TECHNICAL TRAINING

Nelson Evening Mail, 7 September 1916, Page 8

TECHNICAL TRAINING

".Replying to a deputation from Greymouth to advocate the establishment of a new technical school in that town, the Minister of Education (the Hon. J. A. Hanan) says th e Post, said he believed that before long, in order to meet educational needs, England would establish compulsory attendance at continuation schools for boys between the ages of 14 and 18. Things moved slowly in the matter of education, but h e felt sure that pubic opinion would awaken and the State would come to realise that its duty was to educate every workman, and not only those in the highily skilled trader —the whole rank and file in our industries, those at the bottom of the ladder as well as those, at the t.p —and thus raise the whole level. With proper attention given to the sound educat on of the woiker, there would be a great improvement in technical work and in manual and intellectual dexterity, which ■would make for industrial efficiency. He iot)ed pubic opinion in this country would be educated fully to understand the vitr.l importance of this phase of education. The result would be that Parliament would make provision for the necessary funds >t-o enable extensions on well-thought-out practical lines, to be made in this connect on, and to place technical education on an improved footing. "At the present time," said the Minuter, '"we are. to speak plainly, only tinker'ng with the subject. Y'hat is s;oing on now in connection with our technical schools is not altogether satisfactory, and calls for a reorganisation." Mr (Hanan said that they could not close their eyes to .the fact that se'entific and industinal education would assume a much more prominent p-lace in the future in the education work of the Empire than it had in .the'past. By proper cvganisat"on and .training Britain's industrial army would be made more effective. Th-ev -would promote educational efficiency through every grade of labour. All that had been done in vocational education was as nothing compared with that which was yet to be done.