Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/514

 WOMAN'S WORK 490 maintenance allowances intended to cover the whole or part of the cost of the maintenance of the intending pupil-teacher until she is able to begin earning a salary. The Board of Education, too, make grants for bursaries for intending teachers, entitling the bursar to free education at a secondary school for one year, and in some cases a maintenance allowance. The Board also make grants to county councils (except London) in aid of the traveUing and other expenses of pupil-teachers and bursars. The parents or guardians of girls who think they would like to enter the teaching profession, or the managers of public ele- mentary schools, or the principals of private schools in which there are such girls, should apply in the first instance to the local education authority for the area in which they reside for information as to the ad- vantages offered by that authority to those who intend to become teachers in public elementary schools. Pupil-teachers Pupil-teachers are girls and boys who receive training in teaching in public ele- mentary schools, together with suitable in- struction with a view to their becoming qualified for recognition as teachers in a higher capacity. Pupil-teachers must, as a rule, be over sixteen, but not over eighteen, years of age at the close of July 31 previous to their period of recognition. The date on which recognition begins is August ist in each 3^ear, and the period of recognition is, in general, two years. Candidates over seventeen years of age may, with the approval of the Board, be recognised for a period of one year. In rural districts candidates between the ages of fifteen and sixteen may, with the special consent of the Board, be recognised as pupil-teachers for periods of three years. The parents of girls who desire to obtain recognition as pupil-teachers are recom- mended to communicate in the first instance with the local education authority for the area in which it is desired that the candidate should be employed. The Board no longer require candidates for recognition as pupil-teachers to have passed a qualifying examination, but it rests with the local education authority to take what steps they think fit to assure themselves that each candidate's attain- ments are such as to afford a reasonable prospect of her passing her leaving examina- tion in due course. Before they can give their consent to the recognition of a candidate as a pupil-teacher the Board require to be satisfied that the candidate is suitable in respect of character, health, and freedom from personal defects, that she has been vaccinated, and that she has made a formal declaration of her in- tention to become a teacher in a public elementary school. During the period of their engagements, pupil-teachers spend part of their time in receiving instruction, if possible in a recog- nised pupil-teacher centre which is part of the secondary school in which they have received their previous instruction, and part in teaching or receiving training under supervision in a public elementary school. Salaries, the amounts of which vary in the case of different local education authorities, are paid to the pupil-teachers in respect of their services in the public elementary, schools. The instruction received by pupil- teachers during their engagements is tested by a leaving examination, which may be either the preliminary examination for the elementary school-teachers' certificate or one of the other examinations qualifying for admission to a training college for a two years' course of training. A copy of the regulations and syllabus of the preliminary examination for the elementary school teachers' certificate will be sent on applica- tion to the Board. Pupil-teachers who have not passed their leaving examination before the end of their period of recognition as such must do so wilhm the following year. Bursars Bursars, under the Board's regulations, are girls recommended by the local education authority who intend to become elementary school-teachers, and who are attending full time at a recognised secondary school and require financial assistance in order to continue their education. It will be noticed that the chief distinction between a pupil- teacher and a bursar is that, while a pupil- teacher divides her time between being taught in a centre and teaching in .a public elementary school, a bursar does not, during her year of recognition, do any teaching in an elementary school, but spends the whole year being taught at a secondary school ; her practical experience in the art of teach- ing comes later on. When once an intend- ing teacher has been a bursar for a year she cannot be recognised as a pupil-teacher, but, unless she stays on at school, goes to a training college or becomes a student- teacher, as described later on. Similarly a pupil-teacher cannot become a bursar. A bursar will be recognised for one year, beginning from August ist. The following are the conditions of the recognition of a bursar : The candidate must be over sixteen, but not over eighteen, at the close of July 31 previous to the period of recognition, and must have been educated for the three pre- vious years in a recognised secondary school. The candidate must satisfy the same conditions as are prescribed for pupil- teachers, and must be reported by the head- master of the secondary school as not unsuitable to be a teacher. If the candidate has not already passed an examination qualifying her for admission to a training college, the headmaster of her secondary school must certify that she is reasonably likely to pass during the year.