VALUE OF EDUCATION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 168, 13 July 1918, Page 8

VALUE OF EDUCATION.

MOR>I£ GL-.~8.aL realisation

Speaking to a small > gathering •miemlfsrs of the Wellington . .Krrtqso- | phical Society-, says the (Post, Mr W--S. La Trobe, M.A., said there was iic doubt that .people ill-an .democratic countries mere. beginning. - to- realist the value aha benefits to be derived from a thorough 'education, not only to the individual, but to the communi!ty ; at large, ,and consequently a more intelligent interest was being generally, taken in the question.. 11l dealing with conditions which , were likely to hold in. the iuture. the speaker- said that it was a question how far industry could be organised and at the same,time allow democracy to 'be preserved. It was i-ulfc uo see the enyj of the. organisation of any industry. ; The'<_fmidam.enial object of the organisation of almost every industry was the utmost possible utilisation of natural resources uvith the least possible effort on the part of the workers, tha/t is, efficiencyNew machines of all kinds were being dseyised to . give the individual morf power and. to make his> • work more sim* pie. Consequently the task would be come .more monotonous by reason- of their greater simplicity, \\hile the work of those w T ho guided the imdus try Vwould' become more complex. OOpn p result of this might be a sharp division .between the two classes, which couki best be' guarded against by a properly -conceived scheme of education. The child would remain at school longer than at present, especially- at the secondary school, and the period of apprenticeship would ,be shorter. Th•many trades, the speaker held, there was no real heed for the- long- period of apprenticeship insisted .upon l , and •he quoted the- case of the women -war workers, iwho, after a. few "weekstraining, had carried out the tasks, of highly skilled mechanics with, complete "success. The long term was a fence put round the trade. ' The amount 01 technical education to be given- -would depend largely upon the individual, and, and-, except in the case of the older students, such technical .education would be given during.'.the day. Special attention would be-pa'd to the teaching of the duties of citizenship, but the teaching of civics, a sutj'er) - beyond the capabilities of children, would be a matter for older students-