TECHNICAL EDUCATION

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2332, 14 December 1914, Page 7

TECHNICAL EDUCATION

DIRECTOR'S REPORT. At the prize-giving gathering on Saturday night, the Director of Technical Education (Mr. W. S. La Trobe) xeported as follows:— "The college has, had a successful year on the whole, notwithstanding considerable losses on account of the war, due partly to some of our students volun'teeriug for active service (about 70 members of the Expeditionary Force' to Samoa were,present or past studentsof the oollege), but much more to the absence of large numbers, especially in the engineering and plumbing classes, on military duty at the forts and elsewhere in Wellington, and to ,the fact that many other students wore required by their employers to work overtime to make up for. those who have gone with the Expeditionary Forces. The entries at the college total 1424 for the year 1914, as against 1430 for the previous year, and tho total number of students taken in Wellington was nearly 1700 being almost exactly the same as in 1913. A considerable increase in the Day Technical School is balanced by a decrease in the number of evening students, and the figures show that tho decrease in the evening entries is partly due to. the increase in day entries. But for the disturbance caused by the war, we should have had a fair increaso on last year's roil, which was itself a record. Students' Successes. "About seventy students were successful in the Senior Civil Service Examinations last Christmas, the passes in some subjects, for example, English, commercial geography, book-keeping, etc., being excellent, and testifying to the soundness of the instruction as well as to the energy of the students.- Good results were obtained in' the Matriculation, Junior Civil Service, and Pharmaceutical Examinations. In the latter examination held lately,. out of 59 entries in the Dominion only two were completely successful, and one of the two was a student in this college. Other students were successful in the subjects in which they were trained in this college, only one • student failing to satisfy the examinors. At the examinations held by the Plumbers' Board of New Zealand our' Plumbing students did very' well, and they repeated their success in the City and Guilds of London examinations, in which also students in the . electrical engineering classes were very successful, a 6 also were candidates in mechanical engineering, carpentry, and cookery. In. the National Art Competitions, held in London, our. students secured one book prizo and ten certificates of commendation. During the last five years the Art Department has secured eight book prizes and thirty certificate- uf commendation.

"A late student of the college, Mr. A B. Hamilton, who is prosecuting his architectural studies in London,' has won the Jarvis Scholarship in Architecture. A former student of tho school, Mr. W. Parker, has taken his degree in Electrical Engineering at Canterbury College, and won tho Travelling Scholarship in Electrical Engineering of the Now Zealand University. Other former students have done well in various branches of engineering, etc., among whom I may mention Mr. Charl»s_ Foster, who lias passed tho examination for Authorised Surveyors, and completed his pupilage with a Wellington linn of civil engineers. . On tho whole, the roports wo receive as to the doings of our old students arq'extremqly satisfactory, and as there is a growing earnestness in the work generally I think we may look forward with somo confidence to increased usefulness in the future. Helpers of Technical Education. "I have to express the'thanks of the college to tho City Council for their generous contributions to the funds of tho achool, to. tho Education Board for

the use of rooms without which we should be very badly off, to the Industrial Association for their continued interest and for,the generous support which they have given to the college. I have also to thank the members of the various Advisory Boards of Control for thoir kindly interest in the classes under thoir aegis, and for the. sound advice which they have given, and for the time and' trouble they have spent in helping the college "I wish to acknowledge the generosity of the 'Wellington Gas Company, Messrs. Collins Bros, and Co., G. W. Wilton and Co., M'Leod, Weir, and Hopkirk, James Marchbanks, C. 8. Watkins, E. F. Jonea, A. T. Clarke, W. H. Wheeler, H. D. Vickery, and Miss Williams in giving contributions to the prize fund. Our thanks are due to the Wellington Press for assistance on all occasions, especially in advancing the claims of the college to better recognition in the matter of buildings, grounds, and equipment. My own thanks are due to the staff for their loyalty, skill, perseverance, and enthusiasm t which has led to excellent results in all branches. In regard to the prizes, I have to explain that, in response to a general desire on the part of the students it was decided that the gifts and grants for prizes should bo anded over to the Belgian Fund, and certificates will be presented instead of the usual prizes. The certificate states that the amount of the prize has been given by' the winner to the Belgian Fund, and for this reason will probably be more treasured than an ordinary prize, aid will be a perpetual reminder to each prize-winner of the glorious heroism of a people, small only in numbers, that has preferred bodily death and degradation to the surrender 'of honour and liberty of scul."