TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CVIII, Issue 12934, 30 September 1902, Page 3

TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION.

DISCUSSION BY THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS. NOTHING FURTHER TO BE DONE AT THE COLLEGE. Some discussion took place at the meet* ing of tibfe Canterbury College Board of Governors yesterday, when tllie Museum and! Library, Committee reported that it had spent a great deal of time, in considering al letter received from tte Technical Ediioatiori Conference, da-ted July 2, and had interviewed Messrs W. Minson, G. B*oth. and. G. H. Elliott, and Professor Scottb on tha subject. It recommended that tha Technical Association should be -written' to informing it of tie ground th'at the College waa now covering, and that the Association should be further informed that tihe College did not at present see its way to undertake the teaching of additional subjects. Mr T. S. Weston, chairman, moved, and Dean Harper seconded, that the report, should be adopted. Mr C. Opie dissented from this, raying: that he thought the Board should make ai further attempt to meet the Technical Association. He again referred! to Professor Scott's salary, and said that instead of increasing it by £IOO, the sum migh* be dievoted to furthering technical instruction. Mr C. Reid said lie was sorry tha committee had not given eome reasons for its decision, and tha.t it bad not met the Association., which was working in the interests? of the public, and especially in those of tfoe farmers. He suggested that the matter should be referred back to tha committee, and moved an amendment in tfliati? direction, with a request that the oommitte-e, if it? could not meet the Association, shonld give its reasons for its decision. Mr Opie ro?e to second the oanfendmant, but was ruled out of order by the chairman,) as he had spoken before. Mr A. E. G. Rhodes then seconded tha Amendment. Mr T. W. Adams said hie also thought thei Board would like to know the .reasons upon which the committee acted. Dean Harper said that it would he useless to refer the matter back. Tho committee had gone into the proposal very carefully on two occasions. The most pote-ufl reason for tho committee's action was thatl tha proposal was outside the province of the College, being against the spirit of the) Act, if not against the letter of it. Bevdes that, the committee had decided, after * long interview with Professor 'Scott, tihati it was undesirable and impossible for the) College to give the kind of instruction suggested. The conclusion was therefore come to, six or seven months that the request could not be complied with. Mr Adams asked if the Board's solicitor had been consulted as to whether the Board could use its funds more in the direction, desired. There was' a general opinion, that there had been an erroneous reading of the Act.

Mr J. L Scott said that he had attended the meetings of the committee whelm _ the question was' discussed. He agreed with the and also with Dm* Harper's opinion that it would be useless to refer the matter back, as full discussion, he said, had taken place alroady. The proposal was outsids the scops' of the law. The public did no* know how much the Board was doing at present' in regard to technical instruction. On the engineering side, it was doing all that it could do. He was rare that it Would be a mistake to add anything to what' was being done there. Perhaps the Board had gone a little further than it ought to have gone in regard to the School of Art. That department of the College should be confined to art, or at anyrate, should not go further tham art as applied to industry. Yet the Board, even now, was actually undertaking purely technical education, in teaching building construction and two or tines other subjects. It was also proposed to undertake plumbing. That,, he thought, would be a mistake. 'The Board could not cover the whole ground of technical education. It was necessary to establish an independent body. The Board ought to do a little less than it was doing now. It was well known that he took keen interest in the subject. He was anxious that ©verything which could be done in tho matter in Christchurch should be done, and in the best manner. But he did not think the Board should undertake the work. The Chairman said that after what had been said by Dean Harper and Mr Scott, it would almost be superfluous to add any-

thing to the discussion. He might say, however, that the committee had bestowed upon the subject great patience and much consideration. The committee was quite ailiv© to tho necessity for the encouragement of technical education. It would be quite useless to send the report back to the same committee, which had also taken the opinion of experts, Mrevs Elliott, Minson and Booth, and Professor Scott, having been before it. It seemed that the Board had no power to devote- funds in the desired direction. The Board, perhaps, did more them the law allowed in regard to the School of Art. Everything thaib could be don* was done. To do more would require' buildings, and assistance from, funds that the Board di4 not possess. Reliance would have to be placed on chance fees from students. Mr Redd thought that the money was available, and that the object could be easily attained. Yet, outside of the students' fees, what funds could tho Board get? It had been stated that the local bodies would subscribe, but neither Mr Minsori nor Mr Booth would give am assurance that the subscriptions would be permanent. It was a speculative matter. All that Professor Scott could say was that if evening lectures ' were given, there might bo instruction in practical mathematics to support tho School of Electricitv and Chemistry. There miijht hs evening lectures on sound, heat, and light, on French and German, and similar subjects, three lectures, of two hours each, being given «ach week. But if the Board decided to give effect, to the Professor's ideas, which were not recommendations, but merely suggestions, it would have to pay on* or more professors or lecturers. They could cot b'e expected to work day and night. Had tho time arrived for that step? Something had been, done in regard to extension lectures. Wbnt was the result? As- soon as the public was asked to pay reasonable f<«, the lectures, lapsed, andf the scheme broke d<nvn. The same thing would happen if professors were employed to give the suggested lectures. He expressed a, desire to encourage technical education, but he thought that children, after having lad a good ground-work in the- primary schools, should t» sent to a separate establishment to receive instruction- in the technical branches of industry. Mr Scott added that Messrs Minson and Booth, had raised a fatal objection in insist-

ing on representation on the Board if ani agreement was come to. The Chairman read a letter front Bishop Grimes, stating that he heartily applauded theefforts to establish a technical school, or institute, in Christchurch, and that with, he believed, every member of "the Board, ho '. considered the scheme worthy of individual encouragement and support. But he strongly felt that it was foreign to the scope and' aims, and wholly beyond the province of a University College to, as a body, take an. ae- •_ tive part in working a purely technical" schooL which ought not to be controlled, or interfered with, by a Board like that appointed in connection with the College* The most that could be expected would b« the'advantage of a lecture from time to> time by some prominent member of th« staff, such as Professor Scott. If the writer were permitted to vote by letter, he wxrald vote emphatically that the Board should not accede to the wishes of the Association, or associate itself actively with those who were about to enter upon the praiseworthy work; of organising and managing a technical school. The amendment was lost, and the report was adopted. It was decided to send the following motion to the Association;; —"The Board, having carefully considered the letter from ' the Technical Education Conference, inquiring it the Board was prepared to extend its op-. erations in the direction of ettibiishing additional classes for the teaching of various technical subjects, and having regard to tha conspicuous and costly efforts already mad* by the Board of Governors in the erectionand equipment of engineering and electrical laboratories, and in building additions to the School of Art, and also in the establishment of numerous classes for the special teaching of technical subjects, deems it inexpedient, at the present time, to undertake further responsibilities in the direction indi* cated." •