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The matter presented in this circular relates to the military training of youths of school age, conducted either as a part of the regular school work or by independent agencies. Military instruction, of the exact nature and to the same extent as that given to soldiers, is not found in the schools of any country of Europe except the special military schools. Such training is confined everywhere to the period of active service, and no attempt has ever been made to impose upon the school the task of producing fully trained soldiers. In many countries having universal military service, the public schools provide for training boys in such elements of military science as may be conveniently combined with their physical training and at the same time prepare them for the active service awaiting every young man. Following a Letter of Transmittal and an Introduction, this bulletin covers the military training of youths in the following countries: (1) British Empire; (2) France; (3) Germany; (4) Austria-Hungary; (5) Switzerland; (6) Sweden; (7) Norway; (8) Italy; (9) Russia; (10) Netherlands; (11) Greece; (12) Japan; (13) Mexico; (14) Argentina; and (15) Bolivia. The following are appended: (1) Program of Preparatory Military Training in Bavaria; and (2) Program of Preparatory Military Training in Switzerland. A Bibliography is also included. (Contains 11 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]

Interest in technical education of the higher order has been greatly increased by the European war, and as a consequence numerous inquiries have been received at the Bureau of Education with regard to the higher technical schools of foreign countries. These inquiries relate in the main to the organization and conduct of the foreign schools, their courses of instruction and the relative value of their diplomas. The endeavor has been made in this bulletin to meet such inquiries, whether general or specific, by means of information drawn from official and other authoritative sources. In a broad survey of the subject it is seen that while the term technical is used often in a comprehensive sense, it is more generally restricted to schools which specialize in engineering and the mechanical arts that involve the applications of science. On account of the varying scope of technical institutions and the differences between countries in respect to classification, it is impossible to employ a uniform scheme of presentation for institutions selected as typical and equally impossible to institute exact comparisons between their programs and their standards. The institutions here classed as higher technical require the same entrance qualifications as the universities of their respective countries and confer diplomas that have equal value with the university diplomas. These two conditions afford a basis of classification which has been maintained in the bulletin. The matter presented includes therefore (1) a survey of the studies preliminary to the higher technical schools; (2) accounts of typical schools; and (3) statistical summaries comprising additional institutions of the same order. Contents include: (1) Germany; (2) France; (3) Great Britain; (4) Ireland; (5) Switzerland; (6) Italy; (7) Austria; (8) Russia; (9) Japan; (10) Canada; and (11) South America. A bibliography and an index are included. (Contains 5 plates and 3 diagrams.) [Best copy available has been provided.]

In a country where 80 percent of the people are engaged in farming, it is natural to expect that the agricultural schools should play an important part in the general system of education. The act of 1904 on agricultural education constitutes the basis of the organization of the agricultural schools. This act places all private schools under the supervision of the ministry of agriculture and imperial domains, providing at the same time for the maintenance of schools controlled directly by that ministry. Agricultural schools, ministerial as well as private, are exempted by the act from import duty on any books or educational material imported from abroad, and they are granted free use of mails within the Empire. The agricultural schools are divided by the act into three classes: (1) lower or primary; (2) middle or secondary; and (3) higher schools. This bulletin focuses on secondary agricultural education in Russia. A bibliography is included. (Contains 7 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]