MANUAL INSTRUCTION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18355, 22 March 1923, Page 8

MANUAL INSTRUCTION.

RESTRICTION OF PUPILS.

OBJECTION BY THE BOARD,

A new regulation by the Education Department debarring pupils below standard 5 from attending manual training classes was severely criticised yesterday by members of the Auckland Education Board. Before this regulation was made, the board urged that pupils over 12 years* of a#e. who were below standard 5 should be allowed to attend, but the department refused to agree. The matter was brought forward again yesterday by Mr. J. P. Kalaugher, supervisor of the manual and technical branch, who stated that many children of twelve years of age and over were now debarred from receiving useful and necessary instruction. This view was strongly supported by Mr. H. S. W. King, who stated that many children of eleven and twelve, who were a little backward in their education, belonged to the artisan classes, and these were the very children who should be given the advantage of training that would enable them to follow useful vocations. Other members of the board took the same view of the matter, the board deciding to refer the matter to the nefktf Technical Schools _ Conference, and also to communicate with other boards asking them to support a request that the department permit all children of 12 years and over to attend the manual classes.