MANUAL TRAINING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14203, 28 October 1909, Page 7

MANUAL TRAINING.

A PLEA FOR COUNTRY PUPILS.

■ »..' Mr. G. < George, / director of manual straining i and technical.' education, ; submitted the following: report in regard to manual training',; and technical classes at Pukekohe:—"l- beg to /.'report that or: : Wednesday last, October 20, ;at the request of the School Committee, I visited • Pukekohe, / and addressed a ; public meetin"- on Technical /Education and Manual Trainings/Mr. C. T. Barriball, member of the Board, took* the,; chair, and therewas *a • good; attendance present. ■• At the meeting / I pointed out ' that * J?ukekohe_ ought, in the course of a few years,; to have an agricultural school on the lines of the one suggested /for Hamilton, see- ' ing that it is one of the best agricultural districts in the Auckland province. With that end in view, I advised that steps should be taken for the .Town Board, or others concerned, to set aside, when the opportunity occurred, a site of at least six acres for such- a school. In the meantime, I recommended that local subscriptions should be obtained towards the cost of erection of a school provided with cookery and woodwork rooms, which would I > permit the children of the public schools "-/'" in and around Pukekohe to receive inp/ struction in cookery, .laundry-work, and ■■' .woodwork, and also enable evening tech- / ' 'nicnl classes in woodwork, cookery, dress- ' making, etc., to be carried on for older Students. An influential' committee -'was 'set up, and I have no doubt that at least -- '£100 will soon be raised locally." ■"jk ' ' In speaking to the report, the ChairW man .'said he thought the Board should ¥ make an effort to convey the benefits of manui-.l training to the country children, who, he considered, really needed it more than the town children. It certainly was a problem how to do it, but he thought - something/v might 'be done by having a •central school in a'suitable'locality, and bringing children from other schools on icertain afternoons of the week. He •thought the Board might throw out some | such suggestion as he had outlined. .; , I / '" Mr Purdie thought the suggestion was * ■■' a- very valuable one. " Mr; George might consider/ it, with .the view of ascertaining how it could be worked. •■ Mr. George said/he thought the pro- ; - blem could be solved to a great extent iby the consolidation .of the '. country to [schools, with a larger school to which W-' ichildren' from other schools could be Tjrouchfc. The matter had been casually 'mentioned in the Board before, but it - .was fe.lt that the committees of country ' jschools- would oppose it. Members: They would, too. . The Chairman said that in spite of, that they should not give up trying to do something. He did not ; think the ijme had. arrived vet for consolidated schools, ■ but ho was very- hopeful that some scheme miffht yet be devised for giving . the coun- ; Zf boy a chance of learning to pe tools, j ■.;■;:■}■ :"■[■■ ■'■.{': J

and the country ; girl; a chance to learn how ■to cook. Something might" be 'done for instance, by the aid of an itinerant teacher, but m the meantime, he and Mr. George would have a talk over the: matter, and report on the subject at a' future date.