Britain: An official handbook > 1956

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BRITAIN: AN OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
at the discretion of the headmaster or headmistress of the school. In the summer of
1954 some 20,000 children under the age of 16 took the examination.
In Scotland the courses in senior secondary schools lead to presentation for the
Scottish Leaving Certificate at about the age of 17, although many pupils who are
under 17 take the examination. The certificate, which can be taken only by pupils
in attendance at Scottish schools, is awarded on examinations conducted by the
Scottish Education Department.
In Northern Ireland the Junior Certificate Examination is taken at about the age
of 15 and the Senior Certificate Examination, which is conducted at two levels, at
about 17 years of age.
Teachers
Teachers are appointed by local education authorities or school governing bodies
or managers. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland they are not subject to
official control on questions relating to curricula or methods. In Scotland, schemes
of work in primary and secondary departments are subject to the approval of one
of Her Majesty’s Inspectors, and no pupil may be presented for the Scottish Leaving
Certificate examination unless he has followed a course approved by the Scottish
Education Department.
In 1954 there was one full-time teacher to 27 pupils in publicly maintained
primary and secondary schools in England and Wales; the figure was 24 for
Scotland and 30 for Northern Ireland. The high birth rate at the end of the second
world war is the chief of several factors in the present need for more teachers.
There are 154 teachers’ training colleges in England and Wales. The usual train¬
ing course lasts for two years but there are three-year courses for women taking
housecraft or physical education. There are 23 university departments of education
providing a one-year course for graduates. In Scotland there are four general
training centres, two denominational training colleges and a college for women
teachers of physical education. Courses are normally of one year’s duration for
graduates or the equivalent, and of three years for non-graduates. Northern Ireland
has two general teacher training colleges, one university training department and
three specialist colleges—one for training teachers of physical education, one for
teachers of domestic science and one for teachers of art. The basic course in the
general training colleges lasts three years.
The Education Departments, the universities, local education authorities and
other bodies provide a variety of short courses for practising teachers. Teachers
from schools in the United Kingdom go to a number of oversea countries each year
under interchange schemes or schemes for temporary oversea posts.
Broadcasting and Visual Aids
The School Broadcasting Department of the British Broadcasting Corporation
sends out over 50 transmissions a week which reach more than 27,000 schools in
the United Kingdom, over 70 per cent of the possible total. School broadcasting
does not attempt to cover the whole school curriculum, or to replace the teacher,
but to supplement existing work in the schools (see also p. 405).
Visual aids to education—films, film strips, wall charts, pictures, and models—
are being increasingly used in Britain’s schools.
Religion in Schools
All children in county or voluntary schools, that is, all schools wholly or partly
financed by local authorities, receive religious instruction and take part in a daily
corporate act of worship unless their parents object. In all kinds of voluntary schools