Manawatu Herald TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1919. TRAINING TRADESMEN.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 2023, 2 September 1919, Page 2

Manawatu Herald TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1919. TRAINING TRADESMEN.

AMENDMENTS of apprenticeship laws and systems have been recommended for some time. The Industries Committee recommends the Pennsylvania system. The, training of skilled artisans by apprenticeship is an important feature of oirr industrial development, stales the Committee. There is a marked shortage of apprentices throughout the Dominion,,and this difficulty is accentuated by the fact that many apprentices lost the last year of their training by enlisting at twenty years of age. Even before the declaration of war there was a shortage of apprentices and qualified artisans. Therefore, witlj the industrial development that we can reasonably expect in the future, there will be great demand for skilled artisans. It will thus be seen that the apprenticeship question is vital to our success in all industrial branches of our national activities. The quality of the products of our workshops, and 'factories proves abundantly that on the whole our tradesmen are well qualified in the handicraft of their trades, but the conditiuiis of the future will call for more scientific knowledge and technical education. The Committee finds that the status and remu- • neration of the skilled artisan is at present little, and in some cases not at all, higher than that of the unskilled labour'd’, and that until this anomaly is removed we cannot expect our youths to undergo a period of training as apprentices unless we make apprenticeship more attractive, and materially improve the status and emoluments of skilled artisans. The method of apprenticeship now in force in Pennsylvania, U.8.A., known as'the “co-operative industrial course,” is worthy of serious consideration. The course extends over a period of four years. The first year—when the hoy is between fourteen and fifteen year’s of age—is spent entirely in the trade or continuation school, and, during that time he specialises ixx those subjects which will best lit Ixim fo f ; the trade he lias decided to take up,

or, where' lie has not already done so, is encouraged to come .to a decision, and then receives that tuition which will assist in equipping him for his career. For the next three years —that is to say, when lie is. between "fifteen and eighteen years of age —-the huVdivides his time between the school an,d the workshop. All the boys are “paired” in each trade, so that while one is in school the other is in the shop or factory, and vice versa. The plan has proved successful in Pennsylvania. Your Committee recognises that the limited capacity of., the technical schools does not at present, permit of the Pennsylvania scheme being adopted forthwith, but legislation on the lines of that scheme should be enacted without delay, 'find the schools strengthened as speedily as possible, to enable this much sounder and more beneficial system to be brought into vogue. No apprentice should be regarded as fully qualified until he has proved by examination that he has acquired a fair knowledge of the science and technique of his trade, in addition to having acquired the usual standard of practical knowledge and skill.