83

E.—s

Extract from the Report of the Managers of the Dunedin Technical School. The Board, consisting of the same number of members as in the preceding year, was constituted as follows : Representing the Otago Education Board —Messrs. P. Goyen, F.L.S., P. McKinlay, M.A., George C. Israel, James Mitchell, C. D. R. Richardson, 8.A., and William Scott; representing the .Technical Classes Association —Messrs. Alexander Burt, J. H. Wilkinson, George Simpson, and George Thomson, F.L.S., M.P. ; representing the Dunedin City Council —Messrs. Thomas Cole, Thomas Scott, and Alfred E. Tapper. Mr. Thomas Scott again filled the position of Chairman, and Mr. J. P. Arnold was associated with the Board in the capacity of Hon. Treasurer. The operations for the past year were of a highly satisfactory nature. The enrolment of individual students totalled 1,089, the highest in the history of the school. Year by year the value of the work and the importance of the institution as a connecting-link between the general education system on the one hand and the commercial and industrial world on the other is more directly recognized. The remarkable success and consequent expansion of the day school, which is really a technical high school, illustrates one phase of this recognition. It is only three years since a full day course was instituted, the services of three permanent teachers being secured for the purpose, but such has been the growth of this department that now a staff of fourteen teachers is regarded as insufficient to overtake the work. All the rooms in the building are at present in daily use, and it is becoming evident that before the completion of our Memorial College we shall require to make temporary provision for day scholars. The campaign for funds in aid of the erection of the King Edward Technical College was continued with increased vigour, and before the end of the year the amount promised reached £3,600. In order to fulfil their implied promise to the Minister of Education the Managers require to yet raise £1,400 ; but, taking account of the liberal spirit in which the appeal has already been met by a generous public, we anticipate being able to obtain the required amount during the present year. Full particulars of the accommodation to be provided in the new building were issued to local architects, and competitive designs for a Memorial College were invited. In response eleven designs were submitted, and although all gave evidence of able and careful execution, and each possessed features of special merit, it was deemed advisable to instruct Mr. Mandeno, the selected architect, to prepare a design more in keeping with the requirements and according to further directions supplied by the Board. When the Education Department approved of the new elevation and plans in their entirety, and authorized the Board to proceed with the erection of the building, the Managers felt that their action in arranging for a new design has facilitated a settlement, and otherwise justified the extra care and precautions taken. It should be here noted that the statement of receipts and expenditure for the year shows a satisfactory credit balance, and it may be added that, with judicious and economical management, the support accorded by the general public, local bodies, and the Government (through the Education Department) is sufficient to ensure a sound financial working-basis for all our wants other than that of building. The income accruing from the Callendar Estate being now available, regulations for the awarding and holding of the Callendar Memorial Scholarships have been adopted. Fifteen scholarships, each of the annual value of £5, are available for apprentices attending the school trade classes, including those for domestic science. Notwithstanding our report of a successful year's work, the attendance at trade classes is, with perhaps two exceptions; anything but satisfactory. It has often been stated that few tradesmen have any knowledge or grasp of the principles underlying their trade, and this fact has been repeatedly brought before members of your Board when seeking for practical men to act as instructors in the trade classes. It is only after much searching and inquiry that a competent man can be found, and when such a man is found he invariably occupies a superior position, so exemplifying the value of the special knowledge he possesses. There is also another aspect of this matter that is worthy of the attention of the worker. The successful demand for more pay and shorter hours must lead to an increase in the cost of production, and consequently in the cost of living —that is, unless the efficiency of the worker increases in proportion ; and it seems to us that the direct road to this desired expertness and increased ability must needs be through technical instruction. Let the workman, then, become more expert and competent, and he will have a just claim for shorter hours or for a higher percentage of the profits of production. The Board has not been unmindful of its own workers—the teachers and the students. In recent years th.re has been a steady numerical increase in the regular staff, and for the purpose of securing greater permanency of service it has .been deemed advisable to give teachers annual increments in salary. A return giving the localities from which the students of our evening classes were drawn revealed the fact that the majority of them come from the suburbs, and that many of these, being free-place holders, require to travel a considerable distance to the school on three —more often on four, and even on five—evenings a week. To obviate the necessity for so much travelling classes for instruction in English and arithmetic (the subjects for which the teachers and rooms could easily be secured) were established in various suburban centres. This provision relieved Junior Free Place holders from attendance at the Dunedin Technical School on at least two evenings a week. The undertaking involved a slight financial loss, but it seems to members that it will not be long till the suburban classes become an essential as well as a self-supporting part of our system of evening instruction in Greater Dunedin. The tendency towards overlapping on the part of the various public educational institutions in this city has at times attracted our attention and led to discussion. We recognize that each must of necessity have a separate Board or Committee, but a general directing body or Council might well, without any tendency towards centralization, exercise a controlling influence over all educational institutions of this city. The action of Professors Black, Gilray, and Shand in continuing to grUnt free tuition in their university classes to our leading students is deserving of special mention, as well as of the thanks of members. The Board is again indebted to the honorary examiners for much gratuitous work undertaken by them in connection with the annual examinations. In conclusion, we wish to record our appreciation of the conscientious, painstaking, and energetic manner in which members of the staff discharge their duties. The success of the school is in no small measure due to the enthusiasm of our teachers. The results attained by our students in the Science and Art and in the London Guild Examinations testify to the efficiency of the instruction offered by our school.