A CHILD'S CAREER

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 570, 29 June 1933, Page 7

A CHILD'S CAREER

, MASTER'S SURVEY MR. W. G. HARWOOD DELIVERS HELPFUL ADDRESS TO PARENTS. OCCUPATIONAL OPRORTUNITIES ■ • "The 'necessity of treatin'g sio larg'e • a suhject in so short a time will of necessity render these reniarks some- ; what in the;nature of a franiework," said Mr. W. G. Harwood in the course of an address to the High School Parents' Assocaation on Tuesday evening. "They are intended merely to outline -possible occupations for various types of child, to dndicate the cost of preparation and the possible rewards accruing. I have, more or less, assiuned a return to a period of normal employment, feeling confident • that by the time mosit of the children 'at pres,ent at school h'ave completed' their education we shall he back to an era of prosperity. "There is no douht in my mind that, so far as New Zealand is concerned, ' the primary industries offer the greates't scop.e for the majority of our hoys. There is less risk of a boy entering a ".blind alley" occupation in primary industry than in seeondary industry. Ahout 25 per cent. of the male hreadwinners of this country are farmers or producers of some sort. Abont one-fifth of these are omployers of labour, and over h'alf are their own masters. This is a proportion much higher than in many of the seeondary industries or commerce. In other words, the primary producer has a greater cbance of attaininig; indepen■dence. Moreover, the life is a full work, calling on all the faculties, and affording as much if not more scope for the trained intellect as many of the professdons. Further, history has shown us that it is the farming population of a. country which best survives the stress of wars and adversity. Attributes Required. "The modern farmer must be ahle to appreeiate the value of science, and •be ready to utilise and apply wbat the : research of the laboratories has found out. It is necess'ary that the boy should spend some years with a practical farmer, saving every penny until he feels ahle t0 venture for himself either alone 01* with a parfcner. It cannot be too strong'ly emphasised that for farming on a large scale, a sturdy constitution, well balanced intellect, a sane optimism and a highly developed sense of thrift are first essentials. "T.here are other primary industries such as poultry farming, market gardening, beekeeping, vine grow- • ing, etc., which lend themselves admirahly to the less rohust nature, and in Some cases are admirahly adapted for girls. "From the point of vieW of the parent, there is the advan'tage that, once placed in employment on a farm, the boy should hecome self-supporting, and the parent, if he has capital fo support the lad, need not invest it until he is snre that the boy is ahle to use it wisely and well. "Let me emphasise again," continued the headmaster, "the necessity, as I see it, of a sound general educat':on for the prospective farmer, so that he is the better ahle to weigh up the pros and cons when he has toi make decisions for himself. Professional Opportunities. "Of professional occupations, so called, such a.s medicine, law, accountaney, civil engineering, etc., while it must he admitted that the rewaids may be very great, it must be also recognised that fortunes are comparatively few. In professions such as these at least four years of a second.ary school course followed hy four to six years at a university is necessary. The total cost is probably ahout £1200 to £1500 in the case of medicine. In pi-ofessions such as these suecess demands v.ery high intellectual endowments, tremendous power of concentration and high qualities of personality and character, while opportunxty plays a great part towards rapid ti H vancement.

"The professional side of the public service a.nd the education service have always attracted large numbers of entrants, chiefly hecause of the comparative security attached to a Government position. In general, this security is purchased hy a sacrifice of pecuniary r.ewards, and positions m teaching and the public service are unsuited to the original mmd. Ut other careers for hoys, such as enjgineering, journalism, the larmy or navy, mercantile marine, banking, insurance = and shipping, a four years course of seeondary education is desirable. Occupations for Girls. "So far as girls are concerned, the two mo.st popular occupations are teaching and nursing. For teaching the special qualifications for suceess include high gifts of character and personal'ity, sympathy, enthusiasm, patience, a keen sense of humour, firmness and decision of character, insight and imagination. The course mvolves at least four years seeondary education and two years training. Generally, it is advisable for the student to proceed to a university degree, involving one or two years. "The chlef attraction of the teaching profession for women is the independence it affords. _ Starting at £80 per annum, the salaries for fully certified primary school women teachers range from £190 to £875 per annum, and°in the case of post primary school from £168 to £438 per annum. There is also very attractive provision after 30 years service for retirement oii superannuation in the case of women. With the exeeption of superannuation provision, the conditions in the case of men are equally attractive. "Roughly ahout 6 per cent. of female hreadwinners are teachers; nurses come next with 4 per cent. of .the number. A nursq must be physically strong, and possess a Well balanced mind, self control, and a good stock of common sense and cheerxulness. At present a proficiency certificate is the preliminary educational requlrement; this may he modified an a few years, since trainees must generally have attained th'e age of nineteen or twenty years. Three years training is prescribed, hut generally a fourth year is added for post gradu,a,te work. The course is a strenuous one, bttt the nurse is, at the end of her . training, equipped with a profession which can be practised in any part of the world. The rates of pay are gene-

rally not eommensurate with the work done, qualified nurses receiving £80 to £90 per annum, sisters £110 to £175, matrons £250 tio £350 with ajllowances. The Trades. "Of the various trades, I have little time to speak," said Mr. Harwood. "Generally speaking, those which seem to offer the best opportunities for regular employment under good conditions are the trades of haker, cabinetmaker, upholsterer, carpenter and joiner, cycle worker, hairdresser, jeweller and watehmaker, nurseryman, painter and paperhanger, pastrycook, plasterer, printing trades. Generally speaking, these trades demand an apprenticeship of from four j;o six years, and either a general or technical education. The Less Sturdy Child. Physical disahilities must play a determining part in the choice of a career. Fortunately not many children are so handicapped in New Zealand, hut the few that are present a problem worthy of very careful study. After all there are many avenues open. Two of the commonest defects which need consideration are defective sight and defective hearing. For those suffering from defective sight, especially shortsight, the following occupations may he considered: — Various grades of shop work, haking, domestic work, poultry farming, music, the church, law, agriculture and journalism. Such people should avoid engineering, huilding, work on railways, work amongst machinery, wool classing and sewing. "Defective hearing is, in certain occupations, a much greater handicap than is realised, especially when it is remembered that the affliction is practically incurable and tends to get worse later in life. Such people must especially avoid such work as teaching, auctioneering, medicine, shop servlng and stenography. Suggested occupations include carpentery, cahinetmaking, poultry farming, general agricultural work, plumbing, wool cla,ssing fishing, blacksmithing. For girls there is domestic work, cooking, millinery, dressmlaking, embroidery, nnultrv and beefarmang.

Prohlem of Selection. "There is no doubt that one of the most perplexing questions parents have to decide is the choice of a career for their children. The aim of modern primary education is to indicate if posfible the natural aptitudes and marked incl'inations of the child so that it may hecome possible to say that he is best suited to a professional, technieal, commercial or manual occupation. Naturally the question of developing the known aptitudes becomes a inatter often of finance; hut there is •this very definite consolation — that generally speaking , the best type of intellect is adaptable to almost^ ny occupation. In other words, while a pupil may be classified us intellectually brilliant, it does not necessarily follow that he must he destined for medicine, law or accountancy. He is probably, in these days, likely to render more of permanent value to his country hy devoting his intellect to industry or research coniiscted with' primary production. I believe that not only do we want more of our hest brains engaged on the .problemE of primary production, hut that we must realise that the farmer requires a sound general education even more than the tradesman in the city or the clerk in an office. Willing to Help. "Let me close on this note. As a matter of cold truth, we as a staff take an individual interest in every one of our pupils, and this interest remains when the pupil has left school. So far, however, there. has heen practically no demands hy parents for assis'tance from us in determining the aptitudes and consequent course of study of the child. Many pupils have passed through this school without a word from either of their parents. In fact, they have. left, like the Arah, in the night, and the place thereof knew them no more. If this association leads to realisatior. of the faet that the staff can help in preventing misfits, it will in course of time do much' towards the economic ^ prosperity of the country. A quotation from a. departmental pamphlet says.: Tt Cannot be too strongly emphasised that a young person stands a hetter ehance of attaining good employment and of ihecoming a useful citizen if he stays :at school unt'il the employer wants him than if he leaves school and is more or less unoccupied while looking for a job'."