TRADESMEN IN MAKING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18680, 9 April 1924, Page 11

TRADESMEN IN MAKING.

CITY AND GUILDS, TESTS. » LARGE NUMBER OF FAILURES QUESTION OF SUITABILITY. A report.upon the results of students' successes in the City and Guild.'! examinations for 1923 was submitted by the director of the Technical College, Mr. G. J. Park, at the meeting of the Board of Managers last evening. The report showed that the following results had been obtained: Electrical installation work, 4 passes; electrical engineering, 12 passes, 10 failures; cabinetmaking, 3 passes, 1 failure carpentry and joinery. 5 passes, 5 failures; mechanical engineering division, 1 pass, 7 failures; plumbing, 3 failures. • The high percentage of failures, 25, as against 24 passes, was commented on by several members of the board, the director saying he had no figures to shew whether the percentage of passes in other centres was higher than in Auckland. Recognition in Awards. The City and Guilds examinations were recognised in most of the awards of the Arbitration Court, continued the director, and he was anxious to encourage 'students to work for these examinations. In most •awards, there was provision for an increase of wages being paid to a student who reached the stage of proficiency indicated by the passing of the City and Guilds examinations. The latter however, were unfortunately made to suit the educational conditions in England and therefore were held in June of each year, an unsuitable time so far as the work in Auckland was concerned. The examination questions, moreover, dealt more with the theoretical than the practical side of the various trades, and there was but little testing of the state of a student's actual proficiency in regard to practical side. ' .—_.

In some trades the practical side, which one would expect would be taught by the employers, required a good , deal of attention in evening classes. Particularly was this so in respect to- carpentry and joinery class* i, in which a very large number of studenijj had been enrolled this year. The limited apparatus provided at the Technical College, and inadequate material for practical work classes, made it almost absolutely compulsory that trade instruction should be largely of a theoretical nature, such as would prepare students for the City and Guilds examinations. Operation of Apprentices Act. "It is probable," continued the director, " that when the Apprentices Act is operating more fully, .we shall have greater assistance and more interest from the employers and employees in the various industries in which we give instruction. The co-operation of the industrial interests of the city will make it possible for us to lay down courses of instruction that will meet the needs of the city and province in respect to the training of apprentices much more efficiently than is possible under present circumstances. In the course of the next year or two, _ I hope to come more closely into touch with the industries for which our boys are preparing, and to learn something more of "the shortcomings of the apprentices from the employers' point of view. In the meantime, it will be necessary to cater as fully as possible m evening school work, for the needs of those students who are taking up the work for the City and Guilds examinations. After some discussion, it was decided that the only way to determine the real cause of the large percentage of failures in examinations was to obtain reports from the instructor?. Ihe director was also requested to furnish a report as to whether the City and Guilds examinations were suited to the requirements of this country. ' '