Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-07
EDUCATION IN LONDON.
Concessions Made to Pupils Who Are
in Business.
From the London Standard.

From the London Standard.
Lack of uniformity in the working meth
DDS of the University of London and Kin
dred metropolitan institutions has led to
serious attempt to bring about co-ordina-
ton. In speech delivered at the Birkbeck
Institution, Chancery Lane, the occasion
being the opening Of the winter session, Sir
Arthur Hucker, principal of the University
of London, made this matter his subject
and dealt at length with the reorganization
of the university. Under that reorganiza-
ton. he remarked the undergraduates were
now divided into two classes, called external
and internal.
The former were tested by examination,
and If they satisfied the examiners no In
ouiry was made as to how, when or where
they obtained their knowledge. The reor-
ganIzation of the university had been IN
part caused by the oVerpredominance OF ex-
aminations in English education 1t was In
tended to give more liberty to the teacher,
and to test the undergraduate not merely
by examinations. but by his entire uniVer-
sity career. With regard to internal stu
dents. the problem in London was very com
plicated, the university being controlled by
act of parliament, They had to combine,
and yet as far possible, to maintain, the
Independence of two infiuenceS-that OF
central co-ordinating power, the university
and that of the individual teacher. The OBJ
ject of both was the same, the good or the
student, but the particular duty of the uni
yersity was to see that the educational
forces of London were acting as a whole
on the most efficient lines. The question
was how the authorities of the university
and of individual institutions could best CO.
operate for the good of the student.
The university was proceeding on the gen.
eral principle that the teachers, the courses
and the appliances were to be kept up to
university standard. Then the question
arose, What was an adequate course of
study? BY the constitution of the untver-
sity ii must extend over three years, but
how were these years to be spent? 1t was
necessary to fix some limits of time below
which the attendance OF student, day or
evening must not fall. and these had pur-
posely been fixed low in order to enable the
teacher to vary the course of instruction
to suit Individual students. A three years
college course would mean at least 2,25D
hours. while the university required only
1,26D, or the equivalent of fourteen hours
a week. But, although the regulations as
TO minimum attendance applied to day and
evening students alike, there was most
important exception Bona-hde evening
students were nearly always engaged in
some employment in the day, and he
thought 1t quite possible that for some OF
these it might be best to take the ex-
ternal degree. The lectures and labora-
tories open to internal students would be
open to them, too. They could select for
themselves a course of study which might
be very similar to that required for inter
nal students. but they would not be sub
ject to the strain of feeling that they had
a prescribed course to fulfill and a certain
number of attendances to keep in order
that they might qualify as internal stu
dents
1t had also been decided that in the case
of students who could produce certificates
from their employers that they were en-
ployed for twenty-five hours a week there
should be a substantial reduction in the
required number of hours of attendance.
or course. experimental subjects, from
their very nature imposed longer attend
ances than did art subjects and If a stu
dent deliberately decided to choose nothing
but subjects which required long study in
the laboratory, he would probably be I'M
able to get his degree in less than foul
years. That, however, was not an unrea-
sonable length of time.