The law is administered by a Federal Board for Vocational Education, which includes representatives of labour, agriculture, manufacturing and commerce. This board operates through State boards designated by the respective State legislatures to prepare and develop vocational education programmes which meet with Federal approval. The passage of the act greatly extended voca tional education throughout the United States as may be noted from the following table: A significant trend in trade and industrial education is the growing interest in trade apprenticeship. While the old craft apprenticeship no longer exists, there is a very marked increase in the number of indentured apprentices learning trades. Appren ticeship conforming to modern conditions has been best devel oped in the State of Wisconsin, where it has had a legal status since 1915. Here a contract must be entered into between the employer and the apprentice whenever employment of a minor 16 to 21 years of age is undertaken with the definite understand ing that learning the trade is one of the benefits to be conferred upon the employee. In such cases the employer agrees to fur
nish the practical instruction. The contracts always state what must be taught to the apprentice; how much time is to be given to each unit of instruction; what compensation and bonus, if any, are to be paid, and the length of the apprenticeship. The State industrial commission supervises all apprentice relationships. and no contracts may be broken except by State consent.
Wisconsin's successful experience with this form of trade train ing may be gleaned from the fact that Milwaukee, the metropoliE of the State, with 763 indentured apprentices in Jan. 1922, had 1,532 in Jan. 1926.
The vocational guidance movement has gradually extended until it is now recognized in the United States as a responsibility by nearly all the schools and colleges and many organizations such as the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, as well as many business organizations.