SHORTHAND CLERKS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1978, 7 February 1914, Page 14

SHORTHAND CLERKS.

DEFECTIVE TRAINING DISCLOSED. A soroo what surprising lack'-of preparation on the part of girls who seek t<s enter tho Public Service as .shorthand writers and typistcs is disclosed in a statement- made- to a reporter yesterday by the Public Scrtieo Commissioner (Sir. D. Robertson). He said that there- appeared to be a great difficulty in getting boys to undertake shorthand writing;- apparently they did not go in for it as,they used to do. As regarded girls, it seemed to he neccs- \ sary to go into tho matter very thoroughly. Sir. Robertson went on to quote from a report on the subject which was presented to liiiti recently. It states i that tho examination and questioning of candidates for admission to the Public Service as shorthand-Writ-ers and typistos indicates that ■ there is a good deal wanting in the methods of teaching at semo of the shorthand schools. Very few-of the girls examined could read their notes..' In some instances this was sufficiently accounted for by tho fact that their notes we're' unreadable.' This seems to result:fromth& fact that at'.some of ' the schools the girls are not required to write a transcript of the matter dictated, ■ for comparison with the .original, but merely read it back amongst 'themselves. One girl naively informed tho examiner that two or three girls would read their notes hack together, and so transcribe them, and what one tould. not supply the other could! Other similar exam-: plcswe- quoted in the report. In- type-" writing the candidates were found to bo little better qualified than-in shorthand. Style, the report states, is completely ignored. The average speed of transcribing from notes was found to bfi twelve words a minute. This'' of course was partly duo to the inability, of the candidate to read her notes; b'uf not- altogether. • General ■ carelessness, slovenliness,' and' inaccuracy were the ' characteristic features. A' knowledge of good souttd English, and punctuation, was found to \m almost entirely lacking.' Tho transcripts handed in frequently amounted to sheer nonsense.' The ability to grasp the meaning of a statement was wanting. The vocabulary possessed by most of the candidates,'the report adds, is confined within ' very narrow limits, .and even in that shiitil ', vocabulary tho meanings of the words sre rarely fully grasped