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TRADES' TRAINING

' "*~~ — ~~. ... .. SOME SUGGESTIONS THE NEED OF EFFICIENCY

The Wellington Trades and Labour Council; has addressed fhe following letter to. the Minister of Labour'(Hon. W. H. Homes) and tho Minister of Education (Hon. J. A. Hanah) on the subject of apprenticeship to trades:—; As a sequel to the dismission .of education and industrial efficiency, tho Wellington Trades Council would draw public attention to the question of apprenticeship. Wo are of opinion that no material progress can bo made • by tho nation unless the foundations are built on stone and not on sand. Much is now bein<; said iii favour of education. But education in itself is of little value unless it is properly applied. The present system is one by which numbers of semi-literate children'are turned, out of our schools when they are twelve, to fourteen years of age, without definite purpose as to tho future. The parent then allows tho child to drift into somo work for which' the child may 'have little apitude. Very often the consideration actuating the parent is that of immediate monetary advantage rather than the future of the child. Usually there is a gap of several years between the time the child leaves school and the taking up of any definite trade; During theso years the average. boy is generally employed as a messenger or paper-runner, learning nothing of valuo, and forgetting, in the time, very much, of what he bag learned at school. There is no process by which, in these' very important years of'his life, his mind may be kept in a fruitful trend of. thought. Tho Present Training. But oven where the choice of a calling has been wisely made it is seldou> that'the conditions of employment tendtowards a high standard of efficiency. The average employer looks upon indentured apprenticeship as an irksome restraint to his freedom of action.. Hence ft is that under our Arbitration Act the safeguards to apprenticeship have, been whittled away. The result must make for inefficiency. ' Employers seem to look upon boy labour as part of the machinery of tho workshop, to be thrown out at will. They are inclined to accept no responsibility for the teaching of an apprentice, and indeed 6eem to make use of boy labour mainly to do the cleaning and carrying. Where the question of efficiency has been discussed of late the. trend .of ideas seems to have been in the direction of compelling boys to attend the technical schools at night. Against Night Schools. Since tho employers have not borne with good grace the duty of teaching the boys, we submit that the proper course is to make technical- training a compulsory part of indentured apprenticeship. It is not reasonable to oall upon boys to attend night schools after a full day in the workshop. Nor can the best results be obtained by 6ucli a system. An active brain cannot be expected after the body has become physically exhausted. It is now generally accepted that .the maximum of efficient service is obtained from an adult worker in eight hours of labour. How in reason can the community expect more from a growing boy. than from a matured man? One of the crimes of .the community is to call upon children to work before and after School hours. It is no less a crime to expect apprentices to take up trying mental work at night after a full day, in the service of the employer.

Practice ami Theory. We suggest that two-thirds of a boy's time should bo spent in the workshop and one-third at the technical school. That is to say, that in a trade in whioh 45 hours per week are worked the boy should be at the servico of the employer for 30 hours per week, leaving 15 hours per week to oe devoted to technical training. Just, as the State insists that all parents shall enable their children to learn tho rudiments of education, so the State should insist that all employers shall enable their apprentices to learn the technical part of their trade. 'OrJy from such a foundation can we hope to'build up a more efficient organisation of our lives and our resources.

Terms and conditions of ■ apprenticeship should bo formulated for every trade and calling. Boys should be encouraged to take up the work for which they are adapted. * .School teaoheTS should be required to watch for the bent of the boy's genius, and thus assist the parents in choosing the proper calling for the child. AVhere the child now gets into the groove for which- he is. fitted he does so more by luck than good 'management. And where the boy becomes a good tradesman in the averago workshop of to-day he does so by reason of his native wit rathor than by any assistance he gets from his surroundings.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19161013.2.63

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2901, 13 October 1916, Page 7

Word count
Tapeke kupu
806

TRADES' TRAINING Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2901, 13 October 1916, Page 7

TRADES' TRAINING Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2901, 13 October 1916, Page 7

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