ADULT EDUCATION

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 142, 12 March 1938, Page 10

ADULT EDUCATION

Co-ordinating Agency Appointed MEMBERS OF COUNCIL Check On Overlapping And Wasted Effort The appointment of a Council of Adult Education whose duty it will be to consider the co-ordination and extension of the various adult education agencies and movements throughout the Dominion was announced last evening by the Minister of Education. Hon. I*. Fraser. He said that with the increase in adult education and other community organisations the need for some such co-ordinating agency had become increasingly apparent. The membership of the council is as follows:—■ Mr. N. T. Lambourne. Wellington, Director of Education. Professor Janies Shelley, Wellington, Director of Broadcasting. Professor T. A. Hunter and Dr. Elizabeth 11. B. Bryson, Wellington, representing the Senate of the University of New Zealand. Mr. P. Martin Smith, Auckland, representing the Workers’ Educational Association. Mrs.N. A. R. Barter, Masterton, and Mr. W. G. Simpson, Hawera, appointed by the Minister of Education and generally representative of other organisations actively interested In adult education. The duties of the council will be: 1. To co-ordinate the different activities of adult education and take any action it may consider desirable to further the interests of adult education. 2. To recommend to the Minister of Education the amount of Hie annual grant for adult education to be paid to • the University of New Zealand. 3. To recommend to the Minister the allocation of the grant among such bodies or agencies engaged in adult education as the council may approve. 4. To receive annual reports from the University College Council and from any other bodies to which grants for adult education are made. Meeting at Early Date. “It is intended to ask the council to sit at an early date to consider the co-ordination of adult education throughout the Dominion,” said Mr, Fraser, "and it is obvious that the work which the council may perforin is of the utmost value and importance to the community. With the increase in adult education and other community organisations the need for some such eo-ordinating agency has become increasingly apparent. “It is necessary, for one thing, to bring together the national organisations concerned so as to secure mutual help and to prevent overlapping and waste of effort. In New Zealand, as elsewhere, adult education to-day has a two-fold aim—to provide means of serious study for- people who are interested as students aud, in its second and very important alm, to provide the means of raising the level of culture and stimulating the talent of the people as a whole. “Until a few years ago adult education in this country was largely provided by W.E.A. classes and university extension lectures, but more recently the movement has expanded aud we have had such organisations as the Association for Country Education, with its classes in practical domestic subjects, its library service, and its catering for those who are interested in the drama. In addition there have been such bodies as the Women’s Institutes, the Townswomen’s Guilds, the Women’s Division of the Farmers’ Union, the Young Farmers’ Association, the Drama League, and other agencies, all of which have from time to time developed and engaged in work of an educational character. Scope for Expansion. “They are all assisting people in some . way to develop new and wider interests and new skills and abilities to enable them to meet new opportunities. The educational activities of these organisations are all capable of expansion, and with the recent developments in other countries we should 'be preparing for even greater expansion iu the near future. The extension of adult education in the country districts, the greater of radio, the modern ill indealing with events and activities of current as well as historical interest, the popularity of dramatic art, and the increased use of better library facilities which must follow from the inauguration of the Country Library Service —all these should enable the individual to enjoy his life better and to make better use of it. “Public authorities throughout the world are accepting the responsibility for adult education on progressive lines. Two of the most important reasons for this interest are, of course, the increasing amount of leisure time now available to the people and also the increasing interest in social and economic affairs. Needs of the Future. "The various organisations in New Zealand have also been aware of these changes and of the needs of the future,” added Mr. Fraser. “A conference of delegafes of the Workers’ Educational Association, the Association for Country Education and other bodies interested in adult education, held in Christchurch in 1936, curried a resolution asking the Minister of Education to invite the University of New Zealand to set up a committee, including representatives of the university, to prepare a comprehensive scheme for adult education in New Zealand. The Minister thereupon asked the university to set up the committee suggested by the conference and to submit for his consideration a scheme for adult education. “The committee, which consisted of Professor T. A. Hunter, the vice-chan-cellor, Miss V. MacMillan, Professor Shelley, Mr. G. Manning, Mr. A. D. McIntosh, Mr. W. H. Cocker, aud Professor von Zedlitz, duly submitted a report which was adopted by the senate at its 1937 meeting. That report recommended the setting-up of a Council of Adult Education, and the appointment of the present council is generally In line with the senate’s decision.”