JOBS FOR YOUTH

Grey River Argus, 5 December 1938, Page 4

JOBS FOR YOUTH

DEMAND EXCEEDS SUPPLY. The smallest number of students „ since 1931 passed into industry from * the Wellington Technical College in the year ended October 31, the demands for the employment of young people being far in excess of the supply of available students, a condition which obtained also in the two previous years. Educational and vocational guidance, report the two careers teachers at the college, have again felt the disturbing effect of economic pressure. Of the 488 students who left the college, 427 (254 boys and 173 girls) went into employment.. In the year under review, a greater number of parents and students availed themselves of the services of vocational guidance.

The report was presented at last meeting of the Technical College Board of Governors. The officers are Mr A. A. Kirk 1 and Miss M. H. R. McWhirter, for boys and girls respectively, and this year they have endeavoured to classify the placements made into broad industrial groups corresponding roughly to the various departments of the college. Dealing with the boys, Mr Kirk reported that there was a shortage of 34 students for the number of comr-cr-cial positions available, but in engineering, building, and art there vere excesses of 43, 10 ( and 3. The shortage of commercial boys and the excess of engineering boys, he said, seemed to call for some comment.

Engineering classes have been extremely popular for the last three years. That was probably due to three causes: The fact that it was a mechanical. age, the consequent assumption being that openings should be numerous in engineering trades; the general popularity of engineering among, boys; and another aftermath of the' depression, parents holding the opinion that the learning of a trade was aj safeguard against unemployment. j “I have no fault to find with any ofl these contentions and, furthermore,! have no hesitation in stating that the majority of the extra 43 boys could! have been ultimately placed in the, engineering trade if they had been prepared to remain at school a little longer,” said Mr Kirk. “But the shortage of commerciallytrained boys indicates a modern trend which should be heeded. Demand for such lads is constant and far exceeds the supply. I feel certain that boys are allured by the popular appeal of aviation, radio, and electricity, and enter upon engineering courses with such vocations in view. Some of the boys have aptitudes for commercial work as well, and in some cases, aviation, radio, and general mechanical work should be pursued“as hobbies. “The present situation is created by a confusion of hobby interests with real aptitudes, and this probably points to the need for general vocational guidance at an earlier age than that at which it is given at present. The figures supplied for this college indicate that positions in commercial houses "have already been filled by lads from other departments. This is not the whole of the story. The figures at the Government Youth Centre show that 76 boys could be placed in commercial occupations to-day. When one remembers that this institution is in touch with all the colleges in the city, some idea of the seriousness of the situation can be gained.

“It is gratifying to report that a much greater proportion of "the students of the college have planned th.ejr

careers under the oversight of the vocational guidance officers. “The glaring exceptions to this practice are found in the case of the firstyear boys. Fifty-two boys failed to complete one year’s training, while another thirty-seven left at the completion of the school year. Only five of this number consulted the vocational As a rule, these lads just pass on without consulting anybody. “This leaves 150 lads'who completed from two to four years’ training. Of this number 133 were placed under the guidance of the vocational officer. With the assistance of the officers of the Government Youth Centre, fol-low-up work has been carried out. The majority of these lads have been traced, and it is gratifying to note that of the reports so far received only one has proved unsatisfactory. “Fifty-six boys have gone into Government positions this year; i.e.. 33 1-3 per cent, of the total. When one takes into consideration the fact that a similar percentage left without completing a year’s training—thus forfeiting any chance of such positions —the proportion must be regarded as

relatively high. “The Government has been a liberal employer this year. The boys who have entered the service have been of good calibre; but we have still to remember the private employer. It will not enhance the reputation of the college in the eyes of the private em-i ployer if he has to be satisfied with) those that are ‘left over’ or half-train-, ed. The exodus of the lirst-year boy does not help us in this direction.” Miss McWhirter reported that during the past three years it had become increasingly difficult to supply fullytrained shorthand-typistes to the many firms applying to the school for them, as so many girls had been leaving at the end of their second year and not completing the course of training which would bring them to the standard of proficiency required both by the school and by ousiness firms of good standard. Fewer second- and third-year giris had left during the year, but as the classes were already smaller by reason of the disproportionate withdrawals during last year, there were still too few fully-trained girls to meet the demand.

The chairman, Mr W- Appleton, referring to the excess of engineering boys for the number of positions offering, said it was deplorable that in such a young country so much emphasis was placed on the distributive side of business and not sufficient on the productive side. There was too much emphasis placed on the commercial side, /md institutions like the college should be—and were—more concerned with the productive branch of industry.

There were boys at the college with the inclination for engineering and building, and they did not have the outlet. The responsibility, not so much a college responsibility, but a national responsibility, was not being faced. 'They were not going to raise the standard of living, or maintain it at its present level, unless they produced more. The college was turning out the boys on the productive side, but they were not being absorbed.

A third of the total number of boys had taken Government positions, and the alarming feature was that a, great number of boys had gone to work without sufficient training. He was glad that the Government had drawn attention to the question of production—the country was not going to get anywhere if people stayed in the cities, hoping to obtain commercial positions;

The director (Mr R. G. Ridling) agreed with Mr Appleton. He said there was no doubt about the service a college like the Technical College could perform in assisting the development of production, but there must be the outlet. . . Quoting Mr Kirk’s remarks on the “left-over” or half-trained boys for private employers, Mr Ridling said the best-trained students of the college went into Government positions. There was an arrangement whereby boys in certain branches who had had two or more years of full-time training were accepted on the recommendation of the college. The college became a recruiting ground, and that| system of recruiting could be spread to the private employer, but it was so hard to convince him that the college would give that service if he demanded it.

Mr E. E. Brooking said the difficulty with the engineering trade was that there was a shortage of skilled tradesmen, which necessarily governed the number of apprentices that could be employed. It was decided to send a copy of the report to the Manufacturers’ Association and the Employers’ Association.