23

H.—l4

Post and Telegraph E-fficiency Examinations. The number of officers who sat for efficiency examinations during the year 1914-15 was 770. Of this number, 580 (75 per cent.) were successful either wholly or partially. Details are as follows : — Passed (wholly or partially). Cadets' Telegraph .. .. .. 73 Cadets' Technical .. . . .. 83 23 Cadets' Postal .. .. .. .. 127 91 Cadets' Sorting-test.. . . .. 9 4 First (Postal General) .. . . 79 59 First (Telegraph General) . . . . 63 Junior Despatch Clerks' . . . . . . 4 Junior Counter Clerks' . . . . . . 3 Despatch and Counter Clerks' First . . . . 5 Oral Test .. . . . . .. 97 Telephone-exchange Clerks' First . . . . 1 Telephone-exchange Clerks' Technical . . . . 7 I Senior Technical . . . . .. 13 8 Engineering (parts of) . . . . 16 4 Training of Officers. Technical Training. —Under regulations gazetted during the year, special facilities are provided to enable Engineers of the Public Works Department and cadets in the Electrical Engineering Branch of the same Department to qualify in their respective professions. These regulations are in furtherance of the policy of the Commissioners to provide every facility for the training of technical officers. Departmental Correspondence Glasses. —Correspondence classes for the instruction of officers of the Post and Telegraph Department in technical telegraphy and telephony, and in subjects of the Public Service Senior and Junior Examinations and Sixth Standard, were inaugurated in 1910. These classes are of great value to officers in helping them to pass efficiency examinations and to qualify for promotion. The fee for each course is the nominal one of £1 Is. The classes have been largely taken advantage of, the number of students for the years 1910 to 1914 being 2,001 —861 technical and 1,140 general. The classes in telegraphy and telephony are conducted by technical officers of the Department, and the Public Service and the Sixth Standard classes by a public-school teacher. The expenditure incurred by the Department is fully warranted by the increased efficiency of officers. The classes have now been extended to officers in the general Service who reside in country districts. Handwriting Classes. — The handwriting of cadets who pass the Entrance Examination is so indifferent that the Commissioners formed a class in this subject under the direction of Mr. E. W. Watson, Chief Clerk, Land and Income Tax Department, and a gold medallist of the Paris Exhibition. This class was attended by about sixty cadets, and as a result of the instruction the improvement in their handwriting has been marked. The Commissioners feel that they are indebted to Mr. Watson, who freely placed his knowledge and time at their disposal. Shorthand and Typewriting Classes. —The shorthand and typewriting class which was started by the Post and Telegraph Department to assist junior officers has been continued throughout the year, but has not been supported to the extent that was hoped. As was mentioned in last year's report, this class was extended to cover all branches of the Public Service ; but it had to be discontinued on account of the very few junior officers in the general Service who showed any desire to take advantage of it. Suggestions for Improvements. The standing invitation conveyed by Regulation No. 17 to officers to suggest improvements in the work and methods of Departments has not been responded to as well as during the previous year. Suggestions to the number of sixty-three have