ADULT CLASSES

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23813, 5 December 1942, Page 7

ADULT CLASSES

CARPENTRY AND JOINERY

MINISTER’S ACTION CRITICISED

The Minister of Labour (the Hon. P. C. Webb) was charged at last evening's meeting of the Board of Governors of the Christchurch Technical College with having “turned a somersault” in connexion with the board’s proposal to institute war auxiliary classes in carpentry and joinery. It was also stated that the Government’s decision to hold such classes out of the college was tantamount to an attempt to set up an other Technical College in Christchurch. The board, on the motion of the chairman (Mr T. W. West), resolved that: “Having been asked last year to form these classes for adults and to acquire premises for giving the necessary instruction, this board now notes with concern and surprise that such classes are being arranged quite apart from its control.” ■ As it had the required staff with training and experience for this work, the board affirmed its previous* declaration that it should be given the opportunity of taking charge of them. In general, the board decided, the control of technical classes should be in the hands of the' Education Department working through- the technical colleges. Copies of the resolution are to be sent to Mr Webb, to the Minister of Education (the Hon. H. G. R. Mason), and to the Christchurch Parliamentary representatives.

When introducing the matter, the chairman said that, as he proposed to attack the Minister of Labour, he regretted that no Labour representatives on the board were present. Mr D. Rowse: Surely party politics have nothing to do with this board?

Mr W. T. Langley: It is their responsibility if they don’t come. After reciting the history of the proposal, the chairman declared that the board had impressed upon the Minister of Labour that the classes were not only essential but that they should be controlled by the board, but at that time he did not appreciate the urgency of the situation. However, the shortage of skilled men was such now that the demand that members of the board had seen would arise was now acute. “And now we find that the first notification that these classes are to be started in Christchurch by the Government—and not under the control of this board—is what appeared in the newspapers,” he said. “I think it is about time that we entered a protest, We have proved that w*e can undertake these adult classes successfully in the past, and they certainly should be under the control of the Education Department.”

"It appears as if the Minister of Labour has seen his way to try and set up a rival Technical College," said Mr Rowse. “He has no right to interfere with the system of education. This is a deliberate waste of public money.” Other members concurred with the remarks of the chairman, and the resolution was carried unanimously.