VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21196, 29 November 1930, Page 11

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE.

PERMANENT committee set up.

As a -result of the activities of the Temporary Vocational Guidance Commit- : up under the. auspices of the \ liLLuA* at the request of the Bducition Committee of the Chamber of Commercit a Permanent Vocational Guidance Committee has been eet up. The' first meetij?? was held on Wednesday in the Y.M.C.A. lecture room. Those present I* Salmond (president) and Mr Wallace (acting secretary), Mr J. B. Fairbairn (convener), Mr R. Duncan, Mr J. K. Wilkinson, Mr W. Baird, Mr W, F. Abel. Mr W. H. Steele, lir K. id Eastgate, Mrs S. M. Park, Miss L. Sullim?. n ' X IBB Hardy, and Miss Mackenzie. The following have been elected by their various bodies ae members of the Permanent Vocational Guidance' Committee: —Chamber of Commerce, Mr J. R. Fairbairn (convener); Manufacturers’ Association, Mr Robert Duncan; Otago Employers’ Association, Mr A. B. Cookson; Otago Education Board, Mr J, H, Wilkinson; Otago High School Board of Governors, Mrs S. M. Park; King Edward Technical College Board of Governors, Mr W, Baird; Otago branch N.Z.K.1., Mies L. Sullivan; School Committees’' Association, Mr W. H. Steele: Rotary Club. Mr E. L. Eastgate; Dunedin branch'National Council of Women, Miss M. R. Shetriff and Miss M. Mackenzie: y.M.CA., Mr J. L. Salmond (president); Trades Council, Mr S. Hill; Labour Department,; Mr W. Currie; Workers’ Educational Association, Mr F. Jones; Otago University, Professor R, Lawson. During Dr Fishers absence Mr G, C. Billing will act in hie place. . The Secondary School Teachers’ Association and Technical School Teachers’, Association, Retailers’ Association, and ' Warehousemen’s Association, are each being . invited to send a delegate to the - committee. From time to time it is hoped to co-opt members who wil be of special service to the committeee. The retiring president, Mr J. L. Salmond, thanked the members of the temporary committee for their splendid loyalty and enthusiasm. He referred,, in appreciative terms, to Mr Aldridge’s valuable report at one of their meetings, which has already been reported in the daily newspapers. He said that the initial'effort* would be concentrated where ’ the need was most apparent, and that was in the meantime to 1 establish contact between the school, the parents, and the employers, in the interests of the. boys and girls leaving school with no prospect of employment. Vocational guidance was a complicated problem, as all who have studied its history,( and its poseibilitiea would admit, hut it had wonderful potentialities. The main objective at the moment was to get positions for boys *and girls seeking employment, hut who were unable to find it, .the aim being to place them where their abilities and aptitudes would render them acceptable, and suitable for the positions they filled and would also afford, if possible, reasonable chances of promotion. The committee could not make vacancies, but it would inquire closely and discover every available vacancy. The organisetion was voluntary and advisory only, and had no authority behind it, so It must proceed with, a careful step. To do Die necessary, welfare work for the boys and gjrls leaving school would engage Che whole tune and energies of a full-time expert officer. However, in the meantime, they could not he. idle knowing a> ' they. did that the school leaving age • was fraught with uncertainty and . that. young people were entering upon untried paths and leaving the direction and . shelter and control .and help to which they had been accustomed. The committeee would endeavour so secure suitable employment and could cooperate with parents, teachers, and employers. for the sake of the young people whom it expected to develop into the beet kind of citizens. ’ . . Mr Salmond Was thanked for hl B remarks. , Mr Fairbairn moved—"That-Mr J. L. Salmond be elected president of the Permanent Vocational, Guidance Committee,” and was was carried unanimously. Mr ‘ Fairbairn was elected convener; Mr Wallace, secretary (honorary), and Mies Mackenzie honorary recording secretary. The president requested Mr W. F. Abel, convener of the p.D.B.T. Vocational Guidance Subcommittee, to report upon Die work done by that committee. Mr Abel eaid that after some.preliminary preparatory work.in a series of meetings, when'the committee informed itself from various > sources and in round-the-table discussions as well as having an address from Mr M’Queen, it had crystallised its ideas Into the following heads aa something upon which to hang the report:— 1. Value of standardised testa applied to primary school pupils. 2. Careers, masters and mistresses for hoys and girls in each school wherever that was possible. ’ 3. Contact between employer and labour and the schools such ae would be effected by the Permanent Committee being get up. . 4. Special attention to the temporary jobs problem. 6. After-care work. ' 6. (a) Link between the employer and the country child;, (b) Farmers’ Union lectures to hoys and to act as a bureau for country employers. ' Mr Abel was thanked for his report and was co-opted as a member of. the Plrmanent Committee. The various delegates from the bodies represented gave. the assurance of sympathy and the wish to promote the beet interests of the movement. A round-the-table discussion followed, which was Intensely interesting, informative and in- ’ spiring, showing much seal and 'originality and initiative,'and in many cases considersiderable experience in some fields of .this cause of ' extending a ' helping hand . prompted by truly philanthropic motives, ' A deputation consisting of Mr J. L. Salmond, Mr Fairbairn, and Miss Mac- - kenzie was appointed. Information is to be obtained by them before the next meeting from the correct sources of tile ap--proximate number of boys and girls leaving school who will he seeking employment. An attempt will be made to explore every possible source of vacancies for these boys and girls. A suggestion was offered concerning the >' possibility of meeting the small current ' expenses and agreed to. ; . The Y.M.C.A. is giving the Use of its rooms free for the committee's meetings,' and will render any help possible. It was announced that the next meeting would be' held on Wednesday, December 10, in the Y.M.C.A. lecture, room. The chairman thanked members for the earnestness of their endeavours. A vote of Dumky to the chairman concluded the meeting;