FARM TRAINING

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 293, 7 September 1931, Page 8

FARM TRAINING

Scheme for Youths PROBLEM OF WORKLESS Tuition and Pocket-money A total of 100 youths between the ages of 16 and 20 will benefit under the Unemployment Board’s scheme for farm work, according to a statement by the Minister of Labour, Hon. S. G. Smith, on Saturday. The number to be placed will be increased as soon as opportunity offers, the period of training being one year. 4n outlining the scheme, which was announced in the House last,week, the Minister said the youths would be placed on suitable selected stations where the Unemployment Board was satisfied that there would be ample opportunity for the boys to obtain a general knowledge of farm work.

“Although the boys naturally will be required to conform to the discipline of the station,” Mr. Smith said, “it should be clearly understood that they are not going on to the stations as ordinary farm labour, and their presence will not be deemed sufficient reason for shortening the number of ordinary hands employed. In their general training the boys will undertake every kind of farm work carried on at the station.”

The Minister said a suitable station for the purpose was one where two or more boys could be trained at the same time. The Unemployment Board had received offers from several large stationholders, who, recognising their responsibility to the country regarding agricultural training, were prepared to take as many as a dozen boys each, provide accommodation, and set aside competent men for their tuition. No doubt there were other patriotic station-holders who would be prepared to make similar arrangements.

Local unemployment committees were Invited to look out for suitable stations on which the holder was willing to carry out the training of youths and the provision of accommodation and food. Applications on these lines would be dealt with promptly by the Unemployment Board, and strictly in the order received. The board was desirous of interesting boys brought up in the cities and towns in agricultural pursuits, and to ensure that a suitable boy who was anxious to train for this type of work should not be prevented on the ground of expense, it was proposed to supply the boya selected with pocket-money at the rate of 5/- a week, which, as already stated, was in the nature of an educational bursary. The Minister emphasised the point that limiting the number to 100 might be interpreted as too small even for a beginning, but the board had been guided in its present decision by two considerations—first, it must prove that the scheme was workable; and, secondly, it must see reasonable developmental work in progress to ensure that after training there was a chance of the boys finding permanent employment in farm work.