand the Advisory Council to the Scottish Education Department reported, inter alia, last year as follows : — " The bulk of the evidence which has been submitted brings out clearly that, so far as women teachers of infants between the ages of 5 and 12 are concerned, a degree of a University is not essential, and, further, that an extended period of training including more practice in teaching is required . . . The Council considers that, in the case of women students preparing for teaching children up to the age of 12 years in the primary school the time required for study leading to a University degree would, in general, be employed to greater advantage in following a training-college course." The Council suggested a four-year course taken entirely at the training college. It then continued as follows :— " The Council are also of the opinion that, among the courses of training available for women students under Chapter 111 of the regulations, that for graduates should be retained. As, however, the treatment in a University course of any school subject —e.g., English, history, geography, which may be included in it —is necessarily of a kind that it can have only a very limited bearing on the teaching of the same subject in the primary school, and as, moreover, time must be found for the Article 37 (b) subjects selected by the student (drawing, needlework, special singing, educational handwork), and for extended practice in actual teaching, a period of two years of post-graduate training is regarded by the Council as necessary to enable the student to acquire the requisite professional skill and teaching experience. The course of professional training for women graduates should accordingly extend over two years subsequent to graduation."

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