DAYLIGHT TRAINING OF APPRENTICES

Grey River Argus, 25 February 1949, Page 2

DAYLIGHT TRAINING OF APPRENTICES

The first apprentices to be given daylight training, will be plumbers, who commence their course at the Greymouth Technical School on Monday next. The class will be taught at the school for four hours each week under a local instructor, and the apprentices will be paid as usual by their employers whilst undergoing the course. This was stated by the Commissioner of Apprentices, Mr H. C. MeQueen, who left yesterday after a visit to Greymouth. ‘•The employers in Greymouth have co-operated admirably,” said Mr McQueen at a press conference. “They are most anxious to make it work and ar.*--we are most fortunate in having as an instructor a young, master plumber.” It was not yet possible to start daylight training in other West Coast centres, said Mr McQueen. Lack of accommodation for classes was the most difficult problem. Provision had been made in apprenticeship orders for daylight braining for bakers, watchmakers, printers, and others, but it was not possible to start these classes in many centres because of lack of facilities. Bakers would undergo a four weeks’ course in Christchurch under the Wheat Research Institute, and it was hoped that fourth year’ apprentices would undergo this course during the present year. REVOLUTION IN EDUCATION Daylight training provided a revolution in technical education, said Mr McQueen. The technical school had a very distinct purpose in education, by applying the principles of practical application through the hands. That, in his opinion, had got to stay as it was important for the future of New Zealand. “We have got to start all over again with apprentices,” said Mr McQueen. Good equipment was needed and' over £24,000 had been spent already by the Education Department in providing equipment for the training of motor engineers. Daylight training followed the principles of rehabilitation training, and where suitable rehabilitation buildings existed, the daylight training of carpenters would be undertaken when the Rehabilitation Department no longer required the buildings. In some trades, however, daylight training was unnecessary as the trade could be learned better durin gthe ordinary hours of work. In the theory of a trade,, the technical school was the best place to teach it, and a boy, when fresh, would learn - more in the daytime than at night. Technical training supplemented workshop experience and was therefore invaluable. Various aspects of a trade not carried on by a particular employer, would be learned at a school so that an apprentice’s training was full and completed. Practical work, however, was necessary with theory so that theory could be fully absorbed. TRAINING BY FIRMS

“ToYay the great majority of firms do' the fair thing in training boys,” commented Air McQueen, when asked if there were many cases where employers did not make an effort to teach an apprentice. There were, however, some firms which required watching. Apprenticeship orders now contained a list of what had to be taught and the idea was that boys would learn a trade on the floor of the workshop with the technical school providing the theory work. Daylight training would not alter the principle of apprenticeship, which would still be for live years in most trades, and for six in some, such as plumbing, he added.