VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 19 December 1936, Page 16

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE

MINISTER’S PLEA FOR CO- ' ORDINATED SCHEME WORK FOR YOUTHS (By Telegraph—Press Association) AUCKLAND, 17th December. A plea for a co-ordinated vocational guidance scheme for boys leaving allclasses of schools, with special reference to agriculture and training for industry, was made to the Minister of Education (thdP Hon. P. Fraser) by representatives of the Auckland Boys’ Employment Committee to-day. The Minister, replying, said there had been discussions on a proposal that the Labour Department should not place boys under the age of 18, but should leave them to vocational guidance officers. Clearly the placement system was not suited to boys for the reason that it was not enough merely to find jobs for them. The proper type of job must be selected and the boy helped after he had been placed in it. The Minister said he would be glad if anybody would take on work of this kind, and he ccyuld assure those who did that they would not be subject to official supervision. If boys of 18 were referred to such an organisation as the Auckland committee the Government must provide some of the cost of helping them. One trouble at present was that the prospect of jobs was drawing boys away from school because some parents had not yet lost the fears they had acquired in the depression. As a measure against this it had been practically decided to raise the school-leaving age to 15.

Referring to the land, the Minister mentioned a new scheme for using Flock House to train boys in farm work. He added that the Government hoped to take further measures that would convince boys that there was a future for them in agriculture. The Government would explore evey possibility, and it would fully and favourably consider any proposals made by organisations which had proved their good intentions.