“SECONDARY MISFITS”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 849, 18 December 1929, Page 8

“SECONDARY MISFITS”

SEMI-TECHNICAL STUDY OBSTACLES TRUE COURSES NEEDED Difficulties in the conduct of a semitechnical course were instanced by the headmaster of the Mount Albert Grammar School, Mr. F. W. Gamble, in his report addressed at the annual prizegiving ceremony last evening. While the conditions in maintaining the standard of work had been enhanced during the year by the opening of four new classrooms and the introduction of manual training classes, the very provision of a semi-technical course emphasised the wastage of effort which had always been the bane of every secondary school. Continuing, Mr. Gamble said: ‘‘Each year brings the saddening spectacle of a small army of misfits and disappointment—pupils who. setting out with brightest hopes, fall beneath the burden of uncongenial tasks. Failing the securing of the full machinery for a true technical course in addition to the academic, the pupils in question should be transferred to a technical school proper as soon as their unsuitability for secondary work i 3 evident.” The prospects for solving the problem were not bright. In Auckland, the balance between technical and secondary education was badly against the former. With only one technical institution, already overcrowded, Mr. Gamble saw little hope at the moment of provision for the secondary school “misfits.” The solution would be in the direction of more plentiful technical education. Mr. Gamble noted an increased demand for boy labour. A considerable exodus of boys took place before the completion of the year. From Mount Albert, 56 had been definitely placed from school and he believed other secondary schools had had the same experience. There was good foundation for an opinion that the future would present little difficulty in placing all available boys. When the balance between positions and boys had been established, there would remain the task of educating employers and parents on the undesirability of ending a boy’s course before the completion of a year.