achieved by the Welsh Central Board, drew attention to the fact that the system of secondary education as it has developed in Wales has, owing to the division of authority, provided an organi- zation which " is less elastic and less adaptable than that of England to the new demands likely to be made upon it by the Act of 1918." They therefore recommend that the Welsh Inter- mediate Act, which being a " temporary " act has been peri- odically renewed, should be allowed to lapse, and that the inter- mediate schools and the municipal secondary schools should be brought under one local county education authority which should make provision for a completely coordinated scheme of secondary education within its area, and that a National Council of Education for Wales, representative chiefly of the Welsh universities and of the education authorities in Wales, should be set up under the Ministry of Education to which wide powers should be devolved in relation to the whole field of education, elementary, secondary and university. The aim is thus to pro- vide in Wales a national educational authority more complete in its scope, and more representative in its constitution, than exists at present in any part of the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, as in England and in Scotland, there has been in Wales, espe- cially since the war, a marked increase in the demand for higher education. The proportion of scholars who pass from the ele- mentary to the secondary schools has, in nine years, risen from 35% to 53%. The further problem of the relation between the secondary schools and the university of Wales has received par- ticular attention from the Royal Commission on University Education in Wales, and a scheme has been recommended whereby the county authorities shall assume greater responsi- bilities towards and receive increased representation in the Na- tional University, so that elementary, secondary and university education may be three closely related parts of one common system. The object in view is that no child on the ground of lack of means may be debarred from receiving the very highest education the nation can supply. Wales is thus in a most inter- esting and progressive stage of development towards a complete national scheme of democratic education. The growth of Welsh education is reflected in the great increase in the estimates of educational expenditure. In the year 1921-2 the estimates of net expenditure on elementary education in Wales amount to 4,999,804, while the estimates for higher education are stated at 846,716. Thus in Wales, elementary and secondary including continuation education already claim 5,845,00x3. So also in England the latest corresponding estimates (i92r-2) provide for a net expenditure of 58,648,916 on elementary education and of 12,622,015 on higher education the total figures for elemen- tary education thus exceeding 71 millions. When it is remem- bered that considerably increased sums will be required for con- tinuation education, and for further extension of university education, it will be seen how great and growing is the recognition of the service of education in England and Wales.
Education in Scotland. The progress of education in Scotland in the period 1911^-20 is in many respects similar to that which has been seen in England and in Wales. There was no Act for Scotland corresponding to the English Act of 1902, 'because condi- tions were different and at that time, as now, the local education authorities in Scotland were considerably in advance of those in England particularly as regards aiding, maintaining, and con- trolling secondary education. Scotland also did not follow the example of England by transferring the control of education from the school boards to her county and municipal councils. But at the close of 1908 the Education (Scotland) Act was passed, which can properly be regarded as marking an important stage in the development of Scottish education. For while it made no fundamental change in the educational system of Scotland the Act enlarged the powers and duties of local education authorities, and laid the foundations for the even greater Act of 1918.
In the history of education in Scotland, more than in any other part of the United Kingdom, there may be seen a steady direction of the national system along clearly marked lines, and the Act of 1908 and, later, that of 1918 illustrate this character. First, the idea of separate ad hoc local educational authorities has been
maintained and Scottish education thus continues to present an interesting comparison with the system in England established since 1902. But while the school board system was maintained in Scotland until 1918 the need of larger areas has steadily made itself felt, and in the Act of 1908 powers were given to school boards to combine for various purposes. This immediately took effect and in the report of the Scottish Education Department for the year 1910-1 it is stated that 13 unions of school boards have already been effected by voluntary arrangement, or by order of the Department. It was pointed out, however, in the same report that it was doubtful whether this policy of combina- tion of school board areas could be carried very far, and that, however active individual school boards might be within their own areas, it was clear that there are educational functions which transcend the sphere of the ordinary school board. This is par- ticularly the case in respect of secondary education, where for effective work authorities controlling wider areas are necessary. The Act of 1918 carries out the work of enlarging areas and consolidating local organization, which had been thus tentatively advanced by the earlier Act of 1908. Secondly, as in England and Wales, there has been a continuous movement of transferring voluntary schools to the control of the statutory local education authorities. Such schools have not been so many or so important in Scotland as in England, but there has been a growing apprecia- tion of the value of a national system which leaves room for variety of type and which recognizes the place of the denomina- tional school within the national system. The Act of 1 908 assisted the transfer of voluntary schools to the school boards, and the completion of this movement has been secured under the Act of 1918. Thirdly, there has been a steadily widening conception of the educational duties of local authorities. The Act of 1908 enabled school boards to make provision, either by themselves or in combination with other school boards, for the supply of meals to pupils attending school within their district, to provide conveyance and travelling expenses in order to help children in outlying districts to attend school, to extend information as to employment open to children on leaving school, and to make provision for the maintenance and education of physically or mentally defective children. It gave powers also to school boards to secure medical inspection and supervision of children attending school. A special Act of 1913 added medical treatment to medi- cal inspection, and the Act of 1918 made such duties obligatory on the local education authorities. Fourthly, there has been a consistent policy of building up a complete national system, not only of primary and secondary education but of continuation education, and of increased facilities of university or other spe- cialized higher training. The Act of 1908 made important pro- vision for the extension of the system of continuation schools above the age of 14 years, requiring school boards to make suit- able provision for such schools, and it thus prepared the way for a universal system of continuation education.
In two other respects also the Act of 1908 made a notable contribution to the better organization of Scottish education. It made provision for a national system of pensions and super- annuation of teachers, and it consolidated and simplified the financial arrangements for the control and distribution of State grants by the constitution of the Education (Scotland) Fund.
The Education (Scotland) Act, 1918, which in many respects corresponds to the Education Act for England and Wales of the same year, may be regarded as the most important measure re- lating to education in Scotland since r87o. In one sense the Act only carries out developments which had been making themselves evident even before and especially after 1908. But the new stage marks the transition from tentative and partial efforts to that in which a wider envisagement of the whole field of national education is realized. A new order of local education authori- ties is called into being, in order to carry forward the work of developing the larger policy. In place of the 945 school boards and 38 secondary education committees, 38 local edu- cation authorities have been established, elected under the sys- tem of proportional representation, known as the transferable vote. To these local and county education authorities are
