ARMY EDUCATION

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 117, 20 May 1942, Page 6

ARMY EDUCATION

ALTHOUGH there have been indications that the institution of a system final rWi m i y ed " cat ' on is being officially contemplated in New Zealand, no if b p en announced, and the statement of Lieut.-General Puttick on Sunday included no reference to it. As no one will contend ShL se . r e which is thought desirable and has been proved practicable and useful in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia is undesirable or impracticable in New Zealand, the apparent Inaction is nnrn U m hi/? cc ° unt . fol '' especially since the pressure of work consequent "fvM' r V, obillsatio " haa lessened. If army education be thought of as an extra, or as a time-killer, enthusiasm for it will not be strong- but it is rightly to be regarded as an integral part of training. The importance ot the soldiers physical welfare is now fully recognised and men who are below standard at their medical examination are Ssferred to remedial training camps, with results that are admirable and sometimes Mental welfare should not be thought less important. The more that soldiers know of the war what it is ahnut anH vim>r s progressing; the better fitted they are'enabled to become to mas™ technical pioblems of mechanical weapons; and the greater the opportunities pursue studies begun but suspended, and generally to widen their mental horizons—the more valuable they will be as soldiers and as citizens after the war. It is to be honed that th« ?!if Wi h encoi r a , ge educational projects which, given such encouragement, can be carried out as well in New Zealand as anywhere else