WELSH COUNTY SCHOOLS ASSOCIATION.

OF

MR. EDGAR JONES, M.A.,

BARRY

‘THE REPORT ON INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION, ISSUED BY THE WELSH DEPARTMENT OF THE

BOARD OF EDUCATION, 1909.

CARDIFF:

THE EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, LTD., TRADE STREET

WELSH COUNTY SCHOOLS ASSOCIATION.

Annual Meetings held at Shrewsbury,

October 28th and 29th, 1910.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS OF MR. EDGAR JONES, M.A., BARRY.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

I have recently been tempted to regard my predecessors in this chair with envious eyes. Their reigns were calm and peaceful. No noise of battle disturbed the even tenour of their rule. They one and all delivered weighty and inspiring words on the educational problems of the day, and discussed the policy of the Association in relation to those problems in sober and dispassionate speech. I, alas! am called to a different task. There are at the present moment topics of interest to the Schools that call for further consideration, such as (a) the differentiation of work in the Schools, (b) the problem of Free Places, (c) what to do with Student Teachers, (d) how to bring the Schools into closer relation with the Civil Service, (e) the ever-pressing problem of the salaries of Assistants.

But I must pass by these problems, and deal with a more serious matter. For a great wrong has been done to our Schools and teachers. During the holiday season, when the Schools had ceased work and the Parliamentary Session was drawing to its close, an amazing document was issued by the Welsh Department of the Board of Education, professing to be a report on the Intermediate Schools of Wales. Owing to the date of its appearance there has been no opportunity for an official reply from this Association. I purpose, therefore, devoting the time at my disposal to make as full an inquiry as I can into this calumny on our Schools.

We have long been accustomed to expect from the Board of Education, as from other great departments of State, documents based on careful inquiry, on accurate investigation of fact, the result of critical and balanced judgments. I regret to have to say

—but I am stating, I believe, the firm belief of every secondary teacher in Wales—that the Welsh Department has seen fit to break

away from one of the most honourable traditions of the Board. With its three or four years’ experience it has ventured to bring charges against the Welsh Education system in its entirety, against the great representative body that inspects and examines the Schools, against those responsible for each individual School, the Heads of Schools, the Assistant Staff, even against the intelligence of the pupils, charges so serious and sweeping, that in the eyes of the general public and all who do not know the true state of affairs, the Welsh Schools appear condemned as utter failures unworthy of the confidence of the nation. These charges I shall prove to be unjust and without foundation.

The Report issued by the Welsh Department has been circulated in the press, not only of Wales, but also of England. It has already tended to damage the prestige of the Schools in the estimation of the people of Wales as well as outside its borders. It has adversely influenced the prospects of Welsh Teachers in England. A concrete case was brought directly under my notice in the Vacation. An English Headmaster had appointed a Welsh Teacher to a post in his School, but reading a newspaper account of the Welsh Department’s Report, he was so influenced by it that he was then contemplating cancelling the engagement of the teacher. We have seen in our Welsh papers the influence the report has had on certain politicians who, not being experts in Education themselves, are in the habit of regarding a report issued under the ~gis of the Board of Education as the acme of reliability. It would have been well if they had sought, before speaking, the truth from those who knew.

There is little wonder, therefore, that a spirit of indignation has arisen in the minds of all Welsh Secondary Teachers, and a desire that the whole report should be subjected to an exhaustive inquiry in order to expose its unwarrantable and unjust character.

It is difficult for those who live outside the Principality to grasp the full significance of the report, and its full import can only be clear to those who are acquainted with the educational history of Wales during the last four years. The report is believed by many to be a part of a fixed and settled policy of the Welsh Department of the Board of Education to destroy confidence in the Central Welsh Board, and instead of a democratic body representative of all phases of educational thought in Wales, to establish a

bureaucracy at Whitehall.

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Before I proceed to deal with criticisms in detail, I propose to set forth some salient characteristics of the report

1. The report is not the result of a careful, well-considered, and detailed Inspection by the Welsh Department itself, but is avowedly based on the Examiners’ Reports issued by the very body which is so severely criticised.

2. The report, with the exception of one incorrect reference, utterly ignores the full, complete, and well-organised scheme of Inspection, which, together with the Oral and Practical Examinations, constitutes one of the chief features of the Welsh System.

3. The report deliberately selects for its own purpose all the unfavourable criticisms which are made by the Examiners on parts of the work, but does not quote summaries of Examiners, which are generally very favourable.

4. In the majority of cases the adverse criticisms quoted are divorced from their contexts in such a way as to convey an impression quite different from the intention of the Examiners.

5. The report is full of sweeping generalisations based on insufficient particulars, and these particulars have been arrived at in an unfair and unjust manner.

6. The adverse criticisms quoted are to a large extent directed against lower stages in the examination, while in the Examiners’ reports references to the higher stages are generally of a laudatory character. It is the highest testimony to the Schools that even if there are weaknesses in the lower forms they should disappear as the pupil advances up the School.

7. The report endeavours to saddle on the Central Welsh Board the responsibility of retarding differentiation in the Schools, whereas the Board of Education itself has been mainly responsible for the curriculum of the Schools through its Regulations. In spite of the rigid regulations of the Board of Education there is, however, considerable differentiation in the Schools.

8. The cruel charge in the report that the Schools produce "wooden and unintelligent pupils," is not only untrue, but is nowhere to be found in the reports of the Examiners of the Central Welsh Board. The contrary can be proved from their reports.

9. The Welsh Department’s Report is inconsistent and -self-contradictory. While condemning a rigid uniformity which

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it alleges to be due to the Central Welsh Board, but which is not, it endeavours to establish uniformity in respect of certain subjects, notably Latin. Moreover, several statements in the report are inaccurate.

10. The report descends so far below the level of an average official document as to attribute unworthy motives to Head Teachers.

11. The report clearly shows that the Welsh Department has not realised the aim and intention of examiners in writing reports. It is obvious to those who are accustomed to such reports that criticism must of necessity be more prominent than praise. The Examiners desire to see certain weaknesses in the work disappear, and for that reason they call attention to the deficiencies of the few rather than to the merits of the many. Very recently the Report on the Oxford Local Examinations was published. It can be read in the "School World "for October. Although it is not compulsory to send in entire forms for the Oxford Local Examinations as it is in the case of the Examinations of the Central Welsh Board, yet the report on the Oxford Local Examinations bristles with criticisms far more severe than those which appear in the report of the Central Welsh Board. But no one with any knowledge of reports would suggest for that reason that the English Schools entered for those examinations are generally inefficient. If reports are to be treated in the manner of the Welsh Department of the Board of Education, a serious result will ensue: Examiners will hesitate to speak out their minds on weak points with a view to improvement, if their reports are to be used to damage a whole system.

A salutary rule is insisted on by the Board of Education that no report is to be published by a School except in its entirety. It would have been well if the Welsh Department had itself observed the rule in quoting the reports of the Central Board. It has not done so, but has made selections in so unjust a manner that Examiners have protested in the public press against the distorted use of their remarks. A comparison of the two reports will make this clear. The Welsh Department’s report is specially insistent on the weakness of the English in the Schools, and by a selection of extracts it produces quite a contrary impression to that which the complete report of the Examiner conveys. In this connection

it makes the following observation: "The Examiners report that the English of the Schools is bald and poor, and that the study of Milton seems to have been slight and casual." It is an illuminating object lesson as to the methods of the Welsh Department to quote an abstract of the passages from which this reference to " the study of Milton " has been selected. It is as follows, from the Senior Stage English Literature : " The best work at this stage was done in connection with Shakespeare. His text in almost every instance was well known, whereas some of the other works, those of Milton, for instance, had evidently been read in a superficial manner. . . . The more usual type of question relating to literary sources, character sketches and subject matter, was, as a rule, well answered. Editorial notes were less mechanically reproduced, though some anticipation of the question was evident. There were, however, some signs of original thought and treatment, and the short essay-form of answer adopted by most of the pupils pointed to sound methods of teaching. It is only right to mention that two portions of the syllabus besides Shakespeare were unusually well appreciated. They were the Essays prescribed and Arnold’s poetry. The styles of the Essayists, as well as the Nature element of Arnold’s poetry, came in for very skilful treatment. In contrast to this the study of Milton seems to have been slight and casual. . . . In spite of these shortcomings, however, the work at this stage, as a whole, was of distinctly good quality. Serious attempts are being made to study literature as literature, and the old confusion of the literature with the grammar lesson is now a thing of the past."

Could there possibly be a greater contrast between the statement in the Welsh Department’s report that The belief is far too prevalent in Wales that the duty of the teacher is to see that the pupil gets up with a near or distant examination in view all the facts in a crammed text-book "—and what the English Examiner did actually say of the literature study in the Welsh Schools? " Sound methods are evidently in use at some of the Schools; for there were frequent and welcome signs of acquaintance with texts other than those to which special reference was made. Herrick, in these stages calls for praise, and when the scope of the subject is considered the avoidance of text-book cram is all the more commendable. The style both here and at the lower stages attained a creditable standard, and in the case of some pupils at

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the Honours Stage it was remarkably good, and might fairly be regarded as the best fruit of this and earlier literature study." In the face of this admirable criticism of the work in English in the Schools, the Welsh Department ventured to condemn the teaching of English in the Schools.

"There was a remarkable disparity of work among pupils from Schools similarly circumstanced, and the practice of repeated attempts to reproduce dictated notes in class, particularly in answer to questions on Welsh History, must once more be condemned in the severest terms." The report of the Welsh Department does not proceed to the next sentence: " While these serious drawbacks are mentioned, one must not forget that excellent batches of answers were sent up from Schools in which the pupils had been correctly and carefully taught, and who are on the right scientific lines to proceed to higher work." It is obvious that less can be expected from the younger pupils in the Junior Stage; in their case the reproduction of dictated notes—particularly in Welsh History in which there has been until the last few years a dearth of satisfactory text-books—is a very venial offence. The real test of a School’s work is in the higher stages, when the result of the steady work of four years can be clearly seen.

But the report of the Welsh Department does not quote the very laudatory summaries of the Examiner in History on the work of the higher stages. "Honours Stage: The work generally at this stage was of a thoroughly satisfactory character. The general standard was higher than last year, though the brilliant scripts were fewer in number. Considering the very extensive character of the syllabus, the schools are to be congratulated on the success of their pupils. . . . On the whole there is a steady gradual improvement in the higher History of the Welsh County Schools." In the Senior Stage again he states: "Not only were there many excellent individual scripts, but whole batches of genuinely good answers were sent up by some Schools, which reflected the utmost

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credit on the care and scientific methods of those in charge of the subject." Yet the only reference to the History of the Schools is a cruelly disparaging and most misleading one.

Almost every criticism made in the report can be similarly shown to be divorced from its context and to convey a wrong and untrue impression.

The most flagrant example of a sweeping generalisation from meagre particulars, and the part of the report which deserves, as it will receive from all right-thinking men, the severest censure, is the imputation of a general lack of intelligence to the pupils of the Schools. "One note is struck," the report states, "by nearly all Examiners with painful monotony—it is the complaint of a general lack of intelligence in the papers. The minds of the children seem to be very mechanical. . . . There is a depressing want of originality and a general inability to apply their knowledge to anything that is new." This remark is several times repeated, until finally the report has worked itself up to a sufficiently romantic mood as to suggest that the " Examiners complain of a wooden and unintelligent type of mind." Such a phrase is not to be found in the reports of the Examiners. A leading Educationist has stated, after a careful reading of the Examiners’ reports, that the charge of a lack of intelligence is "exceedingly untrue."

On the contrary, there are in each report laudatory references to the intelligence of pupils. It is generally acknowledged that ability to do Unseen Translations is not a bad test of" the power of applying knowledge to something new." In almost all subjects praise is given to pupils for this. In English Higher Stage, the Examiner says ~ " It is perhaps only fair to state that the higher papers aim at making no slight demands on the pupil, and it must be allowed that much good work was done. The Unseen, for instance, was dealt with in a most creditable manner." Again, in the Latin reports, at each of the stages, the Lower Honours, the Senior, and the Junior, the Examiner states that the" Unprepared Translation was, on the whole, well done." If you will allow me, I will select a few statements at random from the various reports, directly dealing with the question of intelligence. Scripture: "The contents of the prescribed books had evidently been carefully and intelligently studied." Again in English Literature: "There were some signs of original thought and treatment." "The work at these stages calls for praise, and when the scope of the subject is considered the avoidance of text-

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book cram is all the more commendable." In Arithmetic: "The pupils showed an intelligent knowledge of the fundamental principles of the subject." In Geometry: "The book work was good, and the attempts at riders were generally intelligent." Higher Mathematics: " The work on the Calculus was vastly better than in any of the three previous years. The widening of the schedules seems to have had the effect of the subject being studied instead of crammed." French: " particular, was ~vell appreciated, and in connection with several other writers an excellent use was made of quotation. Generally speaking, they work at In nearly all cases pupils seemed to have enjoyed their reading, their knowledge was good, the works had been studied intelligently and as a connected whole, and the ₄answers were to the point." Latin: "The questions on the subject matter were well answered; from this point of view the reading of the books had evidently been intelligent and interested." Elementary Science: "The majority of the pupils also showed a thoroughly intelligent grasp of the Principles of Archimedes." And particularly the Mathematical Examiner’s report on the Problems’ Paper in Higher Mathematics: "The Problem Paper was a very successful innovation; pupils being left to their own devices to attack the questions instead of feeling that they must proceed on some conventional lines, did quite well, in some cases really brilliantly." Of Higher Mathematics Stage II. he says: " Four pupils attempted this stage. Three of them did work quite up to Scholarship standard."

The above are, of course, only extracts, but is it possible that the Welsh Department could have accidentally failed to see any of these comments? Indeed, the general impression received by those who have had to deal with our pupils after they leave our Schools is, to quote Principal E. H. Griffiths, F.R.S., University Colleg~~jirdiff, not that they are "wooden," but that they are, if anything, "too alert." "To say they are ‘ wooden,’ " he states, is about the most incorrect criticism one could make. I say this," he goes on, "after an exceptional experience as a coach in Cambridge and as Principal of Cardiff College, so that I have had an opportunity of comparing the products of English Public Schools and our Welsh Schools."

The Report contains statements which are incorrect. I will deal with two or three typical inexactitudes :—

The Report refers to the exceedingly low standard of  examinations in French." It will be a sufficient reply to

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quote the words of the last French Examiner, Professor Gerothwohl, D.Litt., Professor of the Romance Languages in Trinity College, Dublin, who has had long experience as Examiner in the Oxford and Cambridge Board Examinations, as well as the Degree Examinations of the various British Universities. He states (I907): "To those unacquainted with the educational zeal and linguistic gifts of the Welsh people, the recent developments of the Board’s Higher Certificates in the direction of literary and philological study may have appeared unduly ambitious. The thoroughness and brilliancy with which the Secondary teachers and pupils of the Principality have overcome the difficulties of the new standard afford a triumphant answer to sceptics and critics. . . . In one or two instances the performances might have compared favourably with the work done in the final Honour School of our Universities." Even "Stage 3, though naturally less formidable than the highest stage, reached nevertheless a University Honours standard of difficulty." 1908: "The Unseen passages presented formidable obstacles of vocabulary and construction, which, however, were generally overcome, and the neatness and elegance of the English style is probably unique in my experience."

These statements as to the high standard in French and the character of the work are confirmed by the French Examiner, who writes in the "Journal of Education" for October under the pseudonym, "Fiat Justitia."

2. "The School Library has not yet been given its true place in any Intermediate School in Wales."

This statement is not only untrue in fact, but has been made without any inquiry whatsoever. Practically each School in Wales has a Library.

There are Schools in Wales which have libraries of over 2,000 volumes each. In some Schools times are set apart for work in the Library, lists of suitable books are drawn up, and every advice is given the pupils as to their reading.

3. "English is sacrificed to formal grammar, to phonetics, to historical grammar, to Anglo-Saxon."

Few sentences in this amazing report are more grossly misleading. Does the Welsh Department wish to banish’~ English Grammar from Secondary Schools? The quotations from the Examiner’s report on English Literature show

conclusively that "Literature is studied as literature, and the old confusing of literature with the grammar lesson is now a thing of the past." In the English of the School, phonetics has but a very small place, in the Senior course in Engli~h Language; I should have imagined that Welsh children particularly would greatly benefit from a course of phonetics as an aid to the acquirement of a good English accent, a~already done in the London Schools, but unfortunately only the shortest time can be devoted to phonetics, except, of course, as a part of the Modern Language teaching. Historical grammar is gradually disappearing from the Schools. Whereas it was universal in English and Welsh Schools some few years ago, thie to preparation for the old London Matriculation Syllabus, in 1910 only 506 out of the 13,000 pupils in the Schools took historical grammar. As to Anglo-Saxon, only 82 pupils out of a total of 13,000 pupils educated in the Schools took it, and these were Honours or Higher pupils preparing for University Scholarships, who would study English in the University Colleges. Such are the facts. But there is a point of view from which Historical Grammar, Phonetics, and Anglo-Saxon are educationally most valuable. But the Welsh Department would in this matter deprive all Schools of the right of private judgment and would force all Schools to accept only a rigid syllabus approved by itself.

In the same spirit the Welsh Department proceeds to libel the product of the Schools. "The Schools continue to turn out young men and women possessing a mechanical knowledge of facts, useless for all purposes except examination purposes, but lacking in intellectual curiosity, in originality, in readiness of resource." I challenge the Welsh Department to prove this allegation from facts. The reports of the Central Welsh Board Examiners just quoted show what their opinions are.

The record of pupils’ after-work and careers is a conclusive proof that the pupils of our Welsh Schools compare favourably with those of any English Schools. It has been impossible, of course, to trace the after careers of the great majority of our pupils, but where it has been possible to trace their careers on the academic side, the success of Welsh County School pupils in the Universities has been phenomenal. The list which I have prepared is obviously incomplete; the numbers in each case are considerably below the actual numbers.

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The Schools were established 15 years ago. It would be, therefore, seven or eight years ago since the first fruit of the work of the Schools appeared in the University Class Lists. During this period at least 675 pupils of 67 Schools have graduated in various Universities, 112 with First Class Honours 249 with Second Class Honours. Considerably over 90 have graduated in the older Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

During the last five years 72 have taken First Class Honours in the University of Wales—a percentage of 65 per cent. of the whole list for five years. In the last year, 1910, the percentage was 72.4 per cent. Of these four gained Double Firsts, and eight a Second Class as well as a First.

Twenty years ago the Scholarships of the various University Colleges of Wales were captured by pupils from the Schools of England. Of late years they are practically all taken by pupils from the Welsh County Schools. At least 593 Scholarships have been gained by County School pupils during the last ten years at various Universities, at least 46 at Oxford and Cambridge.

The number of scholarships gained by pupils is exclusive of the large number of County Scholarships, and, of course, of King’s Scholarships.

Time would fail me to enter at length into the diversity of academic distinctions and the variety of important positions held by pupils from the County Schools. They cover every field of activity. A brief summary of some of the more important distinctions may show how utterly untenable is the suggestion of the Welsh Department’s Report as to the type of pupil turned out by the Schools.

Among academic distinctions I may state that degrees of all kinds, and of practically every British University, are held by old pupils. Doctor of Science, Doctor of Medicine, Masters of Science, Bachelors of Science (several in Engineering), Bachelors of Divinity, Bachelors of Medicine, Bachelors of Law, Doctor of Philosophy, Masters and Bachelors of Arts. One old pupil gained the first place in the Law Tripos at Cambridge, and first place at the Bar Examination.

A striking proof that the old pupils of the Schools are not "lacking in intellectual curiosity" is the number of Research Fellowships, Research Studentships and Scholarships to which they have been elected. I can mention the following: Several Fellowships and Research Studentships in the University of Wales, the Oliver Lodge Fellowship for Scientific Research, several

Gilchrist Scholarships, several 1851 Exhibition Research Scholar. ships, the Muspratt, the Whitworth, the Osborne Morgan post. graduate Research Scholarships, several Medical Fellowships, and the Coutts Trotter Studentship of £250 at Trinity College, Cam bridge. Among other scholarships varying in character reportec are: " Scholarship and Exhibition in Music at the Royal Academy. Mining Engineering Open Scholarship, several Medical Hospital Scholarships, an Admiralty Scholarship at Royal Naval College," &c.

In the Civil Service, several have obtained First Division Clerk. ships, posts in the Indian Civil Service, in the Patent Office, a larg number of Second Division Clerkships, and of posts in the lowei branches of the Service.

Even though we grant that the Schools are of the same type, the important positions gained by old pupils educated in them are as varied as they are numerous. (I can, if required, give numbers.) Among them are the following :—Several Lecturers in University Colleges, Doctors and Medical Officers of Health, Dental Surgeons, Solicitors, Clergymen, Ministers, Mining Engineers, Electrical Engineers, Civil Engineers, Marine Engineers, Engineer Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, Engineer (Civil Service) on the State Railway in Assam, Veterinary Surgeons, Deputy Surveyors, Architects, Officials in Board of Trade, Captain in Army Medical Corps, Lieutenants in Royal Engineers, Infantry, Royal Indian Marines, Director of Education, members of Merchant Service, and countless posts in Merchants’ Offices all over the world. I know of a commercial Office in Port Said in which there are three from the same Welsh County School. I wonder how they would all welcome the term "wooden." I am sorry that the posts I have mentioned are mainly men’s posts. I have not at hand a list of positions held by old girls of the Schools. Openings for them are probably of a less varied character, but I am confident that a fuller inquiry would reveal an equally astonishing success in the case of girls as of boys.

Teachers and Methods.

Thc Report of the Welsh Department is most unjustifiably severe on the methods of teaching in the Schools. "It is clear," it says, "about many of the teachers . . . they do not make a study of their pupils and teach them." Such a remark is a libel on our teachers. On this question of methods I venture to say

this: No body of teachers have kept themselves more in touch with the most modern methods in education.

A characteristic feature of the meetings of the Welsh County Schools’ Association has been that, in contrast to other educational associations, it has devoted most of its time to discussing new and improved methods of teaching, and has not confined its discussion to educational politics—a clear proof, if any were needed, that our main interest is the improvement of the work of teaching in the Schools.

The advice to teachers to attend Summer Courses is a work of supererogation. Teachers from our Schools have for years been in the habit of spending their vacations attending holiday courses at their own expense. Woodwork teachers have visited Nãäs, Leipzic, Scarborough, Ambleside, and Barry to improve their knowledge of and skill in Manual Work. Teachers of French attend courses in France to refresh their conversational powers and recover a little of French atmosphere. Teachers of Geography attend courses at Oxford and elsewhere. I even know of many teachers who have been granted a term’s leave of absence to study education in America, or abroad. Many of our teachers are so well qualified that they are even invited to conduct such courses. Of the four Modern Languages’ Courses conducted by the Teachers’ Guild last year, one was taken by an ex-Headmaster of a Welsh Intermediate School, another by an Assistant Master in a Welsh Intermediate School. An Assistant Master also gave Demonstration Lessons in Geography at the Oxford Holiday Course.

Heads and Assistants are better appreciated in England than they are by a department consisting of their own countrymen.

During the past few years ex-Intermediate School Head masters and Headmistresses have been appointed to the following posts :— One Professor of Education in Manchester University;

One an Inspector of Secondary Sc}’ools in England;

One the Head of Nottingham High School;

Two Heads of London Secondary Schools,

while at least six others were appointed Heads of English Secondary Schools in Yorkshire and elsewhere.

Of the Assistant Teachers, several have been appointed Inspectors of Schools under the Boad of Education. Several—at least ten—have been appointed Headmasters, or Headmistresses,

in England, while so great has been the demand for teachers who have gained experience in the Welsh Intermediate Schools that at least 409, of whom I have definite knowledge, have been appointed to posts in English Schools during the past ten years.

As to methods of teaching in vogue in the Schools, let me quote what an English Examiner, of fifteen years’ experience, says in this month’s "Journal of Education." (I would I could read the whole letter; no better defence of the Welsh Schools has yet appeared.) He states: "In Modern Languages the Central Welsh Board was a pioneer. I can honestly say that among the thousands I have examined in Modern Language, whether orally or in writing, those coming from the Welsh Schools and Colleges are generally the best. I have found many of them able to speak French really well who have never been outside the Principality."

I would venture to remind you that the Welsh Schools were among the first to adopt the Direct Method of teaching languages, and that the Central Welsh Board, at the request of the Schools, was absolutely the first examining body in England to set papers on the Direct Method, and to organise a complete examination of conversational French. I need only briefly refer to other subjects. in Woodwork, as an old Näas Student, I have no hesitation in saying that the work of some of the Schools in Wales will compare with any in the Kingdom. In Geography the Welsh Schools are among the most modern; the County of Glamorgan was among the first in Great Britain to fit out Geographical Laboratories in a most lavish manner, while a comparison of the papers of the Central Welsh Board with papers set in the University Local Examinations will clearly prove that the teaching of Geography in Wales has led the way on the most modern lines. In Science, Welsh teachers were among the first to adopt heuristic methods in their well-equipped laboratories. In Mathematics, the Examination Schedules of the Central Welsh Board were re-drafted at the time of the new development in mathematical teaching in Schools on the lines suggested by the Mathematical Association. In Latin, a large number of Schools have for some years adopted the new oral methods of teaching. There is generally in the Schools an alertness and a keen desire to keep in touch with the latest developments in educational thought and method.

The report is not satisfied with libelling the teaching abilities of Welsh teachers. It must needs suggest unworthy motives to them. It suggests that Head Teachers foster "a competition between Schools for Certificates," and " find the easiest mark-

getting subjects" for which to send in their pupils. I protest in the strongest possible manner against this attack on a body of men and women who, I venture to say, have displayed an enthusiasm and devotion to work beyond all praise. Members of this Association know that a spirit of mutual pleasure in the success of each other’s Schools has ever characterised our relations. Competitions for Scholarships are inevitable, but the suggestion of rivalry between schools is as uncalled for as it is unwarranted. The other suggestion, as to the tendency of Head Teachers to send their pupils for the easiest mark-getting subjects, is an inexactitude of the worst type, and, fortunately, it can be refuted by figures. If this were true, pupils would not be entered for the subjects in which the percentage of passes was lowest. The following are the figures in the Senior Certificate, the most important, as well as the most severe, of all the Certificates :—

In Latin the percentage of passes was 49.8, yet 2,660 exercises were sent in.

In Elementary Mathematics the percentage of passes was 67.1, yet 3,437 exercises were sent in.

In French the percentage of passes was ?? yet 2,633 exercises were sent in; but in Scripture and in Welsh, the really "easy options," particularly in the Welsh-speaking districts of Wales, the percentage of passes were 81.5 in Scripture and 87 in Welsh, yet in Scripture only 392 exercises, and in Welsh 816 exercises were sent in.

I regret, as much as does the Welsh Department, the fact that fewer candidates took Welsh, but it does not improve the position of Welsh in the Schools by the imputing of low motives as to its exclusion. " It isn’t cricket."

The value of the Welsh Department’s Report can again be tested by its attitude to the question of Differentiation in the Schools. The report states: "As the energy of the Schools is given its direction by one Examination, all the Schools have become Schools of the same type; adaptation of the Schools becomes difficult, if not impossible, originality on the part of the Headmasters finds no scope."

In reply I wish to state emphatically that the present character of the Schools has not been determined by the Central Welsh Board. It only examines and inspects, but does not control the

curriculum. The curriculum of the Schools has been determined by the following influences :—

1. The Secondary School Regulations of the Board of Education itself, which, up to two years ago, definitely fixed the exact subjects each School should teach, and even laid down the exact number of hours that had to be given to each subject, vide Regulations for Secondary Schools, Welsh Department, 1907-8, Section ~: "The course should provide instruction in the English Language and Literature, at least one language other than English (generally two necessary—Latin and a modern language), Geography, History, Mathematics, Science, and Drawing, Woodwork (Boys), Needlework (Girls) and Drill." In the next paragraph it laid down the hours to be devoted to each subject. Rigidity of curriculum could not further go.

2. The second determining factor was the Matriculation Examination of the University of Wales. Each pupil has to pass in English Language, History, Mathematics, two Languages, of which Latin is compulsory, and one Science, or, instead of a Language and a Science, two Sciences. Welsh parents have always had the laudable ambition that their children should proceed to a University; so that the great majority of pupils in the Schools had Matriculation in view.

3. The third factor was the necessity of preparing intending teachers for the Preliminary Examination of the Board of Education, or its equivalent. The requirements of the Board of Education were by no means elastic. The Welsh Department complains of over-pressure in the Schools. Is the Syllabus the Board of Education demands for the examination preliminary to a three years’ course in a Training College, likely to diminish over-pressure? The curriculum has not only been extended by adding Geography, but a higher standard is required in two subjects—English and History—and in these subjects the Schools are limited in choice to one fixed syllabus in each subject, the uneducational English 2c, and the excessively extensive course in History 2b.

But in spite of the rigidity of the Board of Education’s curriculum there is considerable differentiation in the Schools :—

(a) In the matter of training of intending teachers in Elementary Schools the widest differences exist.

(c) Several Schools have organised definite commercial departments, and the tendency to establish different sides in the larger Schools is growing each year. It remains for the Board of Education to foster the teaching of commercial subjects by not refusing to pay grants on such subjects as Bookkeeping, Shorthand, &c.

(d) in three Schools there are already Metal Workshops, and in two other schools new Metal Workshops will soon be established.

(e) In several Girls’ Schools there is a special form above the Junior Certificate Stage in which extra instruction is given in Cookery, Needlework, and the Laws of Health to such girls as display more aptitude for domestic than for academic subjects.

As far as subjects taught go, there is the greatest variety of type. In Science differentiation has proceeded by an orderly development. In the beginning almost all Schools took Chemistry. Gradually, as a result of experience, Girls’ Schools and Girls’ Departments in Dual Schools taught Botany as being more congenial for girls. At the same time complete freedom is allowed the Schools, and there are thirty Girls’ Departments in which Chemistry is taught, and five in which Physics is taught. In Languages the greatest diversity prevails. In at least fifteen Schools Greek is taught. In two Schools no French is taught. In very many Schools commercial subjects are alternative to Latin, and alternatives are the rule in several subjects. in one School known to me there are ten groupings of subjects beyond the Senior Stage.

But while the Welsh Department charges the Central Welsh Board with hindering differentiation, does it practice what it preaches? " It is very satisfactory," it states in this report, " to note that Latin is commenced in the lowest Forms in an increasing number of Schools, and it is hoped that every pupil will begin it during the first term spent in School; until this desirable uniformity of curriculum is attained . . ." It is obvious, however, that this "desirable uniformity of curriculum" will not lead in the direction of differentiation.

No report can do justice to the full life of a School if it limits itself to the criticism of one aspect only of the work.

The criticism of the Welsh Department’s Report, such as it is,

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is directed solely against the results of Examinations. It quite neglects the myriad activities of the social side of a well-organised school.

Within the last few years the House System, which was inaugurated at Clifton by Bishop Percival, has been introduced into a number of the Schools to the great advantage of the vigour of the School life. No mention is made, however, of this development in the Department’s report.

No reference is made to the physical development of the pupils, although the improvement in physique has been so marked through the organised physical training received in the Schools, that it has attracted the attention of University as well as County Authorities.

The report carefully omits all reference to the wide influence the Schools are exercising on the general culture and the intellectual interests, not only of the children, but also of the Welsh nation. The Schools generally are true to the National spirit. They keep up the traditions of the past of our country, and national institutions are mirrored in our Schools. School Eisteddfodau are held in a large number, while there are few, if any, Schools in which the National Saint’s Day is not duly celebrated, and the child’s pride in his country fostered. As a result of this the pupils of the Schools are beginning to take a prominent part in the National life. The Chaired Bard of 1910 is an old County School boy, as well as a present Master in a County School. Another Crowned Bard, a lecturer in Welsh at a University College, and an Examiner in Welsh to the Central Board is a product of the County Schools. As might naturally be expected from the Welshman’s love of oratory, Debating Societies are a feature of many of our Schools.

But the Schools do not merely content themselves with the preservation of past traditions; they endeavour to widen the interests of Welsh children in "the things that are more excellent." The Schools foster an appreciation of the " gifts of art," as well as" the gains of science." They aim at cultivating a love for the beautiful in music, in art, and in the drama. They are doing their utmost to remove the oft-repeated charge that our love of music is confined to vocal music. Orchestras are numerous in our Schools; chamber-music concerts are held in some Schools, and I learn with gratification, tinged perhaps with envy, that one School, at least, is able to produce a complete Wagner concert and works by modern composers, such as Coleridge Taylor’s " Hiawatha,"

Villiers Stanford’s " Revenge," and a recent festival work, Chiffe’s "Ode to the North-west Wind," &c.

We endeavour also to cultivate a love for the fine arts, for painting, sculpture and architecture. The copies of famous paintings, which adorn our walls, are selected with the greatest care; in some cases they are so arranged as to illustrate the various schools of painting in Europe. There are instances in which exhibitions of copies of great paintings are held in Schools and lantern lectures given on the history of periods of art and on architecture. Moreover, some Schools possess well-equipped studios and art rooms. Finally, there are fortunately few Schools in which the dramatic art in some form or another is not cultivated. Many Schools give admirable performances of Shakespearean plays, of adapted versions of Tennyson, and I am delighted to learn that some of the Schools have given a lead to Wales in the development of a Welsh National Drama.

It is a source of keen satisfaction to me that the artistic sense which is latent in Wales, but which for the past centuries has lain dormant, is now awakening to new life, and that the Welsh County Schools are taking no small part in this renaissance of the Arts in Wales.

To all this, however, as to every other good feature in our Schools, the Welsh Department of the Board of Education in its report is deliberately blind. And it is because its report has given such a complete misrepresentation of the character of our Schools that I hope that this Association will show in an unmistakable manner its sense of the injustice and wrong done to the Welsh County Schools by the Welsh Department of the Board of Education.

At the close of the above address, the following Resolution was unanimously passed by the Welsh County Schools Association:-