NEW VOCATIONAL TRAINING

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29222, 4 June 1960, Page 15

NEW VOCATIONAL TRAINING

“Building Capital

Of Skill”

It is evident that New Zealand will have ample home-grown manpower in the next decade, provided she can. supply the opportunities for training and utilisation of skill, says the Assistant Superintendent of Technical Education (Mr R. A. Keir) in a paper for the Industrial Development Conference. The key to this would be the development of vocational training to suit the needs of all young workers between the ages of 15 and 18. “This can be done only if the country as a whole can bring itself to recognise that we can not afford a wastage of ability and that bold measures taken now to build up our capital of skill will pay handsome dividends in the future.” Mr Keir says. Earlier, Mr Keir emphasises that the rapid and continuing rise in the number of juvenile workers. predicted to begin in 1962. could supply the increase in the labour force needed for an accelerated programme of industrial expansion, provided cafeful planning was done in the limited time available. In Britain the “bulge” in population was a passing phase. During the last decade New Zealand had been increasing its population at the annual rate of 2.22 per cent, which was one of the highest in the world.

New Zealand educational training facilities were generally well organised and could be expanded fairly easily. Projections of destinations of school leavers indicated that the largest single group of young males would go into apprenticeships (an estimated 6880 in 1968).

“Providing industry can absorb these numbers, it seems obvious that one of our greatest needs is an expanded programme of building for our technical colleges,” Mr Keir says. Other needs were the expansion of training for technicians and educational facilities for factory operatives. Little had been done for the last group, largely because of lack of interest or demand. School Leaving Age The Crowther report in Britain proposed the raising of the school leaving age to 16 in the late 1960's and compulsory parttime education for all 16 and 17-year-olds not m full-time education in the early 1970'5. “It would probably be unrealistic to discuss the raising of the schoolleaving age in New Zealand at the present time,” said Mr Keir; “but the question of continuation education for all adolescents up to the age of 18 is worthy of serious consideration.”

If it was conceded that industrial development created training needs who would be responsible for developing the facilities required? Mr Keir asks. Because of the New Zealand size of industrial units, their assumption of complete responsibility seemed to be precluded. Many thought it would be wisest to follow the Australian example of industry giving strong support to development in the larger technical colleges. “Such a policy in New Zealand can succeed only if industry gives its fullest support to the Department of Education in developing our own system of technical education to meet the new demands,” Mr Keir says.