TECHNICAL EDUCATION.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXII, Issue LXXII, 11 October 1916, Page 4

TECHNICAL EDUCATION.

A FORWARD MOVE

Mr A. Gray, director of technieaf education under the Taranaki Educa" tion Hoard, attended the monthly !2JV Ot - thG ,HaWera Technical. K.cnool committee last evening, when he discussed with the members t*e" lutu c working of the school and tech"^•iii education generally unnvnii&i P iX°. n Who P^sided in the-, umo dable absence of the chairman. (vL I -B- Murdoch), introduced Mr f n vL t0 member Sj and extended, WA a,H welcome to Hawera. mo f *7 b^eriy thanked the chair--Ad L " JJle T^3l^ of tile welcome.. Addiessing the meeting, he said "he could see that the prospects for tech--S« af IduC1 duC uat-T in Hairera wSe particularly bright and he knew of no centre where technical education could it he^ ive and as it would be m Hawera in a very few jea™. In the first place, HawSJ had' tion Ttrn hoMt was in the "l-f!r"u-*--*----1 ■ w™d 6im-llai" subiects. without 1 "■;'-'nl Sr^ + 0l;^ 61\ an of , j a .ngup technical subjects. In*Ha- : «-e:-a there appeared to "be a good ou£S * W0? "V institution on modern lines, makin^ a special feature < day technical was still a strrri.no- after n ~.,m i ^ education, and *£* S * •hindering the advancement of tech meal work What he considered tote the ideal educational institution of thetion "nV?"1^ 136 somethi"g * the direction of a college wherein the main at* industries, including commercial and agricultural instruction, with sufficient instruction on the literary side to enable boys and girls to sit for theirdegree. Tjniversities in the largercentres were really of little use to the young people m a town the size of Hawera uniess the parents were sufficiently wealthy to be able to send then-boys and girls to the cities. \ technical day school on the lines he had indicated, he believed, would meet !an the requirements of Hawera and i tne surrounding districts, with theisplendid road and train facilities for bringing the students into town. He wanted to impress upon the committee that the enct he had in view was the building up of strong day technical classes in connection with 'the schco' tor night classes were, at the best! a makeshift, because after a boy had done his day's work he was not in the best condition to receive tuition in many places there had been an attempt made to secure what was known as a "technical high school," but hedid not think it was necessary to aim at that at the present time) a"s the day technical classes would meet all requirements, and holders of proficiency certificates, irrespective of age, would be given' a free pass on the railway, which would mean that the classes would secure a large number of pupils from country districts, lhere was no reason why the school should not be able t© start with sixty pupils, and he predicted that, with the co-operation of the town and district, it would soon grow to be one of the finest institutions of its kind m the Dominion; indeed, he was optimistic enough to believe that in five years' time they would find the present building quite inadequate, and that they would be building a model school on a handy plot of nine or ten acres 01 land. He outlined his. proposals with regard to staffing, and said it was absolutely essential to have an efficient staff' of instructors. He had no doubt -that the classes would be a financial success, but in order to provide against loss he waygoing to ask the pecpie to guarantee £200 towards the salaries cf the instructors for two years. Personally,, considering the bright future of technical education in this district, he did not anticipate any loss, but it would, be as well to have the guarantee. In conclusion he believed that, in a com- . paratively few years, the technical school in Hawera would he the largest technical school in Taranaki, and, as he had mentioned previously, one of ' the best institutions of its kind in the Dominion. (Applause.) The chairman said he agreed with MiGray that there was a great future in. Hawera with regard to day technical classes. He asked Mr Gray if a guarantee had been obtained at New Plymouth.

Mr Gray replied that lie did not obtain a guarantee th?re, but it took him eighteen months to work the school up> to its present strong position. If Hawera could secure the guarantee heasked for it would mean that thay would be able to secure all their instructors and get to work immediately after the new year. The chairman thought there would be no difficulty in securing the guarantee when the parents realised the importance of having a day technical school for the town "and. district and it was probable that only a very small proportion of. the guarantee' would be* called up, if at all. In reply to a question, Mr Graypointed out that the literary side could also be provided for,- and students trained for the certificated examinations. The school would not clash with the secondary department of the District High School.

The chairman said that in view of the contemplated extension of the scope of the school, it might be necessary toask the Board to transfer tha secondary department of the High School, nowhoused in the Technical School, back tothe main school.

Mr Gray agreed that this would probably be necessary. It was decided, on the motion of Messrs Sage and Tait. to ask the Board to make the transfer as mentioned from the end of the year. It was further resolved, on the proposition of the chairman, seconded by Mr dimming, that three? members of

tne committee make a cauvass far the

guarantee of £200 on Thursday iu}xt. ■ The chairman, in expressing the pleasure of the committee at meeting,. Mr Gray, said he was sure the Board

would give technical education in Ha-

wera all the encouragement possible. Mr Gray acknowledged the chairman's remarks, and reminded the meeting that the people had to back thecommittee and Board to a man to push the school along. If they did that, then its future succ3ss and usefulness were assured; and he was sure theschool would have the support of the* town and district.