TECHNICAL COLLEGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21985, 21 June 1933, Page 2

TECHNICAL COLLEGE

MEETING.OF MANAGERS The monthly meeting of the King Edward Technical College managers was held yesterday; present—Messrs T. Scott (chairman), J. J. Marlow, W. G. Baird, G, Clark, L. Sanderson, W. Steele, R. H. S. Todd, E. F. Duthie, J. Sheppard, Mrs Cummin, and Mrs Herbert. GENERAL. The Appointments Committee recommended the appointment of Miss E. W. Durward as assistant mistress to teactt especially English and history, and of Mr Mr 0. C. Stephens as senior science master.—The recommendations were adopted. The Finance Committee recommended the payment of the following accounts: General, £3ll 16s 9d; salaries, £926. Agreed to. , ■- Letters were received from the following borough councils in reply to a request for donation to funds: —St Kilda, donating £10; West Harbour, donating £2 2s; Port Chalmers, referred to committee; Peninsula . County, Mosgiel, Taieri, and Waikouaiti, unable to donate. TECHNICAL SCHOOL WORK.

The Rev. J. S. Reid, Christchurch (son of the late James Reid, at one time rector of the Milton District High School) wrote offering to the board a hand-made turning lathe and a treadle-driven band tretsaw. The late Mr Reid was the orgmator of the technical school movement in New Zealand, and the board might care to preserve the machines ns a memento of the origin of the movement and of the orginator.—The principal (Mr Aldridge) remarked that Mr G. M. Thomson was generally regarded as the founder of the technical school movement in this district. Mr Reid had been asked to furnish some particulars of his fathers connection with the technical school movement, and this he had done at considerable length.—The opinion wa s expressed by several members that there would be some difficulty in reaching the conclusion that the late Mr Reid’s work at Milton had influenced the promotion of the Technical Classes’ Association in Dunedin.—The offer contained in the letter was referred to the chairman and the principal. MUSIC IN THE COLLEGE.

Mr T. Y. Griffiths wrote stating that he had been asked by the committee of the Dunedin Orchestral Society to accept the position of conductor to the society. Although he desired to devote the of his time to the work of the college, he felt that, if he were allowed by the board to accept the appointment, a mutual advantage would result both to the cause of iniisio in the college and also to the Orchestral Society. As their own students reached the necessary Standard they would have an opportunity of entering an adult orchestra under their own conductor, in addition to remaining in the college orchestra, of course, and the society would have the advantage of a steady stream of new recruits. He stressed the fact that such an appointment would ensure /continuity of musical work for their own students after they had left the college; As the appointment would take up his time to the extent of one evening a week, he felt that it would in no way adversely affect his work at the college.— The permission asked for was granted. PRINCIPAL’S REPORT. - 7 The principal’s report for the month of May was as follows: Technical High School—Following upon advice from Wellington that the school • was to be examined from the period June 19 to 23. it was decided to complete the half-yearly examinations before that date, and to experiment with a special examination timetable; the examinations are now over and it has been found possible to examine the whole of the work in a period slightly under one week. If the staff are convinced that the experiment is a success, it will be repeated next Noyember. It should serve as useful practice for pupils who may have to undergo public examination in order to earn their senior free places. Wherever possible a single joint paper has been set throughout the school for work of the one grade; this has not only saved office work in duplicating, but will tend to bring into line the work of the various members of the staff without sacrificing any of that freedom to experiment in techiug which Technical High Schools value so highly. Examinations. —The Education Department has not yet given any indication as to the percentage of our second-year pupils to whom it will be prepared to grant senior free places on the principal a recommendation. Such a lack of definiteness leaves to a principal of a school such as this a very heavy responsibility. If he asks his staff to devote their efforts towards passing the maximum number of second-year pupils in an intermediate examination, he may succeed with an extra 10 per cent., but only by sheer misdirection of the work of the school, and such special efforts will not benefit a number of deserving cases; if he instructs his stall to continue with the usual work and to neglect special preparation for the examination, he is liable to find out too late that the Education Department will not approve of a number ot his recommendations. I intend to, discuss this question very fully with the departmental in s P ec * tors during the next week, but I should like the board to know that up to the present the school work has proceeded along the lines that we consider to be wisest in the future interests of the pupils, and not in, preparation for the intermediate examination. _ (, An Old Problem in a New Guise. —One ,of the more obvious tendencies this year has been keener competition in high and technical schools for positions, and the consequent thrusting aside of boys amt "iris from primary schools, m favour of pupils with a better educational preparation. This is clearly shown by the fact that our own senior students in the last 12 months have left in great numbers tor employment, whereas comparatively tew primary school-leavers secured work at the end of last year, and still fewer of those who left primary schools without passing through Standard VI have been able to secure employment. It is also noticeable that in both, day jand evening classes there is a tendency for the less progressive pupils to lose heart and to drop out of classes without securing. work. This group of boys and girls are easily lost to sight, but they may reappear years later in the guise of an unemployable section of the adult population. If they are to be reached, to be encouraged to prepare themselves for chances that may come, and to be assisted into useful occupations, it would seem necessary to encourage them to submit to some kind of school discipline, even though they do not make much progress in the schools that are at present functioning. I suggest that the best method is to attacli to "intermediate schools a special section for boys and girls that show themselves, while at the primary school, unequal to the task of / passing VI. Practically none of this work has yet been undertaken in New Zealand, perhaps under the complacent feeling that we have no such group of boys and girls, but in the minds of those who are in touch with the problems Of primary and technical schools there is no doubt whatever on this point.