The Royal Commission on Technical Instruction was a British

Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

that sat from 1881 until 1884 and was chaired by Sir

Bernhard Samuelson Sir Bernhard Samuelson, 1st Baronet, (22 November 1820 – 10 May 1905) was an industrialist, educationalist and a Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons in 1859 and from ...

. The Commission's terms of reference were "to inquire into the Instruction of the Industrial Classes of certain Foreign Countries in technical and other subjects, for the purpose of comparison with that of the corresponding classes in this Country".Argles, p. 98. Alongside Samuelson on the Commission there were H. E. Roscoe,

Philip Magnus Sir Philip Magnus, 1st Baronet (7 October 1842 – 29 August 1933) was an England, English educational reformer, rabbi, and politician, who represented the London University (UK Parliament constituency), London University constituency as a Li ...

John Slagg John Slagg (junior) (24 Oct 1837 – 7 May 1889) was a British businessman and Liberal politician. He was elected to membership of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society on 25 January 1859 He was the eldest son of John Slagg, a ju ...

Swire Smith Sir Swire Smith (4 March 1842 – 16 March 1918) was an English woollen manufacturer, educationalist and Liberal Party politician. In many ways he was typical of the public-spirited, self-made Victorian. Of nonconformist lineage, he believed in ...

and

William Woodall William Woodall (Shrewsbury 15 March 1832 – Llandudno 8 April 1901), was a British Liberal politician, philanthropist and supporter of women's suffrage. Life He was the elder son of William Woodall, of Shrewsbury, and his wife Martha (née ...

. Its secretary was Gilbert Redgrave. The Commission's Report appeared in five volumes. Volume I was made up of general reports on technical education on the Continent and in Britain, with reports on manufacturing and schools. Volume II contained a report by H. M. Jenkins on agricultural education in Britain,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

, with a report on technical education in the United States and on Canadian elementary education by

William Mather Sir William Mather (15 July 1838 – 18 September 1920) was a British industrialist and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1885 and 1904. Life Mather was born in Manchester, the son of William Mather and his wife, A ...

. Volumes III, IV and V contained Thomas Wardle's report on the silk industry, Professor Sullivan's plan for Irish technical education and the minutes of evidence and appendices.Argles, p. 102.Correlli Barnett, ''The Audit of War'' (London: Pan, 2001), p. 207. The Commission recommended a unified system of elementary and secondary education. The Commissioners reported on their visit to a Swiss elementary school that they "were especially struck with the clean and tidy appearance of the boys, and there was difficulty in realising that the school consisted mainly of children of the lower classes of the population". In regards to Germany, they said: "The one point in which Germany is overwhelmingly superior to England is in schools, and in the education of all classes of the people. ... e dense ignorance so common among workmen in England is unknown". The Commissioners also wrote,

is our duty to state that, although the display of continental manufacturers at the
Paris International Exhibition Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in 1878 had led us to expect great progress, we were not prepared for so remarkable a development of their natural resources, nor for such perfection in their industrial establishments as we actually found. ... Your commissioners cannot repeat too often that they have been impressed with the general intelligence and technical knowledge of the masters and managers of industrial establishments on the Continent.Barnett, p. 208.

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