FOR THE WORKER A LIBERAL EDUCATION

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 23, 28 January 1915, Page 4

FOR THE WORKER A LIBERAL EDUCATION

' -SE MISSION OF THE W.E.A. ' " - .?, tfther explanation of the mission of J W.E.A., the Workers' Educational ciation, was given by Messrs. Merel Atkinson and D. Stewart, of ' ' - W, yesterday afternoon and evenWore representatives of the trades nisations of the city. The after- ', meeting took pla«e in the Trades before about torty people, includ,'profiiiiient Laboui representatives *a number of other interested per,t D. M'Laren, who presided, ex- ' aed pleasure in welcoming Messrs. inson and Stewart. The movement , / wefe inaugurating in New Zealand r capable of vast benefit for New Zea:f.: f. Atkinson explained the organisa- '« of the Workers' Educational Assolon on the lines of his earlier ad)s in the Town Hall. There were in 50,000 workers in attendance '.the tutorial classes, and the moveAt had spread wide, in Australia. He :, personally seen nothing finer than } spirit of good fellowship and social of the tutorial classes of the ';%A. The spirit of classes was not , *i of an intellectual body, but of a of people meeting for the '!efit of their common pursuit of /.wledge. They had wanted to give worker a new visioti — a new zest I life. The association endeavoured S administer to the people's need. : ! was a people's movement en,'ly. It was found that the classes iHed to give the worker the power of Arpssion. The control wassp elastic as 1 livoid the- danger of purely academic The system had been ffld to meet the needs of the workers than any other system hither^ ..tried. Attached to each class was a l 'ary of books provided by the Univer- ' Committee, and members of the sses had access to the very best books 1 any subject under consideration. As ( 'the cost of the classes, the fee was ' s 'a year in Australia, and the only Jer cost was the text book, which cost .'or ss, or a little more in the case of rarer studies. As for financing the ssses, the Government made a sub- - .y which enabled the tutors to be ■d the University rate. The forces , and Learning were joined in 'union not precedented in the world, bplause.) ,dr. D. Stewart explained the relaa of the W.E.A. to unions and other .'bour organisations. The trade union had been, the cause of the icess of the W.E.A., which was nob .'.y an intellectual movement but a ', lial movement, It' was one of the latest and most popular movements in .[tain at the present time. The Labour , "vement- had nothing to fear from the ■ ?ead of education, which would only * 'Sngthen its cause. Economics and in- " **trial history were very favourite sub'ts, but it was not the sphere of educa- ' ' \ki to instil any particular dogma. The Jecfc of education was to develop the ,vers of the mind to their utmost and ""ible the subject to examine any quesn for himself and draw his own conIsion. The more co-operation there ;s between the educational authorities ' ' the workers, the better for both. ,* - X instance, there had never, as far as • knew, been any attempt to analyse operations of Labour in Australia , ' ' 41 New Zealand, This was only one Hhe questions that needed the atten- • -.jn of the workers, and, indeed, of the '/.' {jole community, - 'In explanation of points raised by -• the visitors stated that the ,• ' of the association were aided by "bsidi.es by kindred labour organisa•ds, such as unions, co-operative bo.ities, and so forth. The teaching of * jglish was usually carried out incident«y to the work of th© ( other classes. * 'Ie development of pupils was simply ' and in one case Mr. Atwison said that the finest writer of ' "says either inside or outside a univer'.y he had met was an ironworker in ' ironworks in England, and this man „ 1 the start could hardly write enough , ; fill a sheet Of notepaper, The associa•m did not take up any technical sub£t of study, but simply liberal studies. r-uth Australia was the only State of ,Itstralia where the Government had ,'tly refused a_ subsidy. The joint com.'ittee, consisting of an equal number V the representatives of the Workers' Association and of the Uni>.rsity, selected tutors. The classes met l' t the most convenient places among the . .«nes of the students. There were . passes now dotted all round the sub- , ibs of Sydney. Other points were ex-. 1 gained, and the meeting expressed gen--->al satisfaction ( with the clear exposi- . ;on of the mission of the movement by te visitors. ' IThe movement in favour of forming .cal branches of the Workers' Edu- . 'iional Association was further advanced '!pb inght. when Mr. D. Stewart, one of joint honorary secretaries of the Tsociation in Australia, delivered an , -jdress in the Trades Hall upon the ob"•ob of the movement and how it workil elsewhere. There was a large at,'fndance, over which Mr. E, M'Kenzie, '- resident of the Wellington Trades and •abour Council, presided. .' "'Mr. Stewart, at the conclusion of his jldress,' answered a number of questions, which he explained that else'jhere the tutors were appointed by > -^mmitfcees of the association and uni- - ,'ersity in conference. The classes jhose their own subjects and tutors were ppointed accordingly to lead in> investigating them. I Mr. Stewart was accorded a hearty , vote of thanka for his address &_ The secretary reported that Mr. ' 'tewart would address- a meeting afc 'j*etone to-night at 8 o'clock. Also that Atkinson and Stewart would ad'tcss public meetings in the Town Hall, - Wellington, on the 12th, 14th, and 15th 'f February next. ,y — —