to devote itself to advanced technical education as the term is being used here. The Polytechnic Institute is, however, discussed in this chapter for sake of convenience.

Provision was made for the Polytechnic Institute in Trinidad's 5-Year Development Program for 1958-62. Its opening, originally scheduled for 1958, was delayed. The proposed institution was described in the 5-Year Program as one which would "train students for London University degrees in Arts and Social Science, and provide instructions for certain professional examinations, Law, Accountancy, and Valuation." According to this statement, it would not rival the University College of the West Indies but would fill a gap between the secondary schools and the University. It was stated that the greatest demand on it at the outset would be for graduates to staff the new secondary schools, and that private business and the civil service would benefit later from its output of trained personnel. It was announced that until the Institute had its own facilities, evening classes would be held in the Queens Royal College, the Government Secondary School for boys in Portof-Spain. In February 1959 a Trinidadian of East Indian origin was appointed to be first Principal of the Polytechnic Institute.

Agricultural and Rural Education

In the British Caribbean, with its predominantly agricultural economy, there has gradually been recognition of the need for providing formal instruction in agricultural subjects. Although the territorial school systems have not generally differentiated between urban schools and rural schools in organization and curriculum, the introduction of "practical" rural and agricultural subjects in the curriculums of the elementary, post-primary, and secondary modern schools in rural areas has been noted. In British Guiana, for example, a scheme of work with an agricultural bias and practical work on the land has been prepared for rural elementary schools in collaboration with officers of the Department of Agriculture. Rural youth clubs have been initiated in some territories as a means of augmenting agricultural education. In addition, there has been interest in establishing or designating certain elementary schools for special attention to curricular programs for rural living. For example, in Jamaica six rural schools began in 1954 a program of specialization in agriculture. This included regular classroom work in rural subjects, as well as instruction in practical farm management on farms of 5 to 7 acres attached to the

Five Year Development Program, 1958-1962, p. 45.

schools, with the keeping of accounts and records part of the program. Along the same line, the Government of British Guiana in 1955 accepted in principle the desirability of setting up a Farm School in the elementary system to train small groups of farmers' sons and other specially interested young people, and to offer courses for teachers in training. Lack of funds to set up and maintain such a school had prevented its establishment by 1958-59.

A major problem in the establishment of such courses and programs has been the shortage of teachers with the knowledge and training necessary to teach such subjects. In cooperation with extension agents and other personnel of the territorial Departments of Agriculture efforts are being made to remedy this deficiency through special short courses, workshops, and conferences, as well as through courses in teacher-training colleges.

Separate institutions giving post-primary instruction in agricultural and rural subjects have developed in Jamaica in the so-called Practical Training Centres, and at a higher level at the Jamaica School of Agriculture. In Trinidad there are the regionally sponsored Eastern Caribbean Farm Institute for training in practical agriculture and the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture for instruction at the higher education level.

Jamaican Practical Training Centres

The Jamaican Practical Training Centres, four in number, are located in rural areas and are in the nature of rural technical secondary schools. Three of them are for boys and one for girls (the Jamaica School of Home Economics). In addition to general education courses, the boys specialize in agriculture and related practical subjects, and the girls in home economics. Entrance is by examination on a selective basis, usually between the ages of 15 and 17 at the minimum level of the First Jamaica Local Examination, or 8 to 9 years of schooling. The Centres do not usually represent a direct and immediate continuation of elementary schooling for those entering, who are usually older, for example, than those entering the Kingston Technical School. There are normally about 300 day and resident students in the three Centres for boys and 60 in the girls' Centre. In 1958 there were reported to be some 1,000 applicants each year for admission to the 120 places available to new students. Fees are charged but some students enter on scholarships offered by the Government, private concerns, or individuals. The instructional program at the Centres is 3 years in length, with the first 2 years including some general education subjects and the third year consisting largely of specialized training. At the Dint Hill Centre, for example, English, Mathematics, and Sciences

are included in the curriculum with the objective of preparing students up to the level of the Overseas School Certificate. Practical subjects at Dint Hill include agricultural sciences, applied agriculture, woodwork, and metal work. Those who conclude the 3-year program for boys may have opportunities for employment with on-the-job training in industries processing agricultural products, on plantations, or in government. Or they may undertake further formal training at the Jamaica School of Agriculture, or at a Teacher Training College as future teachers of agriculture and shop subjects in the elementary schools. Few return to the farms of their parents.

The Practical Training Centres also serve as Evening Institutes offering practical training for adults and others not enrolled in the day programs.

Jamaica School of Agriculture

The recent extension of the facilities of the Jamaica School of Agriculture is further evidence of the trend to use education to help meet practical developmental needs. Founded in 1910, the institution was known until 1939 as the Government Farm School. Until 1957 it was located at Hope Gardens and Hope Agricultural Station, on the site which has now been taken over by the Jamaica Institute of Technology. Its primary purpose has always been to provide practical education and training for young men in careers in all branches of tropical agriculture, including positions in agricultural extension and other governmental services. The school is operated by the Jamaica Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Education now has a representative on the School's Board of Governors. In 1957 the school moved from Hope to more extensive quarters and larger buildings constructed with the aid of a £125,000 grant from Colonial Development and Welfare funds as part of Jamaica's Development Plan. Located at a site known as Twickenham Park in a rural area about 15 miles from Kingston, the new quarters include a large tract of agricultural land for experimental farm purposes. With facilities for and an enrollment of 168 students in 1958-59, this figure is twice the 1954 enrollment at Hope. In 1958-59 there were 11 full-time faculty members and a number of part-time lecturers.

In 1958 applicants for admission to the Jamaica School of Agriculture had to be at least 16 years of age and to have passed any one of the following examinations: (1) Third Jamaica Local, (2) Second Jamaica Certificate of Education Examination, (3) Cambridge Overseas School Certificate Examination, or (4) a public examination equivalent to any one of these. In addition, applicants

were required to take an entrance examination in English, mathematics, and several sciences. Payment of tuition fees was required, but a considerable number of scholarships from the Government, private individuals, and agricultural and other firms and organizations were available. About half the students were scholarship holders.10 All students were residential and the tuition fees included board and room.

The course of study at the Jamaica School of Agriculture in 195859 was 3 years in length and included English, mathematics, and science subjects in addition to courses in agriculture, agricultural economics, agricultural engineering, rural sociology, soils, animal husbandry, and veterinary science. At the end of the 3-year course a diploma was awarded to those who had attained a certain standard. For those who failed to reach diploma standard, a certificate might be awarded if the overall grade average was not less than 45 percent.

Eastern Caribbean Farm Institute

Training in practical agriculture was the objective of the Eastern Caribbean Farm Institute, which was established in 1954 near Arima in Trinidad, some 20 miles east of Port-of-Spain. The Institute is a joint project of the Governments of the British Eastern Caribbean Territories-Trinidad and Tobago, the islands of the Windward and Leeward groups, Barbados, and British Guiana -which have responsibility for its maintenance. The West Indies Development and Welfare Organization was closely connected with the preparatory work in organizing the Institute. The site of the institute was made available through arrangements with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. Funds for the initial capital expenditure for buildings, equipment, and supplies, including full living quarters for the staff and dormitories for the students, came from Colonial Development and Welfare funds and a grant from the Carnegie Corporation. Additional Colonial Development and Welfare funds have been supplied as facilities expanded. The Institute is controlled by a Governing Board composed of representatives from the Governments of the member territories, usually the prescribed officers in their respective Departments of Agriculture, as well as a few others holding important positions in agriculture in the region.

The Institute was founded primarily to train subordinate staff members of Departments of Agriculture in the region, and when opportunity permits, men of similar status in commercial agricul

10 British Information Services, Higher Technical Education in the UK Dependencies (New York, January 1959), p. 10.

ture. Thus, instruction was intended as in-service vocational training at the intermediate level for those who it was anticipated would eventually fill executive positions in Departments of Agriculture and perhaps other government agencies and private commercial organizations with agricultural interests.

To this end, the long-range plan was that the Institute course should cover 2 years, and that students would normally be between the ages of 18 and 25 at entry and have a good basic education and some experience of practical farming. At the outset, however, in order to meet an immediate need, the Institute undertook to provide an intensive 1-year program of training for men already employed in the territorial Departments of Agriculture, many of them with long periods of service. It was for this reason that in its first 2 years, 1954-55 and 1955-56, the Institute gave only a 1-year intensive course. In the autumn of 1956 the third and last group of 1-year trainees was admitted, along with the first group taking the regular 2-year program.

In the autumn of 1958, the third group of regular 2-year students began their studies. There were enrolled at that time some 30 students in each year of the 2-year program, or 63 in all. The character of the enrollment was coming more and more to approximate the original intention, i.e., a group of young members of their respective Agriculture Departments, who after 3 to 6 months' service would be sent for specialized training to the Institute. As time goes on and the needs of these Departments are gradually met, it is expected that the proportion of privately sponsored trainees will increase.

In 1958-59 there were no formal educational entrance requirements. It is presumed, however, that those attending the Institute will normally have had at least a basic elementary education, although some of those enrolling have had less formal education and some up to the level of the School Certificate or the General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level.

The faculty, or tutorial staff consisted in 1958 of five members, including a teaching principal and vice-principal. The faculty members were originally all from the United Kingdom, but the ultimate aim is to have the tutorial staff composed entirely of West Indians. In 1958 a start had been made in this direction with the inclusion of one West Indian on the staff. The Institute's program of studies and training is about half lectures and class work, and half practical field work. The formal class work is geared to

11 Eastern Caribbean Farm Institute, Report of the Governing Body for the Year 1957, p. 10. Much of the data on the Institute and its activities given here is taken from these Annual Reports.

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