40
years and at the yearly class examination there should be a written paper as well as oral exami-
nation for each subject."
Mr. Wilson of the Central Provinces says:—"The natural deduction then is that the present
standard of education is not good enough to ensure the supply of men able enough to enter the
ranks of the higher grade provincial appointments. It is therefore advisable to raise the standard
of veterinary education in India in order that men may be forthcoming to fill up the gap which
now exists between the Imperial Service officer and the higher subordinate grades. These men
would have to be given direct appointments as Deputy Superintendents but the practice might
affect unfavourably the recruitment of men for the lower grade appointments."
Mr. Harris of Assam says:—"Veterinary education in India began in a small way. As
time progressed more knowledge and ability were required and the pressure is still for more
efficient men; especially is this BO where there are a large number of planters with valuable
horses and cattle."
However, in spite of all this and the acknowledged fact that it is difficult in most provinces,
oven under present conditions, to get suitable men in any number to take the course at the
existing veterinary colleges, it is proposed to remove from veterinary assistants, except in a few
special cases, the prospect of ever rising to the provincial service.
The pay of veterinary assistants might bo raised but it is the highly paid posts at the top
of the service which are the greatest attraction. The need for better men for the Provincial
Service is a pressing one but, considering the numbers in which they are being turned out, it would
seem that the most pressing need at the present time is to raise considerably the standard of
education of the ordinary graduate of the colleges in the provinces named above.
To do this it is necessary—
(a) to strengthen the Imperial teaching staff of the colleges.
(b) to modify the existing form of the examinations and the Board of Examiners.
(c) to obtain more suitable students by making the pay and prospects of veterinary assist-
ants as good as those of the men in other departments in the same province.
If this be done, i.e., the standard of the average veterinary assistant raised considerably,
not only will the demand for a better executive officer be complied with, but the best men turned
out by the colleges under the new standard will necessarily be better than the same men turned
out under the old conditions, and the best of these new men should be quite capable in duo
course of holding charge of the posts in the Provincial Service referred to by the Committee.
The most they would require to fit them for promotion would be a post-graduate course, and
being better trained in their youth they would find it far easier to assimilate what they were
taught at the post-graduate class than the men of the present day do.
Another point not referred to by the Committee is the difficulty that young men, directly
recruited to the Provincial Service, would find in administrative work in dealing with men much
their senior in age and service.
It is far easier for a man to be a successful administrator, and most of the posts in the Pro-
vincial Service are of this nature, if he has passed through the ranks and has age and experience
on his side.
It is suggested therefore that definite proposals might now bo made for the revision of the
curriculum at the Bombay, Calcutta and Madras Colleges and the method of their examinations,
so as to bring the standard of education of the graduates of these colleges to a high and similar
level, and then consider whether, if these proposals are accepted, there will be any need to
institute a special advanced diploma course for the provinces named above, either in the existing
colleges or at a new college.