CONTINUATION SCHOOLS (DAY AND EVENING). Early in the 19th century, it came to be recognized in Great Britain that the existing elementary schools could no longer satisfy the national educational needs, which had increased considerably through the immense social and economic changes brought about by the indus trial revolution : accordingly, attempts were made to supplement their work by that of night schools for persons fully occupied during the daytime. Under the influence of such men as Dr. Birk beck and Lord Brougham, "Mechanics' Institutes" were founded to give factory workers instruction in the scientific principles of workshop practice. (See also COMMERCIAL EDUCATION.) These institutes at first attracted large numbers of artisans, but their popularity amongst working men quickly declined ; one of the most important reasons for this was that the elementary edu cation of the workman was in general not sufficient to enable him to profit by the instruction provided in science and mathematics. Other organizations, including "night schools" taught by ele mentary teachers, came into existence and were carried on for many years without any public assistance. In 1851, however, the Government decided to make additional grants to elementary day schools which held continuation classes and the number of these increased steadily until 187o, when they had more than 8o,000 students. Elementary education became compulsory after 1876 and the attendance at night schools declined for a time ; the attend ance increased, however, after the removal by the evening school code of 1893 of the previous age limit of 21, and of the require ment that all scholars should be instructed in elementary subjects.
When pupils leave full time day education and commence work, provision is now generally made for them to continue their educa tion in the evenings : the courses of instruction usually require attendance at school for two hours on three evenings a week from September until Easter. For boys who are in industrial occupa tions, instruction is usually given in mathematics, technical draw ing or workshop practice, science and English. For those in com mercial occupations, the instruction includes English and arith metic, together with subjects of a more vocational character. For those not needing vocational instruction or for whom organ ized courses may not be suitable, instruction is provided which is designed to create interest and stimulate intellectual enthusiasm. Since the World War, the increase in the demand for adult educa tion has continued in remarkable fashion.
During the year 1926-27—the latest period for which statistics are available—there were 727,65o students (18.5 per 1,000) in England and Wales in attendance at evening technical courses; of these 389,813 were men and boys and 337,837 women and girls. In the day continuation courses, 23,884 boys and girls (6 per were in attendance.
Some of the smaller as well as some of the larger L.E.A.'s (Local education authorities) decided to exercise their powers at once and proceeded to establish day continuation schools : accord ingly in 1921-22 there were in the country 122 of these schools with 95,53o pupils. During the next year all the authorities except Rugby closed their compulsory schools, mainly owing to the finan cial crisis through which the country was passing at that time. Moreover, an important administrative difficulty had not been fully appreciated, though it had been foreseen, viz.:—the "ap pointed day" for the operation of the continuation school clauses was not fixed. L.E.A.'s were allowed to fix their own "appointed days"; and, in consequence, the enforcement of the Act created obvious unfairness between the juveniles living in an area where the Act was in operation, and juveniles in a contiguous area which had decided not to establish compulsory day continuation schools; also, the small employer who had a very limited number of junior employees was handicapped by the withdrawal of his assistants during working hours more heavily than the big employers who had large staffs of juniors.
The compulsory schools were, however, open for long enough to reveal that there was a real demand among certain classes for the continued education of their children, and some L.E.A.'s opened voluntary schools in order to meet it. It was significant also that within a short time of the closing of the compulsory schools it was found to be necessary to open unemployment edu cational centres throughout the country for juveniles who were in receipt of the out-of-work donation. Proprietary schools and col leges also increased in number and enrolments.
In London an endeavour has been made to entice these juveniles (who incidentally are in danger of permanent blind alley occupa tion) into a special type of evening institute where the instruction is just that which makes an appeal to boys whose daily occupa tions are of a routine or repetitive kind. The subjects offered in these institutes are mainly practical, e.g., woodwork, metal work, boot-repairing, hobbies, physical exercises and boxing, drawing and painting; the amenities of club life are also available. Similar provision has been made for the corresponding type of girls in the (free) Women's Evening Institutes.
There has been a very marked tendency in recent years to in crease and widen the scope of the teaching in the evening schools, this applies to both vocational and non-vocational instruction; the former has been greatly encouraged by various well-known exam ining bodies while the latter has received invaluable support from the L.E.A.'s and the adult education movement which has suc ceeded, especially since the war, in reaching types of students who have hitherto shown little desire to pursue any form of cultural study.
Co-operation with Employers and Outside Bodies.—Em ployers are now attaching more importance to "further education" and are either co-operating effectively with the L.E.A.'s or main taining their own works schools and classes; this co-operation is no longer confined to the better known occupations (e.g. engi neering, building, commerce, printing, etc.) but is being extended to such occupations as the distributing and outfitting trades, gro cery and meat trades, laundries, milk shops, etc. The readiness with which employers are prepared to serve on advisory and con sultative education committees is also indicative of an awakened interest. Co-operation between L.E.A.'s and the Boy Scouts' asso ciation, Girl Guides, Church Lads' Brigade, Juvenile advisory com mittees, Juvenile organization committees, Toc H, and organiza tions of this kind is doing much to ensure that the work begun in the day elementary schools is carried to a more profitable stage in the day continuation and evening schools, and eventually into the polytechnics, higher commercial schools and schools of art.
The aim of "further education" at the present time is to make a provision which recognizes the facts that hours of labour are not so long as formerly and that the work itself has become more tedious and monotonous owing to improvements in mechanical methods and appliances. The general tendency therefore is in the direction of securing that form of co-operation between employers, social agencies and educational bodies by which the increased leisure time of the workers may be occupied more happily and, at the same time, technical skill in daily occupations so developed as to improve the workers' own economic position pari passu with the industry in which they are engaged. (B. I.) In the United States continuation (or compulsory part-time) schools are found in more than half the States, the age of required attendance reaching 17 or 18 in several States, as New York, Cal ifornia, and Wisconsin. Generally, however, four to six hours of daytime attendance per week are required for all employed young persons between 14 and 16 years of age.
The first State to establish compulsory continuation schools was Wisconsin (19°9). Before 1915 Massachusetts and New York had enacted legislation permitting any community to require such at tendance. All other State legislation has been enacted since 191s, and its application very generally is State-wide, leaving no option to local areas.
American interest in continuation schools derives from several sources. As far back as the middle of the 19th century the decay of apprenticeship as a means of superior technical training led to the foundation of "Mechanics' Institutes" in many cities. These inspired the extensive establishment of public evening classes, especially in industrial centres. But evening classes, valuable as they might be for young adults, seemed poorly adapted for juvenile workers.
Investigations made in Massachusetts (19os), New York (1919) and elsewhere very generally indicated: (a) excessive withdrawal from schools of poorly equipped juvenile workers between 14 and 16 years of age; (b) unsuitability of evening classes for their needs, and (c) possibilities of either full-time or part-time train ing, for industrial pursuits or for still much needed general edu cation of part-time day attendants. The successful examples of Bavaria, Saxony, Baden and Scotland in providing such schools were carefully studied. The passage of the (English) Education Act of 1918 served as an additional stimulus.
Continuation schools are generally administered by city and town school authorities, but with fairly close State and some Federal supervision because of the fact that relatively large pro portions of their support derive, not from local funds, but from State and (under the Smith-Hughes Act) Federal sources. A few cities (notably Boston, Milwaukee, New York and Newark) have established central schools exclusively for continuation-school pupils. In some cases classes are maintained in commercial or in dustrial establishments employing large numbers of workers within the required attendance age.
The difficulty of providing competent teachers for continuation schools has heretofore prevented the public from having anything like a full realization of their possible benefits. Classes or groups formed in continuation schools are necessarily more heterogeneous than are classes in ordinary public schools. Each teacher must meet from so to 3oo pupils per week, with a consequent disper sion of personal contact and impairment of understanding. Theo retically, at any rate, the subjects taught should be very differently organized from subjects of similar names in ordinary public schools.
The problems of appropriate curricula have been found still more complicated. Doubtless many of the earlier supporters of compulsory part-time schools believed that these schools would solve the problems of vocational training. In practice they have done so only in a limited number of instances. On the other hand, at best these schools have been found very efficacious in making more real and significant such kinds of general education as pupils had already had, and also in keeping them in touch with school procedures in such ways that many have returned to full time schools.
Authorities still differ as to the actual educational functions that should be made the primary objectives of continuation schools. One group favours a considerable range of studies, even though profound learning is not practicable within the limits of the time available. Another group favours concentration on the part of in dividual pupils according to bent, outside employment, prospects and the like. In the meantime, minority groups of dissatisfied em ployers or parents in certain States have made many attempts to repeal the legislation establishing continuation schools. In prac tically no instance have these attempts succeeded. It is therefore reasonable to assume that continuation school education has finally been adopted as an integral and important part of the American public-school system.