TECHNICAL EDUCATION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXX, Issue 14976, 23 April 1909, Page 8

TECHNICAL EDUCATION.

AN APPEAL FOR SYMPATHY. ADDRESS BY THE HON G. FOWLDS. At the opening of the Technical School in Timaru yesterday tho Minister of Education, the Hon G. Fowlds, anade an earnest appeal to employers of labour for assistance in the technical education system of tho dominion. Ho said that tho success of a technical school depended very largely on the character of the Board of Management, the efficiency of tho instructors and tho enthusiasm of tho director, but satisfactory progress could not be made unless the school was supported by tho hearty co-operation of the parents of the young people and of the employers of labour. Much interest had been manifested in tlio work by employers, and in many oases they had assisted it with voluntary contributions and by encouraging their employees and affording them facilities to take advantage of tho training provided by the technical classes; but the dominion waS still a long way behind Great Britain and many European countries in this respect. Anyone who took an interest in technical education would recognise that attendance at evening classes was not sufficient, and that to obtain satisfactory results the student must receive a complete course of instruction at day classes. Young people tired out with a day’s work were not as receptive of instruction as they were in the daytime, and as the efficient equipment of workmen was a matter of interest to employers of labour and essential to the national prosperity, ho hoped to see an increasing interest on the part of employers in tho work. Furthermore, it was only right that those who spent time and money in improving themselves should receive recognition of their increased efficiency in increased payment and special promotion. Speaking of technical education from another aspect, tho Minister emphasised the necessity of adapting the curriculum of technical schools to tho needs of the pursuits of the people among whom the , work was carried on. For instance, in a dairying district special attention must bo paid to instruction in scientific methods of dairy farming, and in a pastoral district the wool-sorting class should he an important one, while in a purely agricultural district a strong bias in favour of classes in agricultural science would achieve, valuable results. Mr Fowlds said that tho system of secondary education was also elastic enough to permit of tho schools developing similarly along special lines, and the Department was anxious to encourage any such efforts to provide for the special requirements of a district.