The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 1945. APPRENTICESHIPS.

Evening Star, Issue 25397, 31 January 1945, Page 4

The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 1945. APPRENTICESHIPS.

The relationship between an employer and his apprentices is so personal and intimate that intrusion by outsiders would seem to be nearly an impertinence. Unfortunately, the ideal relationship is only sometimes achieved, and in a condition of industrial changes some supervision and direction would seem to be necessary. The recommendations by the Apprenticeship Commission 6et up by the Government are in the direction of greater local responsibility. Apprenticeship is recognised as the best way of maintaining a succession of skilled tradesmen. Evidently the commission is not in favour of trades training schemes or trades schools as a general solution. Rather is envisaged an enlargement of the activities of apprenticeship committees. Precautions are very necessary to ensure that committees themselves do not become moribund or ineffective. A general criticism of too many such committees in the past has been of their inactivity. Too often an errant boy or' unsatis r factory employer has been disciplined only after complaint has been made—which is not as it should be, Tho apprentice should be the committee's continual interest.

The emphasis which the report gives to technical schools and technical education fails to acknowledge the broad basis of schooling given in other types of high schools. In technical schools there is an emphasis on certain occupations only. Recently the Dunedin Manufacturer!' Association has been asking that more matriculated bo3 r s might be guided into industry. Matriculated boys come mostly from high schools, and it is noticeable that no reference is made to this source of supply. The inclusion of technical school representation on apprenticeship committees to the exclusion of other schools might well cause heart-burning. This could be avoided by a greater -use of the Education Department's vocational guidance officers on these committees. It is pleasing to find that suggestions made by a Dunedin man are included in the recommendations of the commission; namely, that'in an indenture of apprenticeship there should be indicated the person who will ba directly responsible for the boy's teaching ; that certificates of skill should ba issued on completion of training; that some tests of skill should be applied before full journeyman's status is f ranted; and that a boy's wages should e in a fixed ratio to the journeyman's. Anything that will restore the prestige of the skilled artisans is to be welcomed.

The "thorny question of day-time classes has been passed to the local apprenticeship committees, and perhaps this is a matter for adjustment between the parties chiefly interested. It would cause too-_ much dislocation and disturbance if auy scheme of wholesale day-time classes were instituted at present, or without careful organising of classes and workshop duties. One outstanding fact of apprenticeship is not stated, namely, that if conditions are made too onerous employers may decline to accept the burden and say "Thank you, keep the boy." That more care is necessary in selecting "suitable learners is surely evident to all, and in this respect the apprenticeship committees in the past have failed lamentably by admitting to their crafts too many boys who in later years have failed to make good tradesmen. Poor, tradesmen are a menace to the status of their fellow-workers. To assist in the selection of apprentices, even more use might be made of vocational guidancn officers, especially if such officers were acting on the committees.