Jan. 18.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 115

Regulations for Admission to Forest Service Branch of the Royal Indian Engineering College.

Education Department,
Wellington, 15th January, 1900.

THE following regulations for the Forest Service Branch of the Royal Indian Engineering College are published for general information.

W. C. WALKER,
Minister of Education.

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REGULATIONS FOR THE FOREST SERVICE BRANCH OF THE ROYAL INDIAN ENGINEERING COLLEGE, COOPER’S HILL, FOR 1900.

[The arrangements hereinafter described are subject to revision under the orders of the Secretary of State for India.]

1. The Royal Indian Engineering College is primarily maintained, under the orders of the Secretary of State for India in Council, for the education of candidates for the service of Government in the India Public Works, Telegraph, and Forest Departments; but it is open, to the extent of the accommodation available, to all persons desirous of following the course of study pursued in it.

INDIA FOREST DEPARTMENT APPOINTMENTS.

2. The examination, which will be conducted by the Civil Service Commissioners, will be simultaneous with, and (except that German must be taken as an obligatory subject) in the same subjects and papers as, the examination for the Indian Police Department,* which is usually held in June.

Candidates may undergo the written part of their examination in London, Edinburgh, or Dublin, or at any of the provincial centres at which the simultaneous examination of candidates for admission to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, is to be held. A list of the probable centres may be obtained from the Civil Service Commissioners at any time after March, 1899. The oral and practical parts of the examination will be held in London only.

A fee of £2 is required from candidates examined in London, but when the written examination is conducted elsewhere than in London the fee is £3. Candidates examined at a college or school will probably be required to pay a local fee in addition to the fee of £3 (in order to defray the expenses of superintendence), as to which they should obtain early information from the college or school authorities. The fee payable to the Civil Service Commissioners must be paid by means of stamps of the specified amount. Instructions on this point will be issued to candidates about ten days before the examination.

3. The number of candidates to be selected annually varies according to the requirements of the Forest Service in India; the figures as regards each particular year will be advertised from time to time. In 1900 there will be seven appointments offered for competition.

4. Candidates for the Indian Forest Department are selected under the following arrangements:—

(1.) An applicant must be a natural-born British subject, and must be above seventeen and under twenty years of age on the 1st June of the year in which he competes for an appointment. He must be unmarried, and if he marries before reaching India he will forfeit his appointment.

(2.) An applicant must send† to the Revenue Department of the India Office, on or before the 1st day of May of the year in which he proposes to compete,—

(a.) His name and parentage, a certificate or other satisfactory evidence of the date of his birth, and the written consent of parent or guardian that his name should be recorded as a candidate.

(b.) A statement of the places of education at which he may have been, accompanied by testimonials of good conduct, during the last four years.

(3.) Applicants will have to appear before a Medical Board‡ at the India Office, particular stress being

• Candidates may, if qualified, enter for both the Police and the Forest Department. They will, in such case, have to pay the fee due in respect of each examination.

† There is no form of application; the documents specified in paragraph 4, (2), clauses (a) and (b), should be enclosed in a covering letter addressed to the Secretary, Revenue Department, India Office, London.

‡ With a view to prevent parents and guardians from incurring the inconvenience and expense of preparing candidates who may be physically unfit for the Forest Service, it is suggested that, before any such preparation is begun, candidates be submitted to examination by the medical adviser of the family, or any other qualified medical practitioner, with regard to the following points: (1) A weak constitution, (2) defective vision, (3) impaired hearing, (4) the existence of any congenital defect, (5) the condition of teeth. It is to be understood that this private examination is merely suggested to lessen the chances of disappointment, and that it is by no means intended to take the place of, or to influence in any way, the official examination, which is obligatory on all candidates. On the subject of the standard of eyesight required for the Indian services, a pamphlet can be obtained on application to the Secretary, Revenue and Statistics Department, India Office.

laid upon good vision and hearing. A physical test will also be imposed, so as to insure the selection of persons of active habits and powers of endurance.

(4.) Applicants who have passed the medical examination and the physical test will be permitted to undergo an examination before the Civil Service Commissioners in the following subjects* (Classes I. and II.), marks being assigned as follows:—

Class I.†

Marks.

Mathematics I. (including arithmetic) .. 3,000
German‡ (300 for colloquial) .. .. 2,000
Botany .. .. .. 2,000
English composition .. .. .. 1,000
Geometrical drawing .. .. .. 500
Freehand drawing .. .. .. 500
Geography .. .. .. 500

Class II.

Mathematics II. .. .. .. 2,000
Latin .. .. .. 2,000
French .. .. .. 2,000
Greek .. .. .. 2,000
English history .. .. .. 2,000
Chemistry and heat .. .. .. 2,000
Physics .. .. .. 2,000
Physiography and geology .. .. 2,000

Candidates must obtain such an aggregate of marks in the examination as a whole as may indicate in the judgment of the Civil Service Commissioners a competent amount of general proficiency.

(5.) The Secretary of State will nominate as probationers such competitors as attain the highest aggregate of marks (provided they obtain the aggregate referred to above, and satisfy the requisite conditions in other respects). These probationers will then enter the College, where they will be further trained for the Forest Service of India.

(6.) If the full number of competent probationers required in any year cannot be obtained from the persons so examined, the Secretary of State reserves a discretion to fill up the deficiency by selecting any other person or persons whom, after consulting the authorities of the College, he may consider properly qualified to become probationers for the Forest Service.

5. The course of study for candidates for the India Forest Service extends over about three years. For about seven terms the candidates will prosecute their studies mainly at the College, and during the period of foreign study, which will occupy the remainder of the course, they will visit, under suitable supervision, such continental forests as may be selected for the purpose. Excursions may also be made for purposes of instruction, both during term-time and during part of the vacations.

6. Each annual session begins in September, and is divided into three terms, with vacations of about four weeks at Christmas, two weeks at Easter, and eight weeks in the summer.

7. A charge of £61 is made for each of the seven terms spent at the College; for the period of foreign study the charge is £150; the amounts must be paid terminally in advance to the Bank of England for the first seven terms, and the amount due for the period of foreign study must be paid before the period begins. Receivable orders, with full directions as to the mode of payment, will be forwarded from the India Office to the parents or guardians shortly before the fees fall due. A student will not be allowed to come into residence or to start for his study of foreign forests until his fee has been paid.

8. A deposit of £5 is required to be paid by each student on admission to the College as caution-money, to cover charges incurred by him for damage to books, instruments, &c., or any College bills outstanding on leaving the College. Any balance over and above such charges will be repaid. This deposit is to be paid with the fee for the first term, making the total payment on that occasion £66.

9. The foregoing payments cover all charges for tuition, board according to the College tariff, lodging, with washing up to a cost of 2s. a week, and ordinary medical attendance while in residence at the College. When students are on tour, and during the course of practical instruction, whether in Great Britain or on the Continent, the Secretary of State

• Reprints of the papers set at previous examinations, together with tables of the marks assigned to the candidates, are published by the Civil Service Commissioners, and can be obtained through any bookseller. It must, however, be borne in mind that the regulations under which these examinations were held differed in some respects from those under which the next examination will be held. The price of each reprint is one shilling.

† All the subjects of Class I. may be taken up. Only two of the subjects of Class II. may be taken up.

‡ Candidates must qualify in German.