TECHNICAL EDUCATION.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11483, 16 January 1903, Page 3

TECHNICAL EDUCATION.

CONFERENCE OF BOARD OF MANAGERS AND EMPLOYERS.

A conference bc-tw.en the Board of Mana- ! gers La connect ion with the proposed .■".hems ; of technical vducation and i-i_re-.i_-t.it .vv.. of uades was held last night at tiie nxms i of the Industrial Association to cotxs.der l the educational requirements of local hidiis- 1 tries. Tnere were present—Messrs M_n_.cn (in th-. chair), J. G. L- Scc.tt. J. B. Sim, J. Claike, C. Taylor, and J. A. Frost.ck, r.presenting th..- Board cf Managers; M.s-ms JVpp.cr, M. Murphy, Btidgu (iepr.--nt._iig Messrs W. Strange and Co.), M.Cudocii (r_pivseuung the ciiip.oytx-s), Gilbert Andvr-on (Christcnuivn Meat Co-), X. E. T.v.cr, M.H.R.

Tiiv Chaiimun .aid that his first duty was to we_coiii_ th. v.Mtois the

Vai-.ott-. tra-a.s. lii-cir picsci.ee uitre tuai n.glit meant that ti.ey « tie wui.ng 10 g.v. i .1 .ia.n.l to si-.v-r th. ecu... ox lo.ii-iica. edit- I ~._.._ to a, i_.nciui._on lor the b.utrit oi vie I pcop.o. Ti.ey nad now a Board ap[ oau-..u, ! ■•ma i.c tea. sure ti.cy wou.d _..nia-«i.e ttun industries and aid to increase the., ni.uto-

ii.... j,i, I__ maiK-i. oi the woiid fvui ifity in this lar oif patt ul th. Empale lcvitng tiiat tir.-y muse o. npi.ppca with were open to an, ;uid the suae was ke.n, th.- most, up-to-date m,. tno.is. Ho took it they all f__t tl:_t N.w Zea.aud ind__tr..s, eoiniivr.e, ag.tcu.iurt, uud people liaisi be k.-.pt wet-. abica.-t of the waul. Tn.it was th- ta.sk tnvy iiad b.iore. tn-.iii, ana it, as uiey wire ted, t__.uii.ai education equipped them better to carry it out, they __o_-d stnv-j to get it. lii-b board haViiig'b.en set up th.i qu._-i.ion wh.cn e-a.n. belot.. taeni \va-_ what \rerj the niuca'tioua. requirements of the pa-i'ticuiar industries. For this rea-

«,~n t:lw Uoatd had a.'k.d those win* were engaged in the practical woik cd their indus-tru-s to give th..m the ben.tit ot tiK-ir advic.'.

Mr-i. E. Tayior, M.li.R., s-a.d that he hud bern too busy whii.t in Eng.and wai to .sc*. any of the institutions connected w.th technical, education. 11. was, how.ver, awtiro that thcie was a strong movemtnt in favour of technical education.

Mr Sim suggested that the gentlemen present connected with Uie various industries should give- the Board the- b.ntlit oi their advice as to what was wanted in con ncction with the dill'trent industries.

Mr Frostiek asked Mr Bridge whether it would be of beiuiit to the industry he represented that instruction shou.d bJ given. Jir i>ndg_ said he thought so. A man to be a good workman in connection with f urnituro shou. d bo abla to design as well as to use the tot-Is. Ho did not think, generally speaking, that Schools of Art supplied the instruction wanted. The pupils drew the article, but they had no idea practically. He thought it would be greajtiy to the advantage of dads to receive technical education, and that in view of tho interest to the public the boys should be compelled by law to attend a course ot technical education. It was probable that the employer,, would be compensated oy giving their boys half a day to attend the technical classes, because the boy would ba much more valuable to his employer in Uie last, years of his apprenticeship. The subjects taught should be the use of tools, classes lor drawing, etc. If a young man went to a School of Art for ten years, he would not learn a.s much as if a special class were piovided.

In reply to Mr Scott, Mr Bridge said. thait the pupils shoii.d be taught to draw tho mod&Ls they made. Ho found that the apprentices were willing to take advantage of the classes.

In reply to Mr Taylor, Mr Bridge said that he did not know whether any of the. lads coining into Strange and Co.'s factory had passed through the classes at the Normal School.

Mr Peppier said he would prefer to have boys who had never touched a tool. He had made it compulsory on his apprentices to attend the School of Art, and had paid their fees, but they told him that the instruction was not practical. Had there be'?n a class for tho purpose of teaching furniture designing the boys would have taken an interest in it.

The Chairman said that boys left the schools at, say, thirteen years, and knocked about at different duties. Mr Elliot tola him that the boys who come to the School of Art would be better able to take advantage of the teaching there if they went direct from the primary schools.

Mr Peppier thought drawing was not sufficiently taught in their schools. To take advantage of the teaching of the School of Art the boys should go through a preparatory course. In reply to Mr Clarke, Mr Peppier said attendance at trade schools was not compulsory. The authorities, how .ver, would try and put the boys into the trade they were best suited for.

Mr Bridge considered it would be far belter to have the schools separate from the existing schools.

The Chairman said the question of trade schools was not before the Board. Mr Gilbert Anderson said that he did not know what the Board meant by technical education. First he might say tliat h>3 had never found a technical school which wvuid take the place of apprenticeship. They.had two technical schoo.s here—the School of Art and Linedn College. The functions of t-h-3 School of Art, he took it, had nothing to do with technical education. The bui.k of the boys who entered employment were school boys who might have reached the third standard. 'Ihoy found that tihrvso boys had no idea of turning the knowledge which the* schoolmaster had given them to advantage. There-was no appiicalion cf th' 3 knowledge to the surroundings. What they wanted were continuation schools, taking the boys b?yond the sixth standard, and makng them acquainted with the reasons for a certain thing being done in a particular way. They were aiways on the lookout for bays who co-afd do this, but without s.ue::ess. This hud led him to the conclusion that the boys should be taken on b-wond thiir training, avoiding theoretical and giving the practical side. They would then have the initituticn wo.kcd up on a well ei.ftnud basis, kctu.es being given applicable to the technica.. side of the various inuustrLs. Of course, with tbeir limued population they cou'd only da th.s generally. The School of Ait was of little use in helping a boy on in any trade- The main object was not to teach a boy the theory cf a particular matter, but to reason and think out the co-us._ for the doing of tho woik. He hod found this most remarkably illustrated in connection with the wool industry. This cot-.|_ not be taught in the technical schoo., though the School of Engineering was turnin-c; them out good engineers. This was because the boys attending were intelligent to begin with, but even in the School of Engineering there was too much theory. Many who came from there met with great difficulty in going back to firet principles. The first thing, if technical education was to do anygood, would be to establish continuation classes, branching off to classes on practical subjects.

The Chairman said the Board were not thinking oi technical schools, but technical education.

In reply to Mr Frostick, Mr Anderson said that a cla?« established for wool sorting or wool classing would be oT great benefit to that particular branch of the industry he was connected with. He was averse to making it compulsory to attend technical classes. If it came to be a disgrace for a youtb not to take advantage of his spars time to make himself proficient in his trade, then the boys would go willingly. Tike the meat "industry, for instance. They put up tha best meat in the wcrld, and in America they put up the scraps. Yet the latter country had the best markets of tbe world. Th.s came abo.it from the fact thai, there was not a- mail in Australasia who understood the .riiy and wherefore of the processes oi ._■;__ :-..-■!"_.. Thc-y had fruits and vege- . ; . which ".'« ;ht profitably be ti 1. 1: to a singu-iir thing that with .'. i Hi ir lectures on chemistry in the Uni..rxities, they had never been able to Utkise the natural products of New Zealand for tanning, etc. Of all the students that had come out of Canterbury College, he had been able to find a practical chemist. He had b_en looking for one for veatH.' Wbat be wanted was a man who

would go through, the works and, picking up rat.h and such a material, tell the practical value of it. The Cluurmun said that many of the illustrations given by Mr Anderson d«_ft v.■;:_ matter, beyor.d the scope of the Board. Mr Taylor said that Mr Anderson had male a suggestion cf great, praet.cal value, viz.. that referring to the earning of their products. They took ,i_rge quantities of canned fish, meat, vegetables, and fruit from America, which should be put up here. Mr Murphy said that with regard to a_r.culture it would tie for many years the chief industry of the colony. But the -ime was coming when scientific acricultur. was necessary in order to keep the colony abreast of other countries. The voting farmers must be taught, how to deal with their soils and manures scientifically. The difficulty was to get the young men to acqu re the knowledge. They were tau.ht tne practical work on their fa_hei_* farms, out what was wanted was that they .should oe- given the scientfic knowledge which technical education would supply. At Lincoln College very valuable technical instruction was jriven as to the Ik 5. ii-cciii.* of generally diffusing the krow ledge. H: thourht s-chools should be sUitted in pl.iees like Leeston, and that lectures should br given. If a staff of lecturers went thiough the country much good would be done. Mr Taj lor su..>ested that Lincoln Colic.;« mi_ht be used to graduate lecturers oti n_rieul:ure. v,l:~> mi.lit bo pent throughout the colony. In Russia this was done to a large extent.

Some dit-cusslcn ensued as to the method to be employed to enlist the sympathy of ill. youn_; men in the movement, and it was 'pointed out that compulsie>n could not be; used.

Mr McCulloch said that it appeared to him that ior the Boaid to cope, with the qiuvtion cf educating the people in agrioultuie would he too great a task, and one which should be undertaken by the Government, lis found tint as regarded his trade—tinsmith—the classes at the end of the first quarter dwindled, as what was wanted wxs instruction by a practical man Several tradc-s had attempted themselves to sut up technical classes, ar.d these would no di.tibt re.eive assistance from th. Board. With leajard to the interest, v tlie masters in the traclet put their foot down and insisted on their nppientices going to those classes, they would do so. So far as regarded the painting and carpentering trade, and the engineering,, they were well provided for at present. After some further conversational discussion the meeting terminated, the President thanking the employers present for their presence and counsel.