The Gisborne Herald IN WHICH INCORPORATED "THE TIMES". GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1948. DAYLIGHT CLASSES FOR APPRENTICES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22808, 1 December 1948, Page 6

The Gisborne Herald IN WHICH INCORPORATED "THE TIMES". GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1948. DAYLIGHT CLASSES FOR APPRENTICES

r |^l IK inauguration of daylight classes for the technical training of New Zealand apprentices is one of: the later sequels to the recommendations of the Apprenticeship Commission, which were given legislative effect through the passing of the Apprentices Amendment Bill. 194(5. The Act provided for a commissioner (Mr. H. C. McQueen was subsequently appointed), district commissioners and district committees. The principal duties ol the committees, consisting of employers and workers who may be appointed for any industry or group of industries concerned, are to estimate the requirements of industry in respect to the recruits needl'd to ensure that the requisite number of apprentices are being trained and to recommend to the appropriate authorities the taking of Iho necessary steps to achieve this. On flic subject of educational training, the particular matter bearing on the latest developments, the committees are empowered to apply to the Court of Arbitration for orders governing apprenticeships; to co-operate with the Department of Education to ensure that apprentices obtain the maximum amount of educational training; and to give consideration to the introduction of educational training during normal working hours and to the introduction of practical tests for each appreot'ee Imtore the completion of his apprenticeship. Opinions For And Against Although some of the provisions have already been operating, a recent Auckland message says the first daylight classes for technical training will begin in Auckland early next year and almost simultaneously in Wellington and Christchurch. Differences of opinion exist as to the value of this daylight training. Last dune the principal of the Wellington Technical College, Mr. Ridling, expressed the view that apprentices could he more efficiently trained during the daytime and Ihat. in skilled trades, production should be separated from learning. Quoting from his own experience, Mr. Ridling found that many pupils, after completing a normal day’s work, suffered from fatigue and did not always respond to night instruction as they should. The New Zealand Master Plumbers’ Society, on the other hand, held to the view that there is no hardship in attendance at night classes for four hours a week and that an apprentice learns 95 per cent of his trade with his employer. The master plumbers’ case has been supported by a section of public opinion which points out that, no matter what their occupation is, most healthy young people have sufficient energy to indulge in spare-time sporting activities and that many of the younger generation entering the professions are required to sacrifice much of their spare time in attending night lectures at a university and perhaps burning the midnight oil in further study. Then again, most workers in the trades have the advantage of the five-day week—a factor which strengthens the assumption that two hours of night technical training twice a week should not be beyond their powers of endurance. Fair Premium Upon Skill Needed

The new proposals, however, have become law, and employers, who once again will largely bear the expense, will have to make the best of the situation. If the new system encourages more apprentices into the skilled trades, it should offer undoubted benefits in the industrial future of New Zealand. It lias long been recognised that the number of youths finding their way into industry by apprenticeship has been falling away; that some of the most important trades have suffered seriously in consequence; and that the shortage of really skilled tradesmen in New Zealand must be overtaken, first, by drawing youths into apprenticeship by improving conditions, and, second, by raising the standard and increasing the scope of training, which in the long run is the more significant consideration.

In addition to the daylight classes for technical training, the educational reform seems to take the line of advancing the technical colleges definitely towards concentration on technological training and away from general courses. But the process of reform, a very necessary one, will not really be complete and can be badly checked or even frustrated unless it extends to the field in which skills are finally evaluated. For several reasons the Dominion has been short of skilled tradesmen of many kinds, and it is possible for the Act to attempt, to deal with these deficiencies squarely and yet fail in the event of the economic system not recognising more justly the difference between unskilled, semi-skilled and highlv-skilled workers. Unless this defect in the New Zealand working life is remedied and a fair premium put upon skill the whole problem can at best he only partly solved.