To prevent misunderstanding I am therefore to explain that in the case of those who claim recognition in terms of the first sentence of Article 47, the Department will look for attainments which may fairly be held to correspond generally with those required for the "Special Certificate of Qualification" under the latter part of that Article, and will further require evidence that, in the school or institution where he was employed, the teacher actually held an important and responsible position in connexion with the teaching of the particular subject for which he claims special recognition.

The Department are now prepared to consider such claims, provided they are made through the Managers of the School in which the teacher was engaged at the date of the Regulations, on form 50 T., of which a supply is enclosed. Further copies of this form may be obtained on application to the Department. The forms of claim should be forwarded to the Department not later than 31st March, 1908.

If a teacher was engaged in more than one school or institution at the date of the Regulations as a teacher of the special subject in respect of which the claim is made, the application should be forwarded through the Managers of that school or institution in which he was inainly employed, but particulars of his employment in the other schools should also be given.

Teachers whose claims are admitted will receive a notification to that effect, and their names will be entered in a Register of recognised teachers of Special Subjects.

It is requested that the terms of this Circular letter may be brought to the notice of any teachers of Special Subjects who appear to be qualified to submit a claim on form 50 T.

I have, etc.

J. STRUTHERS.

EDUCATIONAL APPOINTMENTS IN INDIA AND THE COLONIES.

(Circular to School Boards and Managers.)

C. 411.

Scotch Education Department, 2nd January, 1908.

SIR,

The Scotch Education Department are asked from time to time, in conjunction with the Board of Education, to select candidates for educational appointments of various kinds in India and the Colonies. For this purpose a list of applicants is kept in this office. Vacancies, as they occur, are sometimes advertised in the newspapers, but it will not be possible to follow this course in all cases, and a selection for any vacancy may be made from the candidates whose names are already on the Department's list. For this reason teachers and others connected with education in Scotland, who are desirous of obtaining employment abroad, would do well to make a general application to the Department without waiting to hear of a particular vacancy, in order that their names may be placed on the list, after which they will receive notice of any appointment to be made on the recommendation of this Department or the Board of Education, for which they may be considered eligible.

Applications should be addressed to the Secretary, Scotch Education Department, Dover House, Whitehall, London, S.W. Testimonials and Certificates should not be sent to this office until the candidate has received a special form of application, which will be sent to him or her upon request.

In connection with this notice attention may be called to the Department's Circular No. 382, stating the conditions upon which young teachers in Scottish Secondary Schools may obtain employment for one year in French Lycées or Colleges and in German Schools as temporary Assistants. Applications for posts of this kind may in future be addressed to this office, and should be forwarded not later than April 30th preceding the session for which such employment is desired.

I am to request that you will be good enough to circulate this notice among the teachers in the employment of your Board (Committee or Managers)

I have, etc.,

J. STRUTHERS.

FRENCH AND GERMAN ASSISTANTS IN SCOTTISH SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES.

(Circular to Training Centres and Secondary and Higher Grade Schools.)

C. 390.

SIR,

Scotch Education Department, 13th March, 1908.

The French and Prussian Governments have recently established a system under which a number of young teachers in Secondary Schools in England and Scotland may be attached for a year to certain Secondary Schools in their respective Countries. The authorities of the foreign Ministries of Public Instruction are most anxious to extend the scheme, and to find similar opportunities in suitable Training Centres, or in suitable Secondary or Higher Grade Schools in England and Scotland, for young graduates who will afterwards be employed in their own State Schools.

These Governments have approached the Scotch Education Department with a view to co-operation. In the opinion of the Department the proposal has much to recommend it, and, provided that proper care be exercised in the selection of the candidates and in the arrangements made for their work, it is thought that the presence of such teachers on the staff of a School might prove most useful.

In the majority of cases it will probably be found that the 'Assistants" have too little pedagogical experience to be entrusted under unfamiliar conditions with the continuous instruction of a class of pupils, and so to take a share in the ordinary work of the school. Modern Language instruction to be effective is now seen to demand a greater degree of continuity in teaching than was at one time thought necessary. But the higher the efficiency of the regular staff, the greater the benefit likely to accrue from supplementing its efforts in special directions. And there are many ways in which such a young foreign teacher might give valuable help. If he possesses the necessary tact, he will be frequently consulted by his Scottish colleagues who are responsible for the regular instruction; for them he will be a ready work of reference and a court of appeal on points of disputed usage. His main usefulness will, however, lie in the direction of immediate contact with the pupils in order to develop their power of conversation. In the ordinary class work conversation must always remain a means rather than an end in itself. From this point of view little advantage would be derived from the substitution of a young foreigner for the

experienced native teacher, nor would the foreign Governments concerned consider the conditions as satisfactory where a definite share in such instruction was assigned to the assistant. This arrangement would not only impose on him a very considerable amount of preparation and curtail too largely his own opportunities for study, but it would also divert his energies from their proper sphere-viz., the development of the conversational powers of the boys.

Instead, he should be employed to conduct small "conversation groups" of five or six pupils. Attendance at these exercises should be quite voluntary and might be regarded as a privilege, and in some measure as a reward for good progress in the ordinary class work. In these groups the work should be made as little formal as possible. It should be constantly borne in mind that it is not intended to convey to the pupils fresh knowledge, nor even, primarily, to practise them in that which they have already acquired. The chief object is to induce them to talk rapidly, on subjects within their grasp, in a manner which is not possible in the class-room.

Not more than two hours' work a day is to be demanded of such assistants. The rest of their time should be at their own disposal. They may be encouraged to take part in the games and sports of the schools, if they show any readiness or aptitude in this direction; but such participation should not be expected of them. With regard to their own reading, they should feel at liberty constantly to consult the Headmaster or any member of the staff who may be recommended to them for this purpose; and care should be taken to point out to them all educational facilities (such as lectures at Universities and elsewhere) which are likely to prove useful.

Though these assistants are not members of the staff, their services will necessitate some remuneration. In Boarding Schools it might be possible to make arrangements whereby they should be boarded and lodged in one of the boarding houses. In the great majority of Scottish Schools, however, such an arrangement is not practicable. In Day Schools it would be necessary to offer sufficient salary (say from £60-75) to cover the cost of board and lodging.

It is clearly understood that these assistants would be liable to dismissal on the same terms as the ordinary members of the staff, though it is hoped that the power would not be exercised with these teachers-whose appointment is only for a year, at any rate during the initial stages of this experiment, except in cases of grave breach of the rules or comity of the school, and that Managers would be prepared in such cases to make a report upon the matter to the Department for transmission to the foreign Ministry concerned.

It will greatly assist the ultimate success and spread of a movement which it is believed may be of great value for the

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teaching of Modern Languages in all three countries, if Managers who are willing to make this experiment in a sympathetic spirit will submit a frank report at the close of the year upon the results that have been obtained, dealing with the difficulties that have occurred and with the conditions that should in their opinion be fulfilled if the best use is to be made of these assistants. These reports would, of course, be treated as strictly confidential by the Department and by the foreign Ministry of Public Instruction concerned.

As will be gathered from the foregoing remarks, the employment of men students in schools for boys is chiefly contemplated, but similar benefits might be expected to follow from the employment of women in the same capacity in girls', or even in mixed schools, and applications for the services of duly qualified women will also be received and transmitted abroad.

It should be added that, in the case of Secondary Schools, the Department will be prepared to recognise the salaries paid to such assistants as an object to which grants received from the Department may be applied in terms of Article 17 of the Regulations as to Grants to Secondary Schools.

Managers of Training Centres, or of Secondary or Higher Grade Schools, who desire to avail themselves of the services of French or German speaking assistants in the manner indicated above, during the session commencing next autumn, are requested to communicate with the Secretary, Scotch Education Department, Dover House, Whitehall, London, S. W., informing him of the number of assistants required, and of the remuneration which it is proposed to offer. It is important that all applications for the ensuing session should be received at an early date, if possible, not later than May 15th.

I have, etc.,

J. STRUTHERS.