TRAINING THE APPRENTICE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 637, 14 October 1909, Page 4

TRAINING THE APPRENTICE.

. ' employers and technical - , 1 EDpCVTIOJI. f -svSpenkiritt generally," observes this Minister for Education'(llon.G. Fowlds) in-his annua] retort to Parliament,"it may be 6aid that good arid useful,-work is,within tho .limits imposed by existing conditions;'..being done .in the tebbnical schools: ' Most of the'instruction con. tinues to bo given by means of evening classes, and necessarily so, until it is found practicable to effect some change in the unacr which the schools are at present working. That what is known as the evening technical class is nbt an altogether: adequate means ot training is now being recognised by an in' creasing number of .■ employers' in tnoso countries in which the Value to tho community of technical education- is l - acknowledged. means adopted by employers to mdtace tbeir workpeople to attend • technical schools aro l-many hrtd various^.V.Not a- few, for. example, find it in thoir interests to give their employees 'time off,' often without loss of pay, to-enable. them toattend day classes'at. technical schools. Other ' means': adopted aro :—Payment: of ees; refund of fees on condition of satisfactory, attendance ;,increaso of wages. ;and. spccial privileges; payment for, or-'loan-of, books una apparatus; scholarships, bursaries, and-prizes; .increased prospects of promotion; acceptatice of' timo spent at the technical, as part itpays to placo as few obstacles.as.possiblc in the way, of the educational advancement of their em. n' ees, it' should not-be too much to'nope employers in New Zealand will be moved to follow their lead when and-.50 far as-local conditions permit. Somo of 'them,;it_is-pleas. irig to record, are already doing something in one or other, of , the directions indicated.' It is to bo hoped' that their example will speedily be followed-by others, for •it. .is'beyond ques---tion that' tho advancement of technical educa-tion-iri New Zealand depends to no small extent on the. enlightened attitude of. the employer towards theltecVnical'schools. That tho schools, would '.respond'.t6 the; best"of their ability to rtasonabltv.-requiitemerits of-'-emplojers -m- toe ifiSitter of -.providing, suitable 'courses ;.of.._iH: struction saying. • ;7 - Continuation' Schools. , "The question 'of. the continuation .of., the education of young peoplo after they havo leit the primary .'school—a question , which is re? coiving an increaMng amount of attention in other parts of the al?° be regarded asa'n important factor in the solution, of the problem of - how best to provido for the 1 technical education of those. destined to follow industrial pursuits. The.,establishment of continuation schools' for tboso who nave completed their primary education/ together with the raising of the ago of compulsory attendance, maybe cited as the chief means by which the solution of tho problem - is being attempted, elsewhere-'-with what seems to; be. tf good deal of success. - As to how far it is desirable t0..g0,,in this.-direction in-JVey Zea-. •land -is'a'mattcr 'for • serious consideration,'-e----membering tho differences in the conditions, that obtain-'h'ero ."and M,;the. countries:in which .compulsory attendance, r whether obligatory or. ■optional,"- hasAbceffif or .';, is ;:proposed7,-tO'''-be, ' "The establishment 01 the following classes, leading up to classes of university rank, up ; pears ,to .be necessary to placo technical-leducation1 education in. New iZpaland on a satisfactory pasis.— • (1) Day preparatory classes for junior pupils. (2) Day classes in continuation of .these, ;pro- • viding full special courses- for those who <: - have not- yet - irons to work,. and : parttime courses for those who "have. . (3) -Evening classes providing such instruci tion as -a workman s (toes' not. or, cannot ' get in the .ordinary practice of his. trade or craft: '7'77 ,: S v "Tho establishment in .a "complete form of 'schemtf (parts of'it .are in operation) implies 4m6ng, other., things, - t con-cfudft-the'Minister, "an, 'agreement .between the employers,. the workmen, and the technical schools on many points, niid- possibly-i.spnio alteration in tho existing law..