AUCKLAND TECHNICAL COLLEGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13498, 27 May 1907, Page 7

AUCKLAND TECHNICAL COLLEGE.

. STAFF'S ANNUAL DINNER. The first annual dinner of the past and present staff of the Auckland Technical College was held at Buchanan's Esperanto Cafe, Karahgahape Road, on Saturday evening. Mi". L. J. Bagnall, chairman of the Board of Education, presided. There were 30 members of the staff present. In proposing the .toast of " Technical Education," Mr. Bagnall stated that it was now some five years ago since by an Act of Parliament technical education came under control of the Education Board. Previous to that time technical education had been carried on in a very small way by a Technical Education Society. When the matter fell into the hands of the Board they were convinced that they must have expert advice with regard to technical education,, and finally Mr. George George Was selected. In the beginning they had to proceed very cautiously, as this was a new country, and technical education was then a very new matter. When Mr. George came first he spent a little time ascertaining the requirements of Auck-land-from' a technical education point of view,< alter which he proceeded to put into practice the plans he had formulated, and his administration had; been so satisfactory that they "hud a very large number of students attending the various classes, and at the same time they were on the credit side of the ledger. Mr. George had no. easy task. In the first place the accommodation was" very inadequate, but now that Mr. George, has succeeded in convincing the public of the value' of technical education there were some £30,000 available for the erection of a new college, and as soon as possible after Mr. Mitchell (the architect) returned that college will be completed. (Cheers.) Mr. O. Rosseger presented Mr. George With a handsome.'' photographic shield' and address, on behalf of the Technical College staff, congratulating him on his valuable work, and testifying to the help which they had received from him. ; ' v Mr. George, in replying to the toast of " Technical Education," and in returning thanks for the presentation, said that his work of organisation had been anything but a bed of roses. He was pleased to say that the master plumbers and the journeymen together had resolved that every apprentice must become a student at the Technical College, and that the masters had agreed to pay the fees. When he (Mr. George) first came to Auckland he had met with very strong opposition from the plumbers. He had been persistent in the matter' of enforcing the community to have nothing but the best of plumbing because there was nothing that so affected the public health and the public welfare as plumbing. It. was veiy gratifying, therefore, to find that both masters and men were now supporting his views, and in this connection he. might add that at the last city and guilds examinations Auckland had" done better than any of the great London Polytechnics in the plumbing examinations, with the exception of one. , This proved the quality of the" work that was icing dene here. The general results of the last Home examinations showed that of the total number of the New Zealand candidates the passes obtained by the Auckland students were a little more than half. Songs were sung by Messrs. B. Wallace and G. P. Darnell-Smith, and a very good Irish reading was given by the Rev. J. M. Stoops. v '. ; "'.; : '.'.:'■■' '•' ,