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This paper aims to examine technical education in various types of secondary schools, and suggests three levels of technical courses to be taught in secondary schools.

The paper discusses the differences between technical schools and colleges, and vocational technical courses taught in “academic” secondary schools; it recognizes that technical schools also attract students of a high academic quality. With a wider range of abilities, there need to be courses offered in secondary technical schools that suit a range of levels. Three technical courses are suggested here, which are aimed at the different levels of education parallel to secondary schools – for the potential craftsman, for the potential technician, and for the potential technologist.

It is suggested that great care must be taken to ensure that the vocational subjects develop naturally from more general academic studies – the aim of the courses outlined in this paper is to provide a fundamental general education alongside an understanding of vocational studies. The course for the potential craftsman takes the student towards suitable City and Guilds certificates, and involves some designated time for industrial visits. The course for the potential technician aims for four “O” level subjects in the General Certificate of Education (GCE), and the course for the potential technologist aims for pupils to gain two subjects at “A” level.

The paper suggests a hierarchy of technical courses for integration into secondary schools in the 1950s.

The references in the Crowther Report to the Secondary Technical School are not very numerous, but they are, on the whole, unusually complimentary in character. This is refreshing. These schools have not very many friends in official circles and it is, therefore, particularly pleasing when the characteristics of the secondary technical school, or rather of the technical high school, are clearly recognised, spotlighted and, what is more, commended as sound educational practice.

The purpose of this paper is to trace the restructure of the Victorian Education Department in Australia during the years 1980-1992. It examines how the restructuring of the department resulted in a generational reorganization of secondary schooling. This reorganization culminated in the closure of secondary technical schools that today continues to have enduring effects on access and equity to different types of secondary schooling.

The history is based on documentary and archival research and draws on publications from the State government of Victoria, Education Department/Ministry of Education Annual Reports and Ministerial Statements and Reviews, Teacher Union Archives, Parliamentary Debates and unpublished theses and published works.

As an outcome the restructuring of the Victorian Education Department, schools and the reorganization of secondary schooling, a dual system of secondary schools was abolished. The introduction of a secondary colleges occurred through a process of rationalization of schools and what secondary schooling would entail.

This study traces how, over a decade, eight ministers of education set about to reform education by dismantling and undoing the historical development of Victoria’s distinctive secondary schools system.

This is the first in a series on technical education in the various types of secondary school. Technical and scientific subjects have for some time been receiving increasing attention in secondary education and the recent White Paper “Secondary Education for All — a new drive” foreshadows an acceleration in this process as well as an attack on shortcomings of the secondary education system. The articles will relate the experience already gained in some schools to this increasing technical emphasis and, in particular, will study those factors on which the success of present plans depends. In the present article Mr Howard gives his personal views on the place of technical subjects in secondary education as a whole.

In the 1980s, the Chinese government undertook a major structural reform in education by which upper secondary education was converted from predominantly general education to an equal mix of general education and vocational/technical education. A critical examination is provided of the rationale for and implementation strategies of the reform, framed in a broader context of the development of secondary education in the past four decades. It points out that, although the reform was justified in largely economic terms, there is actually little empirical support for the economic assumptions; the development of vocational/technical education is prompted more by a desire to reduce the social demand for higher education and to use education as a social stratification device. The reform reflects changing perspectives of the Chinese leadership on the role of education in national development; and it can be seen as the outcome of the most recent episode of continuing social and political conflicts in the Chinese state that began in the 1950s.

In light of contemporary critiques of New Zealand comprehensive schooling published mainly in the popular press, it is timely to re‐examine the origins of and the rationale for the widespread adoption of this model of education. The comprehensive schooling philosophy, it was recently alleged, has produced a situation in which ‘as many as one in five pupils in the system is failing’ and where ‘there is a large group at the bottom who are not succeeding’. This group was estimated to include some 153,000 students out of the total current New Zealand student population of 765,000. In this context, however, Chris Saunders and Mike Williams, principals of Onehunga High School and Aorere College in Auckland respectively, have noted that having underachieving students in secondary schools in particular is not a recent phenomenon. A large ‘tail’ of poor performing high school students has long been a cause of concern, Williams suggests.

Since the 1960s, Egypt has sought to increase equality in access to higher education. Data show that completion of pre-tertiary education has become more equal. However, this trend toward equality did not extend to higher education. Rather, entry to higher education has become more unequal during this period, principally due to tracking at the secondary level. Secondary track is highly correlated with wealth: students from the poorest families overwhelming attend technical education; most children from wealthy families attend general (academic) secondary. Lucas (2001) has called this relationship between wealth and tracking “Effectively Maintained Inequality.”

This study presents an innovative approach to Information and communication technology (ICT) skill training and employment generation for out-of-school and disadvantaged youths in Africa. With technical and policy assistance from the World Bank, ICTs can be used to revitalize technical and vocational training to meet skill and employment needs of disadvantaged youths in the region. The deplorable conditions of out-of-school youth and the state of secondary education in Africa underscore the urgency to engage disadvantaged youth in productive economic activities. An ICT-enhanced technical and vocational training program in Africa provides both private and social gains: it provides economic prospects for disadvantaged youth and; it adds to the development of the knowledge economy in Africa. The NairoBits Digital Design School in Kenya is presented as a model of a vocational and training school that uses ICTs to improve skill formation among disadvantaged youths in informal settlements in urban Africa. Meeting the objectives of an ICT-based training and employment generation program for underprivileged youth in Africa require strong regulatory frameworks and contributions from the World Bank. The involvement of the bank, particularly through private sector grants for ICT skill train in Africa will help to revitalize technical and vocational education and training in the region. Above all, the collaboration of government agencies, private businesses, other international development agencies and civil society groups in ICT skill training will help to meaningfully engage African youths in the development of their communities in the emerging knowledge economy.

All schools in the secondary sector of Newcastle's educational provision have now been reorganized, apart from the six Roman Catholic secondary moderns and one Roman Catholic secondary technical school. A breakdown of the secondary school population shows that, of some 14 800 children, 13 000 are grouped in large comprehensive units. Eight of these are co‐educational, and the remaining two single‐sex schools (one boys' and one girls'). The six Roman Catholic secondary moderns have a role of from 150 to 270 pupils, the largest denominational unit being St Mary's Technical School with about 500.