TECHNICAL EDUCATION

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 74, 28 March 1914, Page 9

TECHNICAL EDUCATION

MEETING OF THE BOARD MORE ACCOMMODATION WANTED. At a meeting of the Technical Education Board last night there were present : Messrs D. Kobertson (in the chair), J. E. Fitzgerald, G. Frost, M. F. , Luckie, W. Allan, and W. H. Field. ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN. The chairman said he wanted to seat a younger and more energetic man elected as chairman. For one thing, they wanted a new school, and they should have a younger man to carry on the campaign. Mr. Frost moved the re-election of Mr. D. Robertson, who, he said, had carried out his duties with dignity, and energy, and success. Mr. Fitzgerald seconded the motion, remarking that Mr. Robertson, like his predecessors, had filled the position with credit to himself and with benefit to the board. Mr. Allan endorsed these remarks, expressing the belief that the board was on the eve of gaining a new site for the school, and they required his services more in that direction now than at any other time. Mr. Robertson was re-elected, and in returning thanks he said he really did want to see the new school built. What was required was a united effort on the part of the board, and that should be their main object. The school was taking an important position in the life of the city, and it was turning out really good men in all lines of business. (Hear, hear.) FINANCE. The financial statement showed receipts for the monthly period ending 28th February, amounting to £352 13s 6d, as against £854 8s for the corresponding period of last year. The difference is accounted for by the fact that the Government grant was included in last year's receipts, and this year it has not yet come to hand. The expenditure totalled £867 5s sd, as compared with £810 3s 9d for the corresponding period of last year. The debit balance was £1036 6s Id, and the accounts outstanding consisted of : Capitation, £731 ; claim for material, £211- ' . PRIZE OFFERED. ♦ Mr. T. R. Wallace wrote offering a prize oi valuabJe books to the student who makes most progress in mechanical diuwing during a peuod of six or twelve months. — The offer was accepted with thanks. ANNUAL REPORT. Speaking of the annual report the Chan man said he thought it appeared veiy satisfa-clory, but it was evident that the school could not be carried on satisfactorily until they had more accommodation and more up-to-date appliances. Mr. J. E. Fitzgerald quoted a paragraph in the report referring to the urgent need of improved equipment and the impossibility of housing classes in the antiquated and ill-designed buildings occupied by the colleges. If the board did not make the report public he would do so himself. After further discussion it was decided that the report be adopted. In regard to the new site Mr. Field said the Education Boa.rd and the Education Department were in communication, and the board would probably have a definite proposal put before it at its next meeting. The report, furnished by the Director, Mr. J. A. La Trobe, is an interesting record of work and progress. The work of the year 1913, he says, has brought into further piominence the great 'difficulties attending the> development of technical instruction in Wellington. The urgent need of improved equipment, the impossibility of housing classes in the antiquated and ill-designed buildings occupied by the college, and the crying necessity for playing grounds and rooms devoted to mental and physical recreations, have all been felt in an accentuated degree during the year. The accommodation provided is now sadly overtaxed. It is long since it was impossible to provide separate class rooms, workrooms, and laboratories for special classes, and now the provision of any sort of space for class and laboratory work has become very difficult, so that, in several cases, it was not only impossible to conduct the classes under fair conditions, -but exceedingly hard to find any room at all for many promising students well qualified to benefit by a course at the college. The Technical Education Board haA made strenuous efforts duirng the year to obtain a suitable central site, sufficient for buildings targe enough to provide for present necessities. Through the generous co-operation of the Wellington City Council and the Wellington Education Board an excellent site, capable of being easily added to as occasion arises, has been promised to the board. As soon as the consent of the Education Department has been given the Technical Boaid will 1 be in a position to close with the offers of the City Council and Education Board, and it should not be long before the hopes of the board are realised, and a well-equipped central technical college worthy of the city is erected. ATTENDANCE. The numbers attending the various classes of the coHege show a small increase over those for the previous year, notwithstanding that many intending students were refused for lack of room. The total number of students who received instruction has, 'however, substantially increased, owing to the spread of extra-mural work done by the college. As in previous years, the number of class entries in the associated classes shows, a respectable increase, mainly due to a larger proportion of the students taking grouped courses. The increase in total class entries is about 9 per cent., whereas the increase in students is less than 1£ per cent, so far as associated classes are concerned. There was also an increase of 5 per cent, in the numbers attending the day technical school. As regards the regularity of attendance, the record for the day technical school is very satisfactory, while in the associated classes the majority of the students made good attendances, except during the fourth quaiter of the year, when the attendance was badly affected by industrial distuibancos in the> city. The total of class entries, viz., 2387, is a record for the associated classes of the college.