SCHOOLS OF ENGINEERING.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14969, 16 May 1914, Page 14

SCHOOLS OF ENGINEERING.

. _ „ ...: .. ♦ ■ — to fan t»pro» or "nps ysEss." - mjr letter on the'above subject published .a little over a week ago in the columns of "The Press," I niado iucidWtaJ reference to the results, of the University examinations at the Canterbury College School of Engineering. A footnote to my letter • gave , the information that two students bad passed the final examination for the .B.E. degree. (Associates, by tho way, aje-.ngt. degree This infbN nj»tian, I presume, was supplied from ' : "beadquart&s, but it only serves to -jm, valrs tfeo subject of iho engineering results instill greater mystery. It is a second version of last November's roeulte. The first version appeared in.tho University lists published in the daily papers for April 9th, to .the effeot that nine students, whoso names were given, had qualified by the examination for thp Jjochelor of Engineering degree: The same thine happened last year, when a .similar list of students was pub- ■ Jished. A correspondent taking except tioft in *bur columns to this misleading paragraph elicited the information that only on© student had passed that examinations • '.:..'........ Tou must allow, Sir, that tho position. , to say the least, is bewildering. No doubt the students concerned know what it all means. But have, not the publip a right to know , too? Ths School* of Engineering is a public institutionj -supported lavishly from tho public funds. The examination results published every year -are tho principal, • if not the only, means the public have of estimating the efficiency of tho work done, and we have ft right to expect that the information supplied shall be. definite and accurate. There is tio suck ambiguity about the published resalts of the other, courses of work taken in the College. IT a paragraph :s ' headed "Masters of Arts," or "Bachelors, of Science," or "'Law," wo know that tl© names which follow aro those •of students who havo actually completed the examinations for those decrees. A list of names following tlio heading "Bachelors of Engineering , * means something different, but what exactly ono is at a loss to say." Wo are still in tho dark , as to tho results of the last examination, for • while tho first version' has been coutradicted by tho second, the latter—contained in the footnote to my letter—gives no names. I am constrained to ask, Sir, what value in these circumstances is likely to be attached tp statements from tho School of Engineering published in tho daily papers? And 1 would like to know whether tho Board of Governors and the Professorial Council approve of these methods of publishing the results of the University examinations. Tho difficulty «f obtaining accurate information on this matter led'nio to inakesonie investigation for ra.vsG.lt, and *he results, especially for the last few "years, do not appear reassuring. In the rcpSrts presented to the Board of ' Governors dated 1911----1913 only one student in each year' is stated to have completed tho examination for. the degree. In the margin of ono of theses reports found in the Public "Library, and opposite tho item just mentioned, I find tiiat>' someone has called attention to the fact that the salaries for the &hooj o£ Engineerinc amount to nearly £3000

annually 1 Tli4t jfc is tiipo a strenuous effort was mado to alter the of things is erident from tb© fact that th© number of matriculated students (from whom the graduates and associates are drawn) Jias declined from 52 in 1905 to 22 in 1913.', Many schemes io incroaey the number of student* have heen tried, but havo so fiar failed. Since it eoem» students must foe got eomehoir, the latest plan is to pay them lo come, and tho . Public fjjeroco Comjjjjssioners hare been induced, according to the Pro/essor-in-«hargfi, to come to the aid of the school by announcing, in eflFoct, that no candidatie need Japply for )K)ejtions under the Public Works . Denartrocnt who has not tieoo througih tho school. RjjguJwbMms, it iseews, have also been.issued by which assistance is to bo given to five engjocers annually to take a -two.years' couj*e of instructiow'at tho eehooi. This is creating a dlsuaand with a rengoauce J It would be jjvteresting to kudw. to wjyit ftjrther extent tho public funtls ar« to bo <fc«rn upon jn orttCToto -carry jout this scheme and keep the "Qatiierbury SehooJ of Knlegs, Tho Chairman of the Board of Got-

crnors, iii ar/nouneing that the first five, men to profit by these reguJat}o,nß had ■ been imported from tho North Island, uses this as an argument' against the necessity _ of o "rival" school ixx the north. Surely he caivnot be siacer.c in this expression of opinion! Does ho really think... that the subsidising of these five engineers mil help the far greater number who wish, to continue Hheir studies, and have no possible chance, even if they had the wish, to take up their residonoe in for four, or jsix yoara? Does ho think that assistance giv««n to fiv© men. justifies thp Senate in refusing to allow tho largo majority to follow their chosen life work, aad in defeating thereby tho very objects for which the University was founded? ~ ■ This latest scheme is surely calculated to kill outright v tho plncky "rival" in tho north, which it would seem js a& th« root of all the troubles of the older school. It seems to mc, Sir, that instead of spending so much energy in the attempt to kill honest effort'elsewhere, and crush what should be considered as heajthy rivalry, it would J>et*« ter become the authontiee to enquire into tho reasons of tho decadence of the institution for which they are responsible. Of one thing iro maj he quite certain, and that is that these new tactics, which have been planned, it would appear, not only for the salvation of iho local school, but also .for the discomfiture of Auckland, trill teucj to strengthen the determination of the northern city that her needs shall b« considered and satisfied. The fact that she has been thoroughly roused, and brought to see the necessity and importance to hw future welfare of the higher education and culture, is national interest, and if we in the south do not recognise this, we cannot disclaim for ourselves the reproach of being selfish and parochiaL Tho Auckland people have the consolation of knowing that eomo members of the Senate who _hay© hitherto voted against the recognition of their, Engxneejing /School are beginrang to see the matter in its true light, and have announced their intention of voting on the other eido at the earliest opportunity. ' Ono of these converts, accordins to the "Herald," finds himself able to "wish Auckland success in her attempt to "ct some measure of justice for the coflegee of the North Island.'-" -rYoms. ejfceFAIR PLAY.