STUDY COURSES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 42, 19 February 1943, Page 4

STUDY COURSES

TROOPS IN CAMP

EDUCATION BEGINS

The first step to put into operation the army education scheme in the Auckland area was taken yesterday when the Commandant of the Northern Military District, Major-General P. H. Bell, D.5.0., opened a conference at the Northern District School of Instruction, Narrow Neck. This was attended by education officers drawn from all units in the district. In a brief speech, Major-General Bell said the service being established was most necessary, especially to* the j'oung fellows in the 18-21 age group. Success rested with the units themselves, and he felt sure that the educational officers who had been recently appointed would ensure the scheme being enthusiastically carried out. The conference will conclude to-day and educational officers will return to their units with a practical conception of how the scheme should be administered. It has been impressed on them by Major W. E. Alexander, assistant director of the service. and other speakers and lecturers, that army education is essentially a unit affair and that it is within the unit that the service must be fostered and developed. The directing hand, therefore, must be the unit education officers who have the knowledge to make the most of opportunities as they present themselves in conjunction with available facilities. On the skill of these officers and on their enthusiasm and influence with the men the whole success of the scheme depends. Much has been said of the deadly monotony of life in camps in New Zealand, or on battle stations, and soldiers have complained of the boredom of their existence. The education scheme should cure this completely and introduce into the life of the soldier, especially those on lonely posts, a new interest that will not only be advantageous to him at the moment but in the future, when he has returned again to civil duties. Determination Needed Study courses by correspondence are to be introduced, and arrangements will be made to supplant these by practical work. The student entering for such a course will be informed that success depends on his determination to stick it out. Once undertaken, study courses should be completed, and the unit education officer's duty is to see that work schedules are kept up-to-date. The problems of university students will be handled by a special staff officer, and unit officers will issue to applicants a memorandum setting out what the university and professional section has to offer. Any man studying for a university degree, or for a professional examination, will be assisted. This applies to those desiring to qualify in law, engineering, teaching, accountancy and banking. Where several men in a unit are taking similar subjects classes will be organised under the leadership of competent men in the unit itself, or of civilians willing to undertake the task. Regional committees will make arrangements for lecturers. All classes of technical colleges will be' free to mobilised students, apart from workshop maintenance fees in practical subjects. Where technical schools are close to camps arrangements will be made for the attendance of students. Examination leave and special leave for exemption preparation will be granted. In the camps themselves quiet study rooms will be made available in huts or nearby schools or residences, and where there is sufficient concentration of men the possibilities of obtaining suitable lecture rooms will be investigated. Educational Booklets "Study Courses" will be the title of educational booklets issued by the Army Education Welfare Service. They will be based on the correspondence system of instruction and divided into groups, including agricultural and pastoral subjects, trade and technical subjects, and general and commercial subjects. Enrolment forms are being printed, and supplies of these will be issued through disricts and divisions to all units. No application will be accepted from a soldier unless it is recommended by his unit education officer, and afterwards endorsed by the commanding officer.

It is recognised by those in charge of the new service that it takes grit and determination to carry out a correspondence course. This has been impressed on education officers, who have been informed that experience has shown that in correspondence classes many have undertaken a course in the first flush of enthusiasm, but have found difficulty in completing it. This is why unit education officers are asked to ensure beforehand that every applicant realises what is involved in taking a course.