This article surveys the transformation of the system of training of engineers in engineering industry in the United Kingdom before and after the World War I. As the sources of the system of training of engineers before the World War I, Engineering as a Profession-Scope, Training, and Opportunities for Advancement (1913) by A. P. M. Fleming & R. W. Bailey is examined. As the sources of the system of training of engineers after the World War I, Education and Training for the Electrical and Allied Engineering Industries (1920) by The British Electrical and Allied Manufacturers' Association Education Committee is mainly examined, and Report of an Enquiry into Apprenticeship and Training for the Skilled Occupations in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1925-26, Vol. VII, General Report (1928) by Ministry of Labour, Report on the Training of Manual Workers in the Engineering Industry (1930) by The Association for Education in Industry and Commerce, and Education for the Engineering Industry (1931) by Board of Education are also examined. The development of the system of training of engineers can be described as follows. 1. In the early days the engineers in engineering industry were recruited from two sources, one is premuim pupils trained for engineers and the other is those trade apprentices who showed special talents. 2. Subsequently the engineering apprenticeship differentiated from the trade apprenticeship in large firms. Before the World War I, the engineers in engineering industry were recruited from three sources, premium pupils trained for engineers, engineering apprentices, and those trade apprentices who showed special talents. 3. The abolition of the premium pupilage and the introduction of the classification of the apprenticeships according to the previous education of apprentices and the goal of training, which had already been started in certain large firms before the World War I, became widely accepted among the large firms after the World War I. The apprenticeships were classsified into the following four classes. (1) trade apprenticeship (from elementary or lower secondary schools) (2) engineering apprenticeship (from higher secondary schools) (3) student apprenticeship (from Universities or Technical Colleges) (4) research apprenticeship (from post-graduate research courses) But in engineering industry as a whole the undifferentiated trade apprenticeship and the premium pupilage still remained widely (especially in the smaller firms).
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