CAMP EDUCATION

Camp News, Volume 3, Issue 139, 11 September 1942, Page 3

CAMP EDUCATION

Every British Army Unit Has Course LECTURES AND CLASSES Every unit in the British Army, every battalion, battery and. similar formation, was ordered by the War Office to provide itself with a Unit Education Officer within six months of the outbreak of war. Men were selected from those already serving in the unit and they carried on this work in addition to their ordinary military duties. The British system, of Army education, which is organized and administered by, a staff distinct from the Army Education Corps which undertook the education of the pre-war professional soldier, uses four agencies. University regional committees which cater for extra-mural activities in' time of peace provide a. number of lecturers; there are . the • local education authorities which assist specially in vocational work through technical schools; there are correspondence classes for which the men pay a registration fee, rather as an indication of their serious intentions That with the hope that the,'cost of the organization will be < covered ; and finally there are unit schools conducted if possible by one of its officers.

As in Australia, the system, due to the exigencies of the service resulting in uncertain hours and variable facilities, has its limitations, specially for students with a professional objective, but it supplies for many a mental stimulus which cannot be derived from games and entertainment. For a long time it was put on a par with welfare and recreation and regarded as an additional comfort for the troops quite' unrelated to training either as soldiers or citizens. There has, however, been a change within the last 18 months accelebrated by the landing of garrisons in such isolated outposts as Iceland. In such places the educational courses have become compulsory. Use of Amateur Talent. An early progress report on the British system stated that half the lectures and a quarter of the classes were on subjects connected directly with the war: historical, geographical, economic and political. About one-third dealt with scientific topics, vocational ' and otherwise, while music, drama and literature accounted for about tenth. Among the varied subjects were also organ music, psychology, meteorology, and camouflage in nature. The War Office pamphlet on “Education in the Wartime Army” suggests that in the modern army there are thousands of officers and men able and •willing to forgo some of their spare time in giving talks and leading discussions groups. It is the task of the unit education officer to discover and utilize this amateur talent. Typical discoveries of this sort are architects who can talk on town planning, local body members and officers who can explain the work of local government, commercial artists who can rouse in others a latent talent for drawing, and students of various studies who can sign-post the way through modern problems. The winter programme for a Yorkshire battalion is indicative of the range of the scheme. Training was divided into three classestechnical military training ranging from ski-ing to tactical school, physical training and discipline on orthodox lines, and general education., “The object of general education is to increase mental alertness,” stated the syllabus. “Every man will spend one term on education'' of a specialist or general character according to his previous attainments. Every man will be encouraged to take up a hobby. A battalion exhibition of arts and crafts is being arranged.” Specialist classes were for those with an army second-class education certificate, those who had matriculated, or those who on account of age and employment were more likely to benefit from learning a handicraft. Classes were arranged in book-keeping, shorthand, mechnical drawing, carpentry, metal work, wireless, painting, first aid, pastry cooking, motor mechanics, French and German. Compulsory Classes. “Each company and detachment will organize general education,” continued the syllabus. “Each man not selected for a specialist class will attend for one term, during which he will not be removed for other'duties except in an emergency.” Each course consisted of 72 one-hour periods made up as follows: Arithmetic 20 periods, English history 15, geography and map reading 15, composition and grammar 10, and English literature 12. At the end of the course tests set by battalion H.Q. were held and all who obtained 00 per cent, or more received a certificate. , , , ~ In the same battalion debates were held on military and other subjects, and the instructions laid it, down that “all men should be encouraged to speak at some debate, however briefly.” When the B.E.F. was on the Continent, many classes in French were organized, and in England languages has been a popular subject with Canadian as well as British soldiers. Classes- have also been conducted for the teaching of English to foreign troops in Britain Czech, Dutch, Polish and French.