SERVICEMEN ENTER BUILDING INDUSTRY

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5301, 14 January 1947, Page 7

SERVICEMEN ENTER BUILDING INDUSTRY

RJ'.TURN OF PAKEHA AND ■ MAORI TRAINEBS One in every 49 Europeans "who served in the armed forces either overseas or in the Dominion has completed or is undergoing instruction in one of the -building trades at the Rehabilitation Board's trade training centres. For Maoris the ratio is considerably (hig'her, /one in evjery 14 Maori ex-seiwicemen having made use of the facilities offered to enter the building .trades. There are 24 carpentry centres alone, ineluding three for the exclusive benefit of Maori trainees. The ratios quoted are part of a table prepared by the Rehabilitation Department. The table gives the ratios for all types of rehabilitation assistance, apart from State housing and rehabilitation allowances, availed of by Maori and Pakeha ex-ser-vicemen in relation to the number which served with the armed forces. Proportion of Beneficiaries A highlight of the table, which is given below, is the number of exservicemien iwho have sucjeessfully sought to have their housing difficulties solved. Here are the Ligures relating to Maoris and pakehas respectively: Loans: Farms, 1 in 51; 1 in 56; housing, 1 in 18; 1 in 15; furniture, 1 in 13; 1 in 10; business, 1 in 73; 1 in 44; toois. of trade, 1 inv -125; 1 in 11. Education, 1 in 76; 1 in 11. Trade training: At Board's centres, 1 in 14; 1 in 49; on wage subsidy, 1 "in 181 ; 1 in 53 ; revived apprenticeships, 1 in 1064; 1 in 58; at centres of Disahled Servicemen's League, 1 in 106; 1 in 344; farm training, 1 in 60; 1 in 53. There is another side to the .picturein the occupational field, a side which is a revealing testimony to the independeht spirit of New Zealand! exservicemen and to their ability to

fend for themselves. Of4 a tatai of 175,216 discharged ' Sei-vicemen &iid women, 110,616 are recorded- as'' hav- i ing successfully attended to their own I re-establishment in indusrry. Of|j| these, 58,796 returned to pre-service j employers, 4363 to their own busin- i esses and 2721 placed themselves "in J State employment. Another 594 are de- j pending on their private means. There ara also (not included in the above '.otal) 7271 who have acquired their ow.n business since returning and 3011 who have acquired farms. However, .all those who obtained farms have done so through rehabilitation finance, while. 4049 of the 7271 have similarly been assisted into businessby the Rehabilitation Board. In Pre-Service Jobs Apart from those placed on farms and in businesses through S.ate agency, there are 26,513 ex-service- j men and women who have oeen assisted directly into industry. Of these 16,978 have been placed withoiU subsidy, witli private employers (ineluding- 2184 with their pre-service employers). Placed with subsidy to learn trades ar-d o her skillad ocCupations with private employers were 5426, ineluding 1410 pre-service employers. There were alsj 8958 who at the time ihe review was made were undergoing training at the Rehabilitation Board's trade centres or taking full- ime' educational studies with rehabiiitatiori assistance. Altogether no fewer than 11,384 had been approved for direct trade and occupational training," while 16,895 had been granted some form of direct educational assistance. Of 5440 ex-servicemen recorded with the departmti'i, 175.) have marriage the most desirable form of rehabilitation. Most of the remainder ! have entered or re-entered industry. i Recorded as having left New Zealand ! are 348 ex-servicemen and women. | Still undecided as to their futura • intentions were 5422, while 591 are , listed as having died since their dis- J charge from the forces.