VOCATION TRAINING

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 68, 13 December 1930, Page 7

VOCATION TRAINING

Value in Education SCHOOL HEAD’S VIEWS •Masterton, December 12. “At times such as these, when trade is depressed, the exchange is so heavily against us, the prices of our primary products below cost of production, it is only natural that our attention should be more closely directed toward the vocational value of our education, that the question should be asked: How is that going to help the boy to earn his. living?’’ stated the principal of the Wairarapa High School (Mr. H. B, lornlinson), speaking at the breaking-up ceremony of the school to-night. “Now I am not going to suggest for one moment there should be any. divorce of our education from the practical concern of life. Far from it, they should be as closely knit together as we can make them, but they must be knit together from a broader and more iarseeing point of view than the narrowly vocational. That the base must be broad, that the stress should be laid on the cultural rather than the vocational, up to the. age of 16 is acknowledged by all educational authorities. “I do not like the term ‘cultural’ very much as the inevitable reaction to it seems to be, Yes, he wants to teach them Latin. Very few now believe that Latin is an essential element in a cultural education. It is all a matter ot time. There are only five hours schooling a day. Everything cannot.be taught. What selection are we going to maker That selection should not be made in the first years of post-primary educationwith a bias toward vocational training. After all, what is asked for is that we should produce pupils with alert mmcls, habits of conscientious work and ability to employ their leasure . hours profitably and pleasurably. The’ best way to achieve these results is to broaden the interests of the pupil as much as possible and to postpone specialisation to as late a date as is econominally and financially possible.