“WASTE OF MONEY”

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11658, 24 October 1923, Page 3

“WASTE OF MONEY”

EVENING-CLASS EXPENSES

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, REPLIES TO AIR RENNER. "TEN UNWILLING PUPILS/’ In an address before the Educational Association, Air Renner, a valued member of the Wellington Technical College evening staff, stated that ‘ evening classes such as lie had had experience of were a shocking waste of public money,” and added that 60 per cent, of his pupils derive no benefit from their attendance. "As the matter is of importance, stated Air J. H. Howell (director of the college) in his report to the Board of Governor© last night, "I have asked members of our own evening staff and ot the staff© of the other largo evening schools of New Zealand to state their views, and shall hope to place the results Wore the board at it© next meeting. At the Educational Association not a speaker confirmed this estimate of Mr Renner, though everyone recognises the difficulties both of teacher and student in evening schools. There can be no doubt that evening school work is the most difficult type of education; for teachers and taught usually come to it after a full day at their ordinary callings, the classes are less homogeneous than day school classes, and the attendance, owing to overtime or other calls less regular; but in my judgment the benefit derived by the great majority of the student© is real, and in some cases very great; while in only a small minority can it be said that the time and effort are altogether wasted. NOT UNWILLING PUPILS. "Air Renner fjives as hie first reason for the wastage that student© attend unwillingly, being forced to attend by their parents. Now, I enrol personally all free students, and 1 should say that in an evening school the percentage of such unwilling students is much smaller than in a day school; and that we have quite as many students who are eo keen that they are anxious to take more subjects than it is wise for them to do. I agree, however, that at any rate boys ana girls under fifteen years of age should be strongly discouraged from attendance at night classes, and that-parents should not be allowed to think that by sending such children to evening school they can do just as well as at a day school. » Some parents, nevertheless, seem to cherish this dangerous delusion, and allow their children to give up a full daytime training .much earlier than they ought to do. I agree further that for tSose under eighteen part-time day training will provide a Letter return for national expenditure.

AIR HOWELL'S OPINION. "My own opinion of the evening student, after nearly twenty years' experience of him, is (said Air Howell) that a© a rule we owe him all the help and the encouragement we can give mm in hi© difficult task; and I have sympathy rather with the feeling of one of our Christchurch evening school teachers, who had formerly been a high school master and waa at that time a university lecturer in mathematics, when he said that he found greater satisfaction in evening school teaching than in any other, because he felt all the while that he wa© giving help to those who needed and deserved it motst/' SOME INTERESTING FIGURES. In further elucidation of the matter, Mr Howell submitted to the board the following returns received from the instructors in the various branches of evening class work, as to the percentages of students whose work is (1) distinctly good, (2) worth while, and (3) apparently wasted: — Accountancy and Law —(1) 60 per cent., (2) 40 per cent. Art—(l) 40 per cent., (2) 51 per cent., (3) 9 per cent. Home Science —(1) 55 per cent., (2) 44 per cent., (3) 2 per cent. Trade Classes —(1) 55 per cent., (2j 38 per cent., (3) 7 per cent. Science—(l) 83 per oent., (2) 15 pe* cent., (3) 2 per oent. English Arithmetic, Mathematics, and Foreign Languages—-(1) 44 per cent., (2) 42 per .oent., (3) 14 pe<r cent. Bookkeeping—(l) 46 per cent., (2) 35 per cent., (3) 19" per cent. Typewriting and Shorthand—(l) 42 per went., (2) 49 per cent., (3) 9 per cent. Average percentage for 41 instructors —(1) 53 per oent., (2) 39 per cent., (3) 8 per cent. The director of the Christchurch Technical College (he added) had forwarded the estimates by 35 of the instructors there with the following average result©: —Distinctly good work, 52 per oent. ; work that is worth while. 42 per cent.work that is useless, 6 per cent. It will be seen that thbse average© approximate very closely to the estimates of our own instructors, and are altogether different from the estimate of Mr ‘Renner. The report was adopted.