SOLDIERS' SCHOLARSHIPS.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 111, 10 May 1919, Page 12

SOLDIERS' SCHOLARSHIPS.

EDUCATION IN THE N'.Z.E.F. (From Our Special Correspondent.) LONDON, March 14. The list <>f fortunate recipients of N.Z.E.F. Scholarshrrw lo be taken out In the I'nited Kingdom, is an earnest of the spirit in which our men are playing up to Ihe ideals of those at the head ot the N.Z.K.F. educational schemes. | It is of interest to note that long before— Xmas 1017 to be exact— hostilities ceased, educative plans were afoot in the N.Z.E.F. A conference wa.s culled then, and that conference ended by beciining a standing one. and its veerk the educative scheme embodied on the neat grey bound calendar- the gist of which has already been deserilieil by your correspondent—one of which no university need be ashamed. Tlie problem to be faced by those who are carrying on the ibig, comprehensive j scheme is more difficult than that usually confronting an educative body. They j have to deal with grown men, who out of the army were their own masters. They have to face the fact that soldier■ ing tends to a certain slate of mind.] slackness maybe. And who would blame lite poor fellows after the filth nnd noise and hell of the lighting line. The men. t0,., have fallen out of the routine of civil life of regular wage-earning work. These have to be brought back to 'normal habits, their power to sustained work restored. And being s-uch men as l hey are, it ennnot be done by passing a regulation to be carried out with military precision. That is not the new army spirit or way. More then that they mint be helped to make Rood the headway they have lost through dropping our ol their trade, or to do more to get something that will help them to get a bigger move ~n than if they had stock solidly al iheir own workshop bench or ofllce desk ;u New Zealand. The education authority's lirst line of attack ii to grnut "educ.iti-.ma-l leave" for ii month. During that the man on X.1.. is understood to net as if he had n roving commission to examine in idel w,>rk-hops or what not in connection Willi his own calling. At the eihl of this leave for winch sa far fall) men have applied -extension is granted to such as de-ire it. but as this extension is not given on pay it argue* a healthy interot in his job if a man asks for exiens.on. About twenty-live per cent, have had this extension. Should any on these explorations into British industry find a workshop in which he would like to gain experience, if lie is accepted by the workslop authorities, every facility is given him und hi* release from the I'orcev. About ISO nf the men stationed at llurnchiircli Convalescent Camp have for some time been enjoying the privilege of coming to I..union to intend classes by means of which they continue their (ruining where they left, off on going up in New Zealand, and the work of such ranges from pharmacy to tailoring, in the last mentioned they are carrying on in one of the best-equipped workshops in the West Knd of London. Then special educative visits are being organised in collection with a variety of interests. Farmers bail their round of famous pedigree herds and stints I see separate notice) in .Scotland last month, this week a group interested in engineering works began a round with Vickers' (sec also separate notice) works. r-ui much for the lit. . . ■ and the above is! of couwe, additional to the work going; on in nil the camps both in the Old Country nnd in Oermany anil in France. For the disabled, educative work has been concentrated in Weybritlge. nee-Waiton-on-Tliames. There they have provision for every sort of occupation a disabled man can undertake, and 'New Zealand hospitals and convalescent camps had done notable work from the lirst moment such recuperative agencies were tiecc-x.-.ry. The recent exhibition at the Red Cross Headquarters in Hoibom, and the fine display made by 'New Zealand in the inter-Allied Exhibition at Westminster bint summer both atte ted the early anil good work done. l>ut to return to Weybridge. To put a crown to its own ,-,]«"t-ial work, it has been arranged that such men as show marked proficiency in their trade shall be helped to get into good workshops in England, where they may get thoroughly up-to-date practical experience before they return to the 'Dominion to "carry on." That army catchword will be made into something with a new spirit, with ideals of progress nnd development- ideals that misrht never have been born had our lighting men been dragged into, and thru.-t out of tho fighting services in Ihe old cold-blooded way. (The list of mon who obtained scholarships will be amplified as soon as Major NdrUlcroft, Director of Education, supplies necessary data.)