Joint Meeting of Sections. 60-UNIVERSITY EDUCATION. Editorial Note.-By special arrangement, a joint meeting of Sections was held on Friday, July 13th, for the purpose of discussing the University question in South Africa. Mr. Sidney J. Jennings presided, and there was a representative, although not a very large, attendance. By a special resolution of the Council, the discussion which followed the paper presented by Dr. Lyster Jameson is appended. The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, explained how the meeting originated. There had been a proposal for an Inter-Colonial Conference of delegates, to be appointed by the various Governments, to consider the question of University Education, these delegates to be called together by the High Commissioner. Six weeks ago the Johannesburg branch of the Association received word from the Colonial Secretary that it would be impossible to call that InterColonial Conference into being in time to have the meeting in connection with the present Meeting. On that account the Johannesburg branch of the Council felt that it would be to the advantage of the cause of higher education in South Africa if a discussion were initiated under their auspices at this meeting, where several prominent educationalists would be gathered together. Accordingly the Johan nesburg branch of the Council requested Dr. Lyster Jameson, who was the secretary of the former Conference between the Orange River Colony, Natal, and the Transvaal, to initiate a discussion on the subject of University education in South Africa. He would therefore call upon Professor Lyster Jameson to open the discussion. Dr. Lyster Jameson opened the discussion by reading a paper entitled : : THE UNIVERSITY QUESTION IN SOUTH AFRICA. When the Council of this Association did me the honour to ask me to open this discussion, my first impulse was to beg them to approach some member who had a stronger claim to speak on grounds of local experiences. On second thoughts it occurred to me that it might not be altogether a disadvantage if the discussion were opened by a member of the Transvaal University College, till lately the Transvaal Technical Institute, the youngest complete University College in South Africa. The Transvaal University College, by nature of its geographical position and other factors, is less likely to be seriously and permanently affected by any scheme of affiliation, federation or separation, than perhaps any other South African School. Its policy with regard to these questions is not yet decided upon, and its position is consequently more independent than that of institutions whose futures so largely hang on the line of action ultimately adopted. I therefore decided to accept the Council's invitation, and to open this discussion with a brief (and, I fear, very superficial) survey of the past history and present position of University Education in South Africa, followed by a summary of the more obvious remedies for the present acknowledgedly unsatisfactory state of affairs, leaving the discussion of the relative merits of the several schemes, or the proposal of other measures, to those who have more claim to speak authoritatively. This is eminently a discussion, and not an address, and I will make my opening remarks as brief as possible. One of the disadvantages of the great distances between the centres of University work in this country is that we get so few opportunities of discussing questions of this kind together, and as I believe the question of an inter-colonial conference on University matters is now on the tapis, some discussion of the subject on a more informal basis will perhaps pave the way to a more definite policy. Moreover, in an open discussion of this kind we shall have the benefit, I hope, of the views of members not directly connected with University work. The present position of University Education in South Africa is, briefly, this. There is a single University, the University of the Cape of Good Hope, which was incorporated in 1873, and received a Royal Charter in 1879. The University did not evolve out of any teaching corporation, but out of a "Board of Public Examiners," established in 1858. The Board had already for many years conducted examinations and awarded certificates in academic, professional, and technical subjects, so that the incorporation of the University chiefly resulted in the transfer of these examinations to the University and the substitution of Degrees for Certificates. The University has remained an examining body, pure and simple, like the old London University and the Royal University of Ireland, the University of Manitoba (until recently), and, in a restricted sense, the University of New Zealand. The growth of Higher Education in South Africa can be judged from the fact that, in each decade since the founding of the Cape University, the average number of students, graduating annually in Arts has more than doubled, so that the average for the years 18961905 is nearly 4 times that of the twelve years 1874-1885. A similar steady rise is noticeable if we take averages over periods of five years, as will be seen from the following table:— |