TECHNICAL EDUCATION

Evening Star, Issue 21285, 14 December 1932, Page 2

TECHNICAL EDUCATION

XING EDWARD COLLEGE The monthly meeting of the King Edward Technical College Board of ' Managers was held yesterday afternoon, Mr T. Scott presiding oyer an : attendance which comprised the following:—Mrs Herbert, Messrs J. J. Marlow, W. W. Batchelor, S. Clark, H. H. Leary, L. Sanderson, C. J- Hayward, and W. Steele. _ ... Mr Marlow was appointed vice-chair-man. . , A letter was received from the department in respect of payment of special allowances for heads of departments. The payments, it was stated, were approved for this year, hut not promised for 1933.—1 t was decided to communicate with the department on the question. .. The department wrote authorising the appointment of a certain number of student teachers for 1933.—1 t was decided to recommend Miss Webster for appointment as a student teacher. PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT. The Principal of the Wellington Technical College (Mr Ridling), forwarded a copy of a letter which he had sent to the Registrar of the Pharmacy Board of New Zealand. The letter read: “ I am in receipt of an astonishing piece of information concerning the commencement of classes in chemistry by the Pharmacy Board, in which it is asserted that a lecturer, presumably appointed by your board, is offering preferential treatment in so far as examinations are concerned, to students who carry out work under him. I trust that the board will not sanction such a reprehensible practice. May I state that I am in no way considering classes for students taking chemistry at the Wellington Technical College, because if your board were to countenance such a practice I should be compelled to recommend my board to discontinue all classes for pharmacy students who would only be penalised by attending this college.” The Registrar of the Pharmacy Board replied stating that the concession to be granted to examination candidates would be brought before the next meeting of the board, but he might point out that this concession to examination candidates was no new thing; it had been the board’s practice for the past fifteen or twenty years, and was the usual practice in several of the Australian States. It had been decided, however, that, since attention had been

widely drawn to the matter lately, to carry on with the arrangement in the meantime, and bring it up for review at a later date, making a change thereafter if found desirable. In a further loUor to the registrar, the principal of the Wellington College replied that ho had no hesitation in protesting against the extension of such a practice to New Zealand. If the board persisted in its determination it would penalise all students holding free places, under the Education Department who would not bo able to obtain the necessary instruction in the pharmacy subjects in the college and would be compelled to pay for instruction out- * The Chairman remarked that the principle was wrong. The Principal (Mr Aldridge) said that students who passed through the hands of the lecturer referred to would have a preference with the Pharmacy Board and consequently a pull over other students. . The hoard expressed its surprise at the existence of such a state of affairs, and it was decided that tho correspondence he handed to the Press to let people know what was being done. SEASON’S GREETINGS. The Chairman conveyed tho season’s greetings to the board, and members reciprocated the chairman’s good wishes. Th board expressed to Mr Aldridge (principal) and the staff its appreciation of their work in the past year.