Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/108

* TECHNICAL EDUCATION. 82 TECHNICAL EDUCATION. ing industrial schools play an important part in the thickly populated manufacturing centres of iielgium, whore, in such towns as Liege, Brus- sels, and Seraing, thousands of workmen nightly receive scientific and technical instruction bear- ing on their trades. There are many technical schools in Paris and other cities and towns of France that provide evening instruction. In most cases such evening classes are supported by commercial or industiial societies and bear upon the local industries. Nowhere else is the organization of evening in- dustrial classes carried to so high a point as in Great Britain. Through the system of examina- tions and grants directed by the Science and Art Department, classes in drawing, modeling, design, mathematics, and many branches of science, are maintained throughout the United Kingdom. From 1879 to 1890 the City and Guilds of Lon- don Institute performed a similar function for technical and industrial classes. By their liberal financial assistance tlirough examination grants, not only wore all manner of teclmical courses organized throughout the country, but practical trade classes were opened to broaden and further the experience of those engaged in the trades. The act of 1889 which authorized local author- ities to build and maintain technical schools, and to contribute to evening technical classes out of the local rates, followed by the law of 1890 which set aside a portion of the excise duties for the support of such schools, rendered the financial assistance of the Institute no longer essential, and since 1890 that association has confined its grants to classes in the city of London. The Institute continues its functions as an examining body, and is recognized as setting the standard for all work in this field. In the United States such evening schools are rapidlj' assuming an important place. The free evening classes of the Cooper Union have pro- vided an opportunity for thousands of young men to advance themselves. The evening classes of the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y., represent an important and highly developed example of such instruction. Worthy of mention are also the Drexel Institute, Philadelphia; the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, New York City: the drawing school of the Franklin Insti- tute, Philadelphia ; the Lewis Institute, Chicago; and the evening classes conducted by Young Men's Christian Associations all over the country. The Trade School is an institution that has come into existence almost entirely since the mid- dle of the nineteenth century. The industrial conditions produced by an era of quantity of pro- duction and division of labor have developed the real problem of the trade school. In the days of the old guilds, when both production and exchange were in the hands of the master- workman, the natural provision for trade train- ing was found in the apprenticeship system. As soon, however, as the master-workman ceased to be both merchant and craftsman, the apprentice began to lose his natural position in the indus- trial order. In most trades the master-work- man has developed on one side into the director of an industrial establishment, or has become the foreman of a large number of workmen. From this situation, and from the fact that the special- ization of labor in most trades dependent upon machinery renders any comprehensive training in such trades under ordinary conditions imprac- ticable, and also because of the restrictive regu- lations of trades unions as to apprentices, arises the modern demand for the trade school. Jlanual dexterity and knowledge of processes are natu- rally the primary object in such schools. Ex- amples of this kind of school, in spite of a general notion to the contrary, are not numerous even on the Continent of Europe. In Germany and Austria it is considered un- wise to introduce purely technical instruction into the period of the common school, so that all schools for technical training admit only pupils more than fourteen years of age. Beside the Oeti-erheschulen, of a secondary grade, are the Fachschulen, or schools which deal with the train- ing for some one special trade. These schools are distributed in industrial centres throughout the two empires according to local needs. In some of these schools the courses range from two to four years, and include instruction in drawing, elementary mathematics, science, and the tech- nology of the particular trade. From the natvire and range of instruction, many of these would be more properly classified as technical schools, and even in the cases where the object is simply to combine the elements of a general education with the training of a craftsman, the length of time required prevents any large attendance of the artisan class. The actual efl'ect is conse- quently to train a few foremen and superior workmen, rather than to feed the ranks of the large army of workers. In some of the large cities, notably in Berlin, numerous evening trade classes are maintained, which alTord the learner already apprenticed at a trade most practical opportunities to increase his skill, as well as to broaden his knowdedge. In Belgium several dis- tinctive trade schools exist, among which those at Tournay and Ghent are prominent. To these schools are admitted boys from thirteen to six- teen years old, who spend three years in the prac- tice of a particular trade, together with study of general branches and drawing. Trade schools for girls have also received much attention in Belgium. In certain special trade schools in Belgium the experiment of paying the pupils for coming to the schools, in order to compensate for the loss of wages, has been made. But it is in France that the question of train- ing for the trades has received the greatest of- ficial attention and that the organization of schools for such training has reached the highest point. By the law of 1880. provision was made for the establishment of ccnlcs manueUes d'ap- prentissarie as a distinct class of the ecole^ pri- maires sup&rieures. These schools were intended either to prepare for or to shorten the period of apprenticeship, and were placed iinder the joint control of the Ministry of Public Instruction and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. In them workshop training plays a prominent part, but a liberal amount of general instruction is also given during the three years' course. Pupils are ad- mitted when twelve or thirteen years old. By an administrative blunder, the feature of the law of 1880 creating such schools remained inoper- ative until 1888, except in Paris, where the mu- nicipality early equipped and developed three successful trade schools, one for wood and metal working, one for furniture-making, and one for the book industries. After 1SS8 apprenticeship schools began to appear in the provinces, but in- asmuch as no common programme has been de-