TECHNICAL EDUCATION

a system of instruction whose aim is directly utilitarian, especially in relation to productive industries. In the wider sense of the term, any branch of knowledge which is a nece ary preliminary to any particular profe ion or trade is technical, such as the instruction received by medical students, law in connection with the legal profe ion, the principles of art as studied by artists with a view to their application, etc. For administrative purposes, however, the term is practically restricted to instruction which is calculated to render workmen, foremen, managers, clerks, and others more competent in fulfilling duties in their particular industries. Formerly, technical instruction was received in the course of apprenticeship; the young workman was directly under the eye of his master, and was taught the details of his trade during actual working hours. Many causes have combined to break up the old institution of apprenticeship, among which may be mentioned the specialization which has divided many industries into small branches, rendering acquaintance with the industry as a whole difficult to achieve by a person actually engaged in the work, and the modern tendency to ‘efficiency’ in organization which makes it difficult to find a place for a person who is at once pupil and workman. It is accordingly found a more useful plan to instruct the would-be worker in the principles underlying his work before he begins to practice them, or, in the case of actual workers anxious to improve their position, to provide for instruction in the evenings after work is over. The growing complexity of many industries demands that efficient technical instruction should be _ provided so as to commence at a fairly early age, and there is a tendency for the claims of technical education to contend with those of general education to the detriment of the latter. In the provision of technical instruction the following principles are generally observed by modern states. The state itself has a responsibility to modern industry, but the carrying out of details is best left to local administrations. Special schools may be provided for definitely technical purposes, but there is no need to divorce technical from secondary education, if the local conditions are favorable to a’ combination.. The higher branches of technical education (7.e.) those that concern the future of an industry rather than the practical needs of the present, should be administered in centralized institutes by the state itself, or by universities or other bodies in direct communication with the state administration. Technical education in general should bear a relationship to local industries. The schools providing technical instruction in the United States may be cla ed under three headings: (1) those free from state or government control maintained from funds arising from endowments and students’ fees; (2) schools which form part of or are affiliated to the universities and which are equally independent of public control; and (3) schools and colleges attached to state universities and maintained by state grants. The institutions in which the highest technical instruction is given are those devoted to the teaching of engineering in all its branches, including mining engineering and of chemistry in its application to manufacturing industry, besides schools of agriculture, forestry, and design.