TECHNICAL CLASSES,

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2034, 20 March 1907, Page 2

TECHNICAL CLASSES,

SOME FURTHER OPINIONS. Recognising that considerable interest had been aroused by previous interviews regarding technical education, a Times reporter sought out yet another gentleman who could be regarded as an authority on the matter and asked him to state bis opinions on the questions raised. ’There was no doubt, he said, that the education was not given to precisely the classes of pupils for which it was intended; but those children who bad left school would not take advantage of it, and a start had to be made on the younger people who were attending the primary schools. If this did nothing else it gave the children a good idea of the instruction they could get after leaving school if they so desired. Technical education was making our education more practical and less classical than it used to be. He would like to ask the gentleman who contributed the first interview whether ninotenths of the girls of Now Zealand would not be in more need of ability to cook'a dinner than ability to construe a sentence in Latin. ’lbis gentleman was certainly correct in stating that the elder scholars were wanted, but he should have proceeded to explain how they wore to be brought into the classes. The girls m the cookery classes were not only taught how to cook but were also taught the value of food and bow to utilise it to the best advantage. Mr. Hill s opinion was certainly entitled to every weight; but his remarks anent additional subjects had to bo read in with his words regarding technical subjects; and when that was done, was it not reasonable to suppose that the additional subjects were injuring the primary subjects just as much as the technical subjects were? The girls took cookery lessons for two hours per week for twenty weeks of the school year and the same for dressmaking—Bo hours of the school year of about 1200 hours for two technical subjects, which would be of use to any girl no matter in what station she was in in future life. Although a girl may be able when married to keep servants the training she receives in the cookery classes will enable her to supervise her kitchen and sec that her cooking is done properly. •It was questionable whether the wrong class of pupils were attending the technical classes. In Gisborne it was only the stli and 6th standards in the primary schools and the pupils attending secondary classes who were given this instruction, and in small country schools the pupils in the 4tli, sth, and Gtli standards. Before technical education was taken up, all the pupils in the primary schools were educated as if they were all to follow the same occupation, but now instruction was given in practical subjects which could not fail to be of use to each and every pupil in after life. If it was found that technical education was interfering with essential primary subjects there were many features in the syllabus which could be eliminated or modified. For instance geography and history could be treated merely as reading lessons, and the hard work of memorising useless data in connection with the subjects could be discontinued. In conclusion our authority said it was his opinion that Mr Hill never intended that the conclusions come to by the contributor of the first interview should be drawn from his words.