secondary school teaching at the University College of the West Indies or a British University has not included teacher education subjects taken simultaneously with a subject specialty in preparation for a Bachelor's degree.

As indicated in the discussion of problems and trends in secondary education in the British Caribbean areas, there is a shortage of secondary teachers in general, and in particular a lack of teachers prepared at the Bachelor's degree level in subject specialties, and trained professionally for secondary level teaching. Or to put it in terms signifying formal educational achievement in British oriented systems, the percentages of "graduates," i.e., holders of a university Bachelor's degree in a subject field, and of the subsequently granted Diploma in Education are low in the British Caribbean areas. Generally speaking, the Government secondary schools are in a better position by reason of their higher rates of pay to attract university-trained teachers than are grant-aided and purely private schools.

The report of the aforementioned 1955 Conference of Heads of Secondary Schools in the British Caribbean summarized the situation as of that date as follows:

The overall position in the British Caribbean is, therefore, that no more than a dozen schools have mostly graduates on their staff, and few of these graduates have a Diploma of Education. Non-graduates comprise more than half of the staffs of the secondary schools in the region. A small number of them are working towards a degree, usually the External B.A. of London University, but most have no better academic qualifications than a School or Higher Certificate, and some of them not even this. A few have been to a training college for teachers in elementary schools; the others have no professional training at all. Many of them move away to other jobs as soon as they can, which means that the turnover of staff is high. Some of them are good natural teachers, but the average level of academic background and teaching skill is low. There are few opportunities for even the best of them to become qualified, so that a career in teaching holds out slender prospects.10

The shortage of teachers of science, mathematics, and other subjects was particularly noted. It was observed that in some schools the teaching of science has not been developed or has had to be curtailed. Other problems and needs in secondary staffing were considered, and these needs and remedial action to meet them were summarized in the following words:

In formulating a policy, governments should aim at strengthening the position of schools working to the highest academic standards and also achieving a steady improvement in the overall staffing of secondary schools. The proportion of graduate teachers, and of those with a Diploma in Education, should be increased progressively. An appropriate form of train

10 H. R. X. D'Aeth, Secondary Schools in the British Caribbean (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1956), p. 35.

ing should be arranged for the many non-graduate teachers. Emergency measures should be taken to relieve the shortage of science teachers, which is already alarming. In the long run, however, the teaching profession will have to offer more attractive prospects and require better qualifications if secondary education is to be put on a sound footing. A number of the difficulties can only be effectively resolved on a regional basis; and an arrangement for federal consultation is needed to supplement the regular consultations between government and secondary schools in each territory.11

These problems were also considered by the 1957 Regional Conference on Teacher Training, which approved a series of recommendations in similar vein directed to the territorial Governments.12 A principal need here was felt to be financial, i.e., that governments should give more assistance through scholarships and other means to worthy teachers or candidates for teaching to enable them to attain both their university degrees and their diplomas in education, while also providing salary scales recognizing educational achievement and attractive enough to compete with those of other professional pursuits. In meeting the financial problem, some progress is being made. Governments are gradually offering more scholarships and financial aid for present and prospective teachers. In Jamaica, for example, such aid is included as an integral part of the Government's program for providing more trained teachers. In most territories, additional salary increments are given to those obtaining the Diploma in Education. In the matter of a general and substantial rise in salary levels, both absolutely and in comparison with other professions, progress is slow.

Both the 1955 and 1957 Conferences recognized the all important role of the University College of the West Indies in providing facilities to help meet the need for qualified and trained secondary teachers. Included in the recommendations of the latter Conference was one that the UCWI increase the number of places for students preparing for the Diploma in Education, and another that it provide facilities for the professional training of a limited number of capable non-graduate teachers already in service. The role of the UCWI in teacher preparation and training will be considered in more detail in the discussion of the University College; suffice it here to point out that the Conference took note of the recognition by the UCWI of its responsibility, so far as its finances permit, to expand its degree programs to include as many as possible of the subjects taught in secondary schools and to increase its enrollments generally so as to meet the needs of the region for teachers and others with university training.13

11 Ibid., p. 42.

12 See Recommendations 18 through 23, reprinted in appendix A to this Bulletin. 13 Teacher Training Conference Report, p. 22.

A Unified Teaching Service

The historical distinction between elementary and secondary education and the erstwhile lack of articulation between them has already been noted. There has likewise been a sharp distinction between elementary and secondary school teaching systems and generally speaking this remains the prevailing practice. Elementary and secondary teachers usually have had different types of preparation and professional training, and have been members of two different teaching systems, with little official and professional communication and relationship between them.

It is therefore significant that along with the beginnings of a trend to regard elementary and secondary education as two parts of one continuing process, there has been official and professional recognition of the desirability of recognizing elementary and secondary teachers as members of a unified teaching service and of working toward that goal. The 1957 Conference on the Training of Teachers agreed that

** the aim should be to simplify the structure of the teaching service, by removing unnecessary complications and anomalies, and in so doing to bring teachers in elementary and secondary schools into a unified teaching service.14

It was the Conference view that the distinction between categories of teachers should be on the basis of their education and training, and that they should be divided into two main categories, graduates and non-graduates, each of these in turn divided into two groups consisting of trained and untrained teachers. These four groups the Conference designated as trained graduate teachers, graduate teachers, trained teachers, and uncertificated teachers. At the same time it was recognized that for some time to come the additional category of certificated teacher would have to remain. This would embrace those who have been unable to receive a course of training in a training college, but who provide satisfactory evidence of academic attainment, professional knowledge, and ability to teach. The five categories of teachers, with their levels of qualifications as recommended by the Conference, were summarized in its Recommendation 33.

Similarly, in the corollary matter of salary scales, the thinking of official and professional opinion at the Conference held that teachers' salaries should be related to their qualifications and not to the type of school in which they serve. It was recognized that existing practice was for separate salary scales for teachers in

14 Teacher Training Conference Report, p. 32.

secondary and elementary schools, and it was the conference's view that governments should work toward relating salary scales and allowances to the five main categories of teachers it had recommended.

Up to the present the goal of a unified teaching service embracing both elementary and secondary teachers remains largely an unfulfilled ideal. The opinion may be ventured that it is not likely to be achieved in any substantial degree until the educational attainments which can be required of both groups are more nearly alike. Insofar as elementary teachers are concerned, the trend in the individual territories appears to be toward recognition of the three indicated categories of uncertificated, certificated, and trained teachers, although sometimes the terminology for describing these groups varies and there usually are several subcategories within each main category.

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CHAPTER VI

Technical Education

THE SIGNIFICANCE attached to the development of "technical,"

"vocational," and "practical" education, including agricultural education, by governmental and educational leaders in the British Caribbean areas has already been noted. Although still in its infancy, this kind of education and training is receiving increasing attention and can scarcely fail to continue to expand as the demand for vocational and technological skills develops, and the value of such education is increasingly recognized. Manifestations of the trend include various developments previously mentioned, such as (1) the inclusion of "practical" subjects in the curriculum and programs of some of the regular primary, post-primary, and secondary schools; (2) the participation of the British Caribbean territories in the Caribbean vocational training program in Puerto Rico; and (3) the establishment of the position of Technical Education Adviser in the Office of the Federal Education Adviser in the new West Indies Government. In this chapter a further evidence of the trend, the founding and expansion of technical institutes and schools at both the postprimary and advanced levels will be discussed more particularly. Non-agricultural and agricultural education will be dealt with separately.

Post-Primary Technical Education

There have been in existence in recent years in the British Caribbean areas two types of institutions at the post-primary level for non-agricultural vocational education and training-the secondary technical school and the technical institute. The technical institute is primarily intended for vocational training in specific trades, emphasizing training for those already employed in industrial or service trades. Such persons usually receive training on released time under some special arrangement, such as an apprenticeship system, or an after-working hours schedule. The secondary technical school provides a secondary education emphasizing specialized technical subjects, but including also basic academic subjects, and does not draw its students from those already employed.1

1 The distinction is set forth in Comptroller for Development and Welfare in the West Indies, Memorandum on Technical Education in the British Caribbean (Barbados, 1956), p. 11.