The Press. Saturday, January 25, 1919. Education within the Army.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16430, 25 January 1919, Page 8

The Press. Saturday, January 25, 1919. Education within the Army.

The organisation of educational machinery in the British and oversea armies has reached proportions of which the general public lias little or no concoption. At no period of th© war has there been a complete absence of effort to carry on some kind of educational work among the troops, whether at the front or scattered among the various camps in England and France. Libraries havo bcfen got together, nnd willing volunteers have been found to holp little groups of men to keep their minds or their hands from becoming totally atrophied from stagnation. But it is only within tho past twelve or eighteen months that the problem of educating the troops has beon seriously grappled with. The task has beon taken in hand concurrently, but quite independently of each other, by the War Office and the various Dominion authorities. We have heard of the Vimy Ridge University of tho Canadians, which is now quite an established institution, with an offico in London; and wo may one day see the initials of its degree after , somebody's name. Nor have tho New Zealandcrs or Australians been behindhand. Anyone visiting a New Zealand stationary camp in England to-day would find a condition ot things which would havo mado military men of haif a century ago staro in amazement. One may go to Hornchurch, or Sling, or Codford, or "Walton. One finds a sort of mixture of academy, technical school, . and military encampment. Classes are going on in about thirty scholastic subjects or vocational industries. Experts " are lecturing or instructing in carpen- \ try, joinery, wood-carving, glass-stain-fPSLt basket-waving, the chemistry and

botany of agriculture, wool-classing, surveying, bootmaking, economics, mathematics, and the ordinary subjects of school or college education. There is an education office, and there are fixed regulations of a very stringent character. Military discipline pervades the whole. Tho class-rooms and equipment are, of course, of a makeshift character, and the prevailing "academic costume" is blue garments and a red tie. But it is amazing what has been, and is being, accomplished. The difficulties of organised instruction under such conditions may bo partially understood when wo realise that there aro between two ?Jid three thousand ''scholars," whose educational past has been of every conceivable variety, ranging from college terms or a degree down to the fifth or sixth standard of a primary school.

Simultaneously, tho British War Office has been perfecting its educational machinery through a series of Army Orders, pamphlets, circulars, and appointments, conceived in a broad and liberal spirit. This i.9 unquestionably tho largest scheme of its kind that has ever been launched in tho history of tho world. A now department of the Directorate of Staif Duties was created for tho purpose, under the command of Colonel Lord Gorell. The genoral executivo diroction was placed in the hands of Sir Henry Hadow, Principal of Armstrong College, Sir Graham Balfour of tho Y.M.C.A., Prof. Sir Gilbert Murray, and other experienced educational administrators. Tho general purposo and idea of such ah educational scheme have been well expressed in successive Army Ordors, and may bo conveyed here in the words of a recent correspondent in "The Times." "It is "the basis on which all reconstruction "must rest, for it will give to the eol"dior, whilst he is a soldier, tho chance "to prepare himself, mentally, and,

"... manually, in some cases, too, "for his retirrn to a life of peace. It "will holp those who were boys, and " are now men, with information and " advice as to their future. It will " provide the link between all the many "schemes of resettlement and the minds "of our virile youth. Above all, it " will make the Army what every na- " tional Army should be, a living edu- " cational force in the life of the " nation." In carrying out its scheme, the War Office has set > before itself three main objects, viz.: (a) To raise morals, both indirectly, by providing mental stimulus and change, and directly by means of lectures on war aims and problems; (b) to broaden and quicken intelligence, both by stimulating the desire for study, and by giving men a wider realisation of their duties as citizens of the British. Empire; (c) to holp men in their work after the war by practical instruction, as far as may be possible, in their professions of trades. It may appear to some to have been hardly worth while to evolve a large liberal scheme of education in the | closing stages of the war, when men might reasonably look forward to an early return to their ordinary avocations. Such an impression would bo quite mistaken. In the first place, the steady crumbling of the enemy resistance had two effeots: it left larger portions of the armies free to take advantage of opportunities offered ,by stationary camps; and it made the problem of preparing for the future a matter of more pressing exigency. In the second place, as Sir Henry Hadow well urged at a recent conference in London, the period of demobilisation is the most dangerous of all for the "moral" of soldiers (especially of young soldiers), and is therefore the period when* there is most need of the discipline of organised mental occupation. The stress and tension of suffering and danger have passed away; the bonds, of military discipline are being relaxed; and unless at such a time the mind is' submitted to the discipline of healthy, systematic effort, serious demoralisation may ensue. Therefore it is intended that the educational work be continued right through the period of demobilisation. And one word in conclusion as to what is being done in England for oversea troops in the matter of education. First comes the system known as "Oversea Sailor and Soldier Scholarships," the inception of which was mainly due to Lord Selborne. A fund was raised to enable disabled oversea fighting students to pursue their studies for a time at n University or School of Technology in the United Kingdom. "When the last report was presented, scholarships had been allotted as follows: Australia 23; Canada, 13; New Zealand, 10; Newfoundland, 1; South Africa, C; British Guiana,- 1. The largest number had gone to Oxford. Wo have only space to add further that, at a recent, conference of University ViceChancellors held in London, it was unanimously resolved that for men who had served, and who were debarred from attending a matriculation examination, an Army Education Certificate should, under certain conditions, be accepted as qualifying for matriculation.