MANUAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 104, 18 May 1901, Page 2

MANUAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION.

VISIT OF REV. E. C. ISAAC. Continued from yesterday. TECHNICAL TRAINING. Technical training, said Mr. Isaoc, appeared to be a burning qu- s ioa in New Plymou'h. In the first place be wis' ed his hearers to believe that 'lie interests of tha community «ivt the B rough were identical. He felt sure tlio Gv.'ur.cil would put ro hindrauce in the way of the bdvanccment of tduca<ion, and ho loped at an eai y date to rereive a newspup. r containing the int that tlu technical echrol Hero was'an accnnplished fact, and that it had been erected on a puitahlo site. Ho was not in favour of technical education in primary schools ixctp; in a small way. As to the Is, the Department; was prepared to help in training thorn to cook. It vould provide a cooking echool and the nect-ssary p'ant and apparatus and alto bar the entire coot of training the tea. Iws to fit them to give lessors in co-kery. The purs of life wculd he considerably lessened by good cooking (laughter) and it would be a good thing to teich girls this important subject. The Department w-s also prepared to help towards irjs'ruoiion iu laundry work. It was not .prepared to provide a "wa.-b.er kdy " !;s an instructor, but if any of the teachers would tnlw up the work h* Depii-'tni'rit would help. Assistance wouhi also be giv.n to-arJs Ids'ruction in higher eewing and dr>ssmaking bub a li'e was drawn at millinery. Iu defining technical (ducition be described it as the underlying principle of ai'y puticular trade or cra r t. In certain districts th re might ba a de mand for special subj c's, e.g., in Tarar.aki he could undeistard that dairying wee necessary, and he believed the tima was coming when evdry child in the ditrct could te.eive tducation in tho scuntific dairying. The Department "was going slow, b gining low, ard wo'ild proeed slow." He wou'd imp ess on Education Boards that if the (-ysteui was to succeed the rducatioo must be thorough, and so -of necessity it must be slow, and he warned his hearers that when a technical school was is'ablihhed here he would te very hard on work that was not thorough. It vould b) seen that tt-chn'cal education could not be taught in the ptimary schools. In carpentry the underlying principle was drawing to scale, the same applied 'o engineering. He did not believe a man could properly make that which be co'i'd not draw. The cause of ma' y failures was that man were unable to see to the end of their work. If the town got a syctem of drjin-ige (una that must come son) tleie must be scientific plumbing and he could quite r*ee that this subject mus 1 ; be taught here. Une'er the system now in vogue in wri-kshops it was quite impo sible for the niasters to tench the apprentices properly, therefore, a technical scbcol must lay the foundation of the kuowledgi necessary for the wor'k. In what is called "the sleepy hole Nelson'' every plumber must be lice-need and the license was only issued after an ex- j iimination, oral and writ'on, in poetical know'e Ige. With 1 eference to painters (and here by th<3 way he wuiild uiertion th»t he hoped New Plymouth people would get lid of the tterr.a grey and adopt some vaiie'y of clours) they should have scientific training iu colour, and no man should be allowed ta put a bru-h to a wall unless he was acquainted with tho underlying piinciphs of ait. Ho hoped the time wai not far distant when the men would risn to tfoe height •if decorative work. In Welling'on this had already been accomplished, Another subject that it should be pos-' »i'de for a child to know sjmethiug about was physics (rot physic-the thoy know about that the better) and he believed if they wcra prepared to take up physics it would confer a lusting benefit on the town. Curiously enough the clasps in physics were mostly tiken up by girls. The quss ition which pros, ntod itsilf was i-s to 'wheihor there was a guarantee (hut these classes would be taken up. He <: uld net answer that, all he could say was that i'. depended a great, deal en how thi business was run. Tha painful s : gn of the present d-ty was that, chiMr. n, on leaving scho 1, lost :,ll iu-•ere-t in further eiumtiou. Was it not p ssiblo, however, to stimulate thein to higher education?! He balieved that tho day would com*

when the interest of children in day soho 'ls will become so strong that they would #o to technical schools almos' as rrndi'y as thfiy would go courting. (Laughter). He hop-d that, in connection with the technical schools th!>re would be continuation clashes, and he wirmly adrocited inducing children to | take an intoiest in th 9 golden riche--1 and wondrous beauties to be found in our grand old literature. Be could «ee, looking forward as in a vision, that this b<autifol town had a technical school. He would lifee to mention its locality, but he did not dare do so. (Liughter) However, he could see it, not very large but beautiful and attrac'iw, acd within the walls of that building was being taught drawing, pointing, engineering, architecture, physics', plumbing", and the underlying principals of a good many other trades and crafts. Thero must be no of the work, no under mining the intere ; ts of ore body ti further those of another. The child len must be educated thoroughly. At the anme time he aiicerely the master rf that or any school would no' have a note bimihr to that sent to the teacher of a physiology class—" Dear Sir, Ple»se don't tell Mary «• y more" 1 about her insido ; it's rude." No knowledge was rude, asserud Mr. Isaac with some W3rmtb, and he expressed an opicion that many of the il's from which youths were suffering intuited from igcorance. He strongly denounced the ptudery wLkh ha*' exis'ed in the past and made a powerful Bppeal on behalf of the acquisition ' of knowledge, concluding his very earnest address by stating that in what ! he had said the uttetatics were no' 1 those (A a co'd-blooded Government official, but of a wan to his fellow men. (Loud and prolonged applause.) The Mayor, refe: ring to Mr. Isaac'* stric'urfs on the colouring of the Oouncil Chamber, asked hdvice in view of rede orating, Mr. Isaac 8:.il he would be viry happy to give His Worship a colour scheme.

Mr. Sp ncermadean exp'anatkn us to his condemnation of the prison' system of drawing, and poipted out the hearing that technicnl education Lai or. the lanikin question.

Mr. Neale s*a'ed tlin benefits which had accrued from the School of Mines at the Tnarnes. Mr. Cocktr refjired tathe ii.fl lenee for good that technicil schools had pi oducod in Yorkshire.

In lvply to Mr. MacDiarmid, Mr. Tsaic slated that th?! minimum number of a class was fjx'd at 12. Mr. MacDiarmid asked whether it was possible for a teacher to take ino;c than or.espdcial subject. Mr. Isaac quot-d the case of a teacher giving instruction in wo:>d and iron work as will as chemistry. He ss>id the Departmeut felt the int. rrst. f the prima -y teachers should he fn'utcd and that they shtuld qualify for speci*l ti aching. In reply to Mr. Hignett, Mr. Isaac expressed his views as to a dairy school, wbitb, he said, might wtll ba att-ched lo the District High Sclrol at S-rat-ford.

A hearty vote cf thanks, moved by Mr. McAHuai, seconded by Mr. Hignutt, and supported by the lion. W. T. Jennings, was carried by acclamation and biiefly acknowledged. A Vc't:) of thanks to tho M.yor termka;ed the ui'-ei g.