APPRENTICE TRAINING

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 131, 27 February 1929, Page 12

APPRENTICE TRAINING

IMPROVING ITS FORM AND SHORTENING TERM The matter of improving the form of apprenticeship in New Zealand was dealt with by Mr. J. H. Howell, director of the Wellington Technical College, at last night’s meeting of the Board of Directors, when it was decided to endeavour to bring the matter to the attention of the Minister of Education. ~ ' Mr. Howell said that at the last meeting of the board a resolution was received from the Electrical Engineering Advisory Committee urging that training at the Technical College should count as part of the apprenticeship and thus shorten the years of apprenticeship to the trade. In this connection an address by Lord Londonderry on January 3 to the North of England Education Conference was interesting. As a foremost industrialist and as first Minister of Education in the Government of Northern Ireland, his remarks carried special weight. He said: “I do most earnestly desire to see a yet more general, a yet more vital, recognition of the courses of study at our technical schools on the part of all our industries. I wish to see a part of the indentured life of every apprentice definitely spent at the technical school, and I hope that the time will come when apprenticeship generally will be established upon surer foundations. I ,do not believe that these need impose any real additional charge upon industry, because I- am convinced that with proper systematization, the course of appren'ti eship might well be shortened by at least a year. We all saw during the war, the remarkable effects of intensified training. Cannot industry generally decide upon an improved form of apprenticeship? “I would suggest five main requisites for the establishment of a satisfactory -system of apprenticeship:—First, the specialised training of the'apprentice must be accompanied by further general education; secondly, a definite portion of his apprenticeship must be spent by him under expert teachers in our technical schools; thirdly, his employment in his trade must be arranged so that he may obtain systematic and regular instruction therein; fourthly, he must be paid at a rate of wages which, from the first, will provide him with a sensible portion of his maintenance, and which will contain an incremental scale; fifthly, there must be some form of test,. comparable with that for national certificates, which will mark the successful close of his apprenticeship. We must, make the fullest use of our technical schools and of the expert teachers gathered there.”

Examination Tests.

Continuing, Mr. Howell said Lord Londonderry in another part of his address referred to the “extremely valuable national certificates which had recently been devised in connection with certain, great industries,” and he insisted upon the need of “some form of test,” which would “mark the successful close of his apprenticeship.” In New Zealand, said Mr. Howell, everything had been done in the way of making provision for such tests as Lord Londonderry had in mind, but the whole scheme was rendered abortive by the iifipositlon of a heavy ex-, amination entrance fee. Boards and apprenticeship committees protested to the late Minister of Education in vain, and in consequence, instead of nearly every trade student entering for the examination, the number was very small Indeed. Mr. Howell suggested that when the new Minister visited the college the board place the matter before him so that It might be righted before arrangements were made for this year’s examinations. It would be too late if left until the Technical Association Conference in August.

Variety in Type.

Lord Londonderry urged the need for both types of school —the technical school for craft training and the ordinary secondary school where pupils “will normally continue until 17 or 18 years of age and where they should be able to fit themselves not only for entrance to the so-called learned professions, but also for service in the administrative branches of industry and commerce.

“As the board is well aware,” said Mr. Howell, “we are threatened in New Zealand with the establishment of one type of post-primary school only,- to provide for all classes of pupils—the long course as well as the short course; and the consequent abolition of that distinction between the technical high school and the ordinary secondary school which English educationists insist must be conserved. It was expected that the proposals of the Department which were before the late Cabinet would have been disclosed before the end of last year; but they have still to be considered by the new Minister. May I suggest that the board place before the Hon. Minister on the occasion of his visit their view as to the function of the technical high school in our education system and its value to the community.”

Mr. Howell was accorded a vote of thanks for bringing the matter before the board.