At the Threshold of Life

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 84, 7 January 1928, Page 15

At the Threshold of Life

4 4 /ST ANY of us need specialised training for our workers, but > /i ' some us this, after all, may be of secondary % / B importance, and that what wc all want is character, a V JL sense of discipline and that general intelligence and aptitude which are perhaps best encouraged by cultural, rather than by technical education,’’ said Sir David Milne-Watson in a recent address. “It is a commonplace that the development of machine processes, which is still going on, is steadily changing the demand for unskilled labourers into a demand for skilled operatives to control machines and for mechanics to repair them, and, what is true of industry is true also of the democracy of to-day—level headedness, adaptability and general intelligence have come to be the qualities of primary importance. “Now the whole difficulty about these qualities lies in their indefiniteness. It is easy enough to put an extra hour of arithmetic into the curriculum of a school, or to take it out again, but discipline and the training of general intelligence cannot be measured out in spoonfuls. Our interest in the schools and our knowledge of their work must be very close and practical before we can see whether these qualities are being successfully inculcated and encouraged. Only a very close contact with the boys who leave a school can tell us whether its atmosphere has a definitely clerkly bias, or whether there is a wise discretion in guiding different types towards the employment for which they are best suited. And what is more hopelessly pathetic than the would-be clerk who degenerates slowly through a lifetime of temporary jobs in an occupation for which he is totally unsuited? “How are we to secure this close contact? First of all, decentralisation and local work within the limits of the national system are, in certain respects, of no less importance than standardisation in others.

On the one hand standardisation on national lines is desirable in such matters as examinations. It may be true, for instance, that there are far too many examinations by different bodies covering the same ground, so that both the examinee and the employer are uncertain of their value as a qualification for employment. “As a corollary of this contact, it is important that the engagement of boys and girls should not be left, as it is by many firms, in the hands of those who have not the right experience, and tend in consequence to deal with the matter far too casually. The prosperity of any firm must be based largely on the qualities of the young recruits engaged by the firm, and whenever possible the employer himself, a welfare supervisor, or some other responsible official of the Company, should see all applicants for employment, whether they are boys or girls who apply direct or those who have been selected by the Local Juvenile Advisory Committee as having suitable qualifications for the trade which the fix in follows. No educational schemes can be successful from a firm s point of view unless parents, masters and boys are persuaded that a firm chooses its young recruits carefully, and that the best boys and girls are put in the best places, are encouraged to go on improving themselves, and, so far as possible, rewarded by promotion for the efforts they have made. “It is particularly useful that boys and girls should be familiarised by a system of school visits to works and offices with prospects in local firms and with the benefits that are likely to accrue to them from suitable education. If the benefits are reasonably assured, and can be made plain to parents and masters, the trouble involved is amply repaid in the greater interest taken in the firm • • •