Reinstate W.E.A. grant—meeting

Press, 19 August 1982, Page 6

Reinstate W.E.A. grant—meeting

A packed public meeting last evening called- on the Minister of Education (Mr Wellington) to reinstate the Government grant to the Canterbury Workers’ Educational Association. About 200 people were at the association’s mortgaged Gloucester Street centre to hear calls for $lOO,OOO to be raised in a two-year appeal. The meeting was called in response to the Government’s decision to stop financial support of the W.E.A. at the end of this year. Opinions from the floor ranged from a need to get financial and practical support to a call by the secretary of the Canterbury Rubber Workers’ Union Mr L. G. Morel, to protest against the Government action as a first priority. . If money was raised for the W.E.A. it would only justify the Government’s user pay policy, said Mr Morel. Mr Morel said that being a ’large squeaking wheel” was one way to get “oil” from the Government's coffers. The association’s president,

’ Mr C. T. Ford, said that the ? fight to save the W.E.A. • should have three fronts: a • long-term fund-raising cam- • paign, mainly to pay for the • centre; a drive for more members; and a call for ; donations. The meeting was I asked to support the W.E.A., i which since 1915 has held i adult education courses. The Mayor of Christchurch, Sir Hamish Hay, chaired the meeting and said that a rise in course fees was one way of getting more revenue to continue classes. He also announced that the Canterbury Savings • Bank had granted the W.E.A. $l5OO this year, and he said’that the City Council’s community grants committee would look favourably at increased assistance. A resolution called on Mr Wellington to explain his policy on continuing education, the emphasis of which, said one speaker, seemed to be on job training rather than providing equal educational opportunities for everyone. Other suggestions included seeking funds from the trade

» unions, local authorities, and . Christchurch businesses, and i the need to get publicity for ■ the difficulties of the associai tion. Long-term planning of : the courses was also advocated. to maintain relevance and to offer a type of education not matched by other institutions. The head of the University of Canterbury’s sociology department, Professor W. E. Willmott, who is also a W.E.A. teacher, said that the association provided opportunities for education in later life. The Government’s moves to scrap funding worked against the ideal of equality of education, he said. Professor Willmott said that the university’s professorial board and the Associaton of University Teachers wanted the Government to reconsider its withdrawal of support. The university teachers’ association had also asked its members to lecture at the W.E.A. free of charge and it had called on the university to provide facilities for a nominal charge..