COMMISSIONER OF APPRENTICESHIP

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25179, 9 May 1947, Page 4

COMMISSIONER OF APPRENTICESHIP

APPOINTMENT OF MR H. C. MCQUEEN

The Minister of Labour (Mr A. McLagan) has announced the appointment by the Public Service Commission of Mr H. C. McQueen to the position of Commissioner of Apprenticeship, Department of Labour and Employment. Provision for this appointment was made in the Apprentices Amendment Act, 1946, which gave effect to the report of the Commission of Inquiry on Apprenticeship. This report advocated the appointment of a commissioner of apprenticeship to devote his whole time to apprenticeship matters and to be chairman and principal executive officer of each of the Dominion apprenticeship committees. The commissioner will also require to take the initiative to ensure that industry trains a sufficient number of apprentices to maintain an adequate supply of journeymen for the future, that Dominion apprenticeship orders •are obtained from the Arbitration Court prescribing apprentices’ wages and conditions, and that apprentices receive proper training not only in the workshops but also in technical institutions.

The commissioner’s duties • will necessitate close contact with employers’ and workers’ organisations and educational authorities. Mr McLagan said that having regard to the important nature of the duties involved and the qualities required, he considered the step taken by the Public Service Commission in appointing Mr McQueen was wise. Mr McQueen held a Master of Arts degree, and had nine years’ experience in teaching both day and night trade classes in technical schools. For the last 10 years he had been research officer for the New Zealand Council for Educational Research and had made two studies relating to the employment of young people, the first on vocational guidance and the second on vocations for Maori youth. Mr McQueen was research officer at?, tached to the Commission of Inquiry on Apprenticeship. He is president of the Wellington branch of the Royal Society of New Zealand, chairman of the Science Congress Committee, 1947, and secretary of the New Zealand section of the New Education Fellowship.