TRAINING THE YOUNGER GENERATION

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 29, 29 October 1942, Page 4

TRAINING THE YOUNGER GENERATION

It must be distressing to all who are concerned with the welfare of the young people of the Dominion, to learn that the facilities that have been provided and improved steadily down the years for their better general and technical education are being used less and less. Enrolments at the Wellington Technical College, for instance, have dropped by over 1000 in the last twelve months and the average attendance is now only 60 per cent, of the possible. Conditions are far from being normal, but the future welfare of these young people requires that "they should be fitted, as far as possible, to develop their powers, make their way in life, when these troubled days have passed. It is impossible to predict what lies ahead for the nation in its social, industrial or political development, but it can be said confidently that any community that is educated, with a younger generation trained for useful work, can approach the next stage with greater confidence. The desire of these youfig people to enjoy the high wages ruling—even at the expense of their education —can be understood, but they probably fail to see that immediate gain, in that respect, may be extremely costly in the long. run. There will be less and less scope for the untrained in the highly developed technical and specialized world that seems likely to follow this welter of destruction. The question must be faced whether it would not be advisable to apply some system of more definite guidance to these young people in their- own interests. A first step might be the making of consent by the school authorities a condition for the withdrawal of pupils. The matter could be discussed between, say, the wrector or headmaster and the parents. They should be able to determine what course would be in the best interests of the youths, and probably few parents would place an immediate but temporary gain before the ultimate welfare of their children. The fact that the lads may be called up for some form of military service before long should not be allowed to prevent their preparation for civil life being carried as far as possible. The training received, however incomplete, might give a direction to desires and intentions, and add a purpose, that would be of distinct value when the time came for the resumption of the ordinary round.