TECHNICAL CLASSES ASSOCIATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 4 March 1908, Page 28

TECHNICAL CLASSES ASSOCIATION.

ANNUAL MEETING. The nineteenth annual meeting of the Dunedin Technical Classes Association wm held on February 26, and was attended by Messrs G. M. Thomson, F.L.S. (president), A. Sligo, D. R. Eunson, J. Jeffery, D. R. White, M.A., G. C. Israel, 0. D. Flamank, J. W. Hardy, and A. Marshall, 8.A.. (director and secretary). The annual report contained the follow* - in& clauses: — During the year classes totalling 70 were in operation at the Dunedin School, while »n additional six classes were conducted a* three outside centres — namely, at Tapiuyii, Waikouaiti, and Palmerston. The director's report gives the detailed account of the classes and their work, while the following 1 table summarises the enrolments since the initiation of the classes in 1889.

In the above table the figures for the years 1900, 1901, 1904, and 1906 include te country enrolments, so that the attendance for tha year just ended constitutes a record. There was also a marked increase in the number of applications for free places, no less than 357 students -being granted free tuition under the regulations. In tne nevr portion of the building, erected during the recess, rooms were fitted up tow carpentry, plumbing, Vood-carving, chemistry, practical electricity and cookery, and the increased accommodation provided for thesa and other classes got rid of th» congestion which previously made the work of the director and teaching staff so difficult. The new rooms were thrown open to the public in on« of the working evenings dnring the session, and hundreds of visitors took advantage of the board's invitation to inspect the school. In order to complete the building, a grant of £1100 has been received from the Government, and the work of widening and elevating the north wing, and of making new ancß commodious rooms for the engineering department, will be put in b*nd Xt l onoei' tne plans having been approved by the Education Department. A grant has also been provided to enable the board to procure the necessary machinery for engineering work. During the past year, as formerly, th« school has been largely utilised by the Otago Education Board for its primary school classes in woodwork and cookery, for it* teachers' classes, and also .for examinations. The Education Board has granted concessions to all Technical School students who wished to attend the School of Art classes. The demand for day c>asses has been steadily increasing, and the necessity for meeting this want has engaged, the earnest attention of the board. The work of tha school has gradually extended into afternoon classes, of which 16 were held during tk« session, and were attended by 112 studenta who took a course of mote than one cI»M. Of these, 67 came from beyond Mo&gi-el on the south, or Fort Chalmers on the north. In order to provide a full day course, tha •taff would require to be very considerably enlarged, and a director appointed whose whola time would be given to the work of that school. While desirous of meeting the needs of the community, the board, in order ta avoid overlapping the- work now being don« at the School of Art, has approached 1 th« Otago Education Board with a view of having the whole subject of the relations of the two schools discussed. As in former years, free ■ tuition has oeeni given at the University to iJie leading student of the past session in physics, chemistry, and English, by Professors Shftnd, Blaok, and! Gilray, to whom the thanks of the board ara accorded. The statement of receipts and expenditure* shows the credit balance at the end of th* year as £867 4s 4d, to which h&s to be added several grants earned, but not received, befora the end of the financial year. - The President ea.id that it was customary at the annual meeting to move the adoption of the report. The report, however, wae really the report of the Board of Managers to the Minister, and they had? made use of it at the annual meeting as the only opportunity they nad of bringing the matter before the public. In referring; to the work done in the school, Mr Thomson said he did not believe it was much) behind that of the other centres, but they must acknowledge that the other cities, and particularly Chrlstohurch and Auck--land, had in the past few years pushed* forward trith a great deal of vigour. Tha" whole question of increasing the scope off th« Technical School by the establishment of day classes would have to be faced byi the incoming Committee of Management. After a short discussion tihe balance sheet, which was summarised in the oommittee'a' report (published in yesterday's keue), was adopted. Messrs A. Burt, D. R. Buneon, G. M» Thomson, A. Sligo, and .J. F. Arnold,M.P., were elected the association's representatives on the Committee of Management for the ensuing year.

.LOOt) • ■ • , . . ZGO . - - - * OJL 1890 170 1891 318 1392 364 1893 390 1894 385 1895 457 1896 458 1897 701 1907 (Dunedin) .. Country Centres 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 .. .. 767 .. .. 781 .. 753> ■.. .. 634 . ..-,775 ..- .. ioas .. .. 78* .. .. 82t .. 966 .. 97 1063