OUR KHAKI SCHOOL IN GERMANY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 198, 16 May 1919, Page 3

OUR KHAKI SCHOOL IN GERMANY

WITH THE NEW ZEALAND DIVISION RE-EDUCATION SYSTEM AT WORK f (From Captain Malcolm Boss,) Leverkusen, March 19. When, towards tho end of 1914, the nower of New Zealand manhood sailed away from their beautiful islands to the great war there were few among them who imagined that four-and-a-half years later they would be going to school again in Germany. The fear was that they would be too late for the fighting. Some few, cheerful optimists these, thought they might be marching into Berlin before many moons dad waned. Many of them now lie in foreign soil— their graves scattered from Gallipoli and Palestine to the Somme and Passcbondnele; from Le Quosnoy to Cologne. Yet the miracle has happened, For some weeks past the men of this gallant division have been at school in the land of the enemy. The re-education of a division, even in the period of armistice that intervenes between war and peace, is not a simple matter. It requires thoucht and organisation, and a" tenacity of will and purpose, set strongly against the many obstacles that obtrude oeross the pathway to lsnowledgo. During the actual fightIng it was impossible to deal with any comprehension scheme of education. In those rare intervale when it came out of the fighting lino, tho division had, perforce, to devote its attention more to the iirls of war than those of pence. Still, eomethin? was dono—a I>eginmn*r made, mainly through the medium of that excellent organisation, the Y.M.C.A., which, as early as Mnrch, 1917, commenced with the hospital units in England, and, later, arranged for lectures and classes in Belgium and France. Earlv in 1018. a conference of New Zealand TTni"ersity teachers, graduates, expert tradesmen, and others interested was convened. Mid, after much consideration, drafted a policy and svlla.bus. and submitted a renort on professional and vocational subjects. Through the practical results of this conference, tho New Zealand Expeditionary Force claims to havo been the pioneer in the systematic clnsawoTk, since extended to every expnditionary force in the' British Armies. Too much credit cannot lie [riven for the executive work done thrniiph the initintivn of the head of I'the administration, in Encrlnnd, where, of course, mere ideal conditions obtain; lint this article is written mninly with the object of givin? some ideo of what might be termed the re-education of a division still in the field—a- much mnrn difficult matter.

The New Zealand Field Education Scheme was devised for the purpose of helping men lo ho hotter citizens, and, the moment the guns had ceased firing, the peneral of the division and some.of his officers began to think and plan with this object in view. A grant of .£3OOO had alrendv been made by Hie Government, and this was now supplemented liy a further generous grant of .£50,000 for. the general plan. It wns seen that scliome must hn comp"lpnry. and under military direction. This decision was not arrived at without considerable discussion, and some opposition, but, pvph-' tually, own the opponents of compulsion became converts to that idea. The teacWs are nil mpn from the division. They were carefully selected and sent to Hovnchurch. where wns established a special school for teaching teachers how to teach. Many hnd nlrendy had exne.rienee in the profession, but there were others who. though they had a pound knowloflgff in their espocinl subjects, had to lift taiislit tlie urt of clear exposition nnd demonstration. They piient a month in this schnol. At the Start fiiere were eight officers and a luin(lri>d and twenty non-cnmmi«iio"cd officer instructors. Practically al' these men. huve donn excellent work. The general idea has been to teach un to mntricnlation stantliivi in tho division, and thero is a matriculation class where students wor'nng fivo hours n. day are. given special facilities with a view to matriculation. Those capable of greater accomplishments, provided thev are suitable candidates, are «mt back to the vinous colleges of tlio New 7e.nland University. Those who have nlrendv matriculated nnd who wish to pursue their studies further are sent to' nnivpvsitv college* m Entf-Innd-mninly to the London Univewuty. Those lnt+er live nt\Hovnchurch (/amp, and travel daily to and from London. The School Organisation For ordinary administrative purposes the division in CJormany was organised into four brigade groiips-three infantry ftnd one artillery, 'and this organisation was taken as the basis of the educative work. ; In coch group there was a echool where all subjects were tought. In cases where the group, occupied several towns the engineering branch was concentrated in one place, the agricultural branch in another, and the architectural brandy in a third. This helped greatly in Teducmg the amount of equipment necessary On the other hand, the general education and commercial sections provided for instruction in encli centre. Law nnd printing wern taken in one centre for the whole division. There are in all nine sections—agriculture, economics, commerce, law, telegraph ongin°eriiifr, general 'education, architecture, engineering and trades. The comprehensive nature of the teaching mny be judged from a few example!?. For instance, in agriculture daily lectures are given in agricultural science, dairy farming, livn stock and veterinary subjects, ( wool-clas6in<r. fruit farming, market gardening, and poultry-farming, In ' commerce, bookkeeping (elementary and advanced), shorthand, salesmanship, advertising nnd type-writing are ,tau<rht. Under the heading of architecture there are toiujht architecture. contracting, ' plumbing, nainting, sign-writing, plastering, bricklaying, carpentry, cabinet-making, and-' agricultural carpentry. In engineering the subjects are surveying and road-mak-ing, steam, gas, nnd oil engines, ar-plied mechanics, mathematics for engineers, clementarv electrical enijineerinir, installation, kinema operating, and motor mechanics. The cost of equipment has i-ot been great, t><- tools, piper for exercise and pote-books, and other articles have boiMi requisitioned in Germany, vrHle the directors of some of the excellent technical colleges in pnd nbniit Cologne have greatly assisted by the loan of MilunVf and up-to-date material, such :.s split sections of oil and other engines, electrical appliances, and oilier things. Tools, camera?, timber, eewing machines, and even a milk-testing machine lu.vo been borrowed or bought in Germany. The cost of tools and other appliances and material secured in Germany was very low compared with what would have been had these been obtained in England, especially when Hie upcrcased. value of the mark is taken into consideration, but, in any case, owing to the difficulties of transport, it would have been impossible to have sreiired most of the material in time from Dnglnnd. The scheme, as it was originally drawn ■up, made provision for nn education period of seven or eight months, as it was not thought, possible to demobilise in less time. While tho unexpected rapid demobilisation from Germany will undoubtedly be of jreat advantage to New Zealand.' it has, at the same time, interfered with the education scheme. Other hindrances have been caused through the necessity of still carrying on certain military duties, such ne the furnishing of guards, tho care of a liemoiint Depol, and tlie transport of horses to bases as far away as Rouen and Dieppe. The Now Zealanders have beeii going back at the rate of one thousand per week, and tlie weekly average attendance nt the classes in tlio 'laturnl course of events fell from R835 in tho last week in January to 1000 on March 1. As the classes fell, so the numbers of instructors decreased -proportionately, those not being required being sent to Englnnd to take up similar , duties there, or on board troopships returning I to the Dominion.

There was no lack of suitable buildings for the various classes, the Stadtieehe Lyceum, a ■well-ennipped secondary technical school at Mulheim. and tho classrooms in the famous Bayer Dye and phomicaT Works at Loverkuspn, being ideal. At BensbDrg a college- that, up to the armistice, had been used for the teaching of German military cadets, vn* turned to more peaceful purposes in tho interests of the Now ZeMand Division. Tho firm of Bayer and Co. supplied a.

great deal of apparatus on loan for educational purposes. It was ono of the etningb incidents in tlio onward maren of events to find this, famous firm, which made the poison gases and one-third of the high explosives for the German armies; assisting in the peacful education of n division Hint came from the uttermost Dominion to assist in upholding British arms against our German foes. Results Summed Up. To sum up, it may be said that, for those who havo been able to attend regularly, the results of the Education Scheme have been excellent. Tho students themselves eay. that they havo learnt quito a lot. Even for those who, owing to various duties, have ken ablo to attend only irregularly, tho advantages have been considerable. They have at least been given an incentive to further study, and have been shown how they oan advance their own and the country's interests in the future by improving their knowledge fa the occupations they have already engaged in or intend to take-up in the near future. Tho good worfi started here can be continued' in England while the troops are awaiting transport back to their own country;' it can be continued on board ehip; and it need not be discontinued even in taraway New Zealand after the last man has returned. A round of the classes convinced one that those attending were keen to learn, and that they were eagerly attentive to tho instruction given. It was strange fo see the "Diggers," pipes and cigarettes in mouths, trooping into school , again. In one room you would find a young Runner lecturing to an interested class on unemployment. In nnother a warrant officer would be talking about'the fertilising and reproduction of plants, with diagrams on a blackboard, illustrating the functions of the stamen and tho ntignia, and other scientific .facts, while down in the basement, at German stoves, keen students were learning the art of cookery. If you were to question the cook you would find that he was the chef from the Grand Hotel, Wellington, and proud of his job. A General going the rounds complimented him on the good work he was engaged'in, adding pathetically that in the early part of the war he had suffered more from bad cookery than he had from the enemy. 'In the English class we found at least ono humourist. He did not look at all literary, and the General asked him why. he was attending that class. "Well," said he, "for the past twelve months I have been an instructor in physical training, and during that period I dropped all my aitches. I have come here for the purpose of picking them up again." Who can say that before the next war he may not have developed into a contributor to "Punch," nr per : chance have earned fame as the Stephen* Lcacock of New Zealand? At any rate, he and the thousands of his fellow "Diggers" will not altogether have wasted their leisure moments while they were keeping their "Watch on the Ehine."