SERVICE OF THE COUNTRY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23351, 17 November 1937, Page 9

SERVICE OF THE COUNTRY

EDUCATING NEW 2EALANDERS THE GOVERNMENT'S POLICY BARRIERS MUST BE REMOVED (From Our Parliamentary Reporter* WELLINGTON, Nov. 16. The desire of the Government that young New Zealanders should be educated for the service of New Zealand was emphasised by the Prime Minister (Mr M. J Savage) during the discussion on the Estimates of the Public Service Commissioners' Department in the House of Representatives to-day. Mr Savage's remarks were made in reply to the Rev. A. H. Nordmeyer (Govt.. Oamaru), who stated that during the depression many young men had been deprived of the opportunity of entering the public service. When the conditions improved they were too old to qualify for entry to the service, and he asked whether there was no way in which an opening might be mad« for them.

"The position has been met to a certain extent by the raising of the age limit from 18 to 21 years." the Prime Minister said. "The policy of this Government is to educate New Zealanders for the service of New Zealand, and we do not want to drive them abroad after we have gone to the expense of educating them. It is their right, anyway, that they should have the opportunity of serving this country. Any barriers that prevent appointment to the public service of suitable voung men must be cleared away." Mr T. H. McCombs (Govt., Lyttelton), who pointed to an item on the Estimates showing a return of £350 from examination fees, said it appeared that the public service entrance examination was a profitmaking concern. He asked whether the fee could not be reduced, so that the children of poor parents would have a greater opportunity of entering the public service. Some of the cleverest pupils in the schools found it hard to pay the fees. Mr McCombs also asked whether arrangements could not be made for the Public Service Commissioners to use the recommendations of headmasters. A fool could pass an examination, he said, but at the end of it he was still only an educated fool. Replying, the Prime Minister said that the examination fees referred to by Mr McCombs were for shorthand and typists' examinations, and not for the public service examination, which was conducted by the Education Department. The Public Service Commissioners, he added, had to have an order of merit list for appointments to the service, otherwise the question of influence would arise. The matter of headmasters' recommendations was worth considering, but it was a policy matter on which he could not make an announcement offhand.