WORKLESS YOUTHS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 140, 15 June 1932, Page 3

WORKLESS YOUTHS.

GUIDANCE AND TRAINING

ORGANISATION PROPOSED, GOOD WORK IN CHRISTOHURCH. Attention to tho. danger of boys drifting into bad habits owing to lack of employment is drawn in a report just issued from Christehurch by the Technical School Teachers' Association. Since December last the records of 510 boys have been filed at the vocational guidance department of the Y.M.C.A., which acts also as the juvenile employment bureau of the Boys' Employment Committee established in that city. There were also brief records of an additional .WO boys known to be looking for work. The total of all boys concerned, still looking for work, was approximately 600, and it had to be remembered that there were probably as 1 mny more who had not come into contact with the organisation.

At the Christehurch and Wellington Technical Colleges vocational guidance masters were appointed in 1929 with instructions to attend to the problem of vocational guidance in its various aspects. They were released from several teaching periods each week for the w-ork. In Christchurch the further step was taken at the end of 1931 of releasing tho master from the limitation of working within his own school, in order that his work might cover tho wider field of all the unemployed boys of that city.

From December last to May 7, tho Christehurch bureau placed 109 boys permanently and f>9 temporarily, the permanancies being:—Farming .'l9, factories, etc., 18; clerical and junior salesmen, 14 each; trades, 11; professional, 6, and message work, 7.

Suggested Remedies. The report makes a number of suggestions for dealing with the problem, the following being the most important: — (a) Tho appointment in different centres of further vocational guidance officers, both men and women, preferably teachers who have shown a special aptitude. It is suggested that they should be released from approximately half their teaching time.

(b) The setting up of juvenile employment committees in various centres. Such committees to represent educational and business interests, social workers and other organisations interested.

(c) The establishment of juvenile employment bureaux in such centres under the general control of the committees, and in the direct charge of the guidance officer. The locale of such bureaux should depend entirely on local circumstances, but it may be mentioned that the national secretary of the Y.M.C.A. has offered the co-operation of any branch of this movement and the use of their buildings.

(d) For the younger juveniles who have left school and are unemployed, it should be possible at very small expense, to organise separate classes at the technical schools. At the Christchurch Technical College four such classes (commercial, woodworking, engineering and agricultural) have been organised, and meet every Monday and Wednesday afternoons.

(e) For those unemployed between 17 and 20 years of age, employment centres, apart from technical schools, might be set up on the lines of the English system. Here a youth could work either in the mornings or the afternoons, and have the rest of the day for seeking work. A disadvantage of this would be the cost of establishment ajid maintenance. In Christchureh the Y.M.C.A. acts as such a centre. Gymnasium classes arc held there on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 10 a.m. under the control of the physical director of that institution. Rugby and Soccer teams have been organised and compete on Wednesday afternoons. On Thursday evenings classes in junior salesmanship and business methods, etc., are held, and at 7.30 on the same evening community singing for all unemployed boys is held. It is proposed to develop these classes still further along more useful lines in electrical engineering, motor engineering and natural history, and career talks are at present under consideration. These classes are being made possible through the co-operation" of a numbere of representative and capable business men and others. This is again on a voluntary basis. (f) Favourable consideration by the Government of the setting aside of plots of land close to urban areas for cultivation by unemployed boys, and the provision'by the local authorities or the Public Works Department of necessary implements. Other Work for Girls. In the course of further suggested remedies the report advocates raising the school leaving age to 15 or 16 years. Time spent in an approved technical school course should be permitted to count in reduction of the period of apprenticeship in all trades. The status and pay of domestic work should be raised in order to attract more girls, as there would be more scope for boys in shops and offices if more girls werc. employed in the homes. Trade should be encouraged by the State in order to increase the demand for juvenile labour. The report considered that a larger number of the people should be employed in the secondary industries of the Dominion.

In conclusion the report discountenances too much centralisation in the work of helping the boys, "past experience in several centres having shown that where the work is predominantly local, it has the best chance of being effective."