FIGURES TELL

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 170, 21 July 1942, Page 6

FIGURES TELL

ENGINEERS' SCHOOL

AUCKLAND'S HANDICAP

Some striking figures were yesterday quoted by Mr. S. Irwin Crookes, a member of the Auckland Electric Power Board, when discussing the position of the engineering school at the Auckland University College.

It had been pointed out by the board's general manager, Mr. ~R. H. Bartlev, that there had been certain moves afoot which might result in depriving Auckland of the right to have a complete engineering course here.

Mr. Crookes reviewed the long fight which had been waged to establish the present limited engineering classes in Auckland. Prior to that, it had been necessary for engineering students to go to Christehurch. So far the Auckland school had not succeeded in gaining recognition for full course instruction. In Auckland they had a professor of engineering of high qualification and doing very fine work with a highly competent staff, but it was still necessary for students to go to Christchurch for their final degree.

In support of Auckland's claims Mr. Crookes pointed out that a# these schools were supported from the Consolidated Fund it was only fair that Auckland should have a full course school since the population of Auckland province was onethird that of New Zealand. Yet during the past eight years the special schools of the South Island had received a total of £160,000 as against 127,000 to the North Island, whose population was two-thirds of the Dominion's total.

The board decided to support a petition asking that the Auckland University College be granted power to provide complete courses and present candidates for examination for the full batchelor of engineering degree, civil, mechanical and electrical engineering, and to provide a course in aeronautical engineering, and that it be supplied with requisite funds for appropriate equipment and staff.