FACTORY TRAINING SCHOOL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 39, 14 January 1935, Page 2

FACTORY TRAINING SCHOOL.

FITTING SQUARE PEGS IN SQUARE HOLES.

A school for juvenile employees, claimed to l>s the first of its kind in England, is a feature of a factory which is at present being built at I3irmingham for the manufacture of baby carriages, invalid chairs and similar articles. It is n.n attempt to develop any natural aptitude in the boys and girls entering the employment of the firm, and will, at the same time, ensure that they will know the work they are to do when they enter the factory. Every boy and girl coming to the firm straight from school will have to undergo a two weeks’ course at the school, hut during this period full wages will be paid. “We are making this experiment not only for the benefit of the youngsters entering our employment, but also because wo think it will be of value to the firm,” said a director of the new company, in an interview. “When a hoy or a girl from school comes to us for a job, we shall give them a chance of doing whatever class of work they think they could do best. The boys will have the choice of woodworking, painting, wlieelmaking, rivetting, erecting and assembling, while girls will have the choice of sewing, upholstering and hood-making. If boys or girls are obviously unsuited for the work they selected, their training will be changed until we find a job for which they have some natural aptitude. In this way we hope to eliminate the difficulty of having obvious misfits in our works, and at the same time reduce the possibility of the creation of ‘blind-alley’ occupations, which are so often due to lack of interest in the work.”

The factory, which will be completed shortly, has a floor space of nearly 50,000 square feet and will find employment for 500 workpeople. When in full production, it will be capable of an output of 0000 baby carriages a week, in addition to invalid chairs, etc.