TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION.

3

English Training Colleges, and a liberal allowance ig given
by Government to twelve students during their period of
training. Very good work has been done by the first set of
students, and there is every ground for hoping that the
influence of the Training College will produce a gradual
improvement in the work of English schools and the ideals
of teachers throughout the country,

Technical Instruction.

TECHNICAL COLLEGE.
The following is extracted from the “Ceylon Manual’ for
1904 :—
The College was first established in 1893, and was housed in temporary
 buildings in Colombo in a central position near the Railway
Terminus. It was opened in October, 1893, with about twenty-five
students, who were selected by an entrance examination and nominated
by the Governor, and who paid fees at the rate of Rs. 50 per annum,
The training offered was in Engineering, and the course was two years.
At the beginning of 1894 further admissions were made, and the first
course finished with an attendance of about fifty students, who had
served most of the two years. A workshop, experimental laboratory,
lecture room, drawing school, and a class room formed the College.
About Rs. 10,000 was spent in equipment and about Rs. 2,000 in
adapting the old buildings and premises (formerly a coffee store and
barbecue) for the purpose. The staff consisted of a Superintendent
and two Assistant Instructors, with two foremen in the workshop, a
carpenter, and a fitter.
After that first tentative course it was decided that the scope of
the College should be extended, and that it should be made the
training ground for the Government Departments requiring recruits
with technical skill. In 1896 the College was formed of four departments
 : Civil Engineering, Surveying and Levelling, Telegraphy, and
Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. Further temporary
 accommodation was provided at the same premises and additional
equipment was installed, and the staff was increased by three more
Instructors. The additional buildings cost about Rs. 3.000 and the
equipment cost about Rs. 30,000.
In 1901 a fifth department was added, viz., a Department of Drawing
 and Art, and again temporary accommodation was provided. The
building accommodation cost about Rs. 1,100 and the equipment about
Rs. 1,500. An Instructor was appointed in the same year.
At present the College consists of the five departments named above,
and about 200 students are on the rolls. The staff consists of a
Superintendent, three European and four Ceylonese Instructors, a
clerk and storekeeper, and two workshop foremen, with other persons
in subordinate posts. Permanent buildings on a large scale are now in
course of erection.
Outside the Technical College there is not much in the way
of technical education in Ceylon. It must be remembered
that more than 80 per cent. of the population is rural : it is