TECHNICAL COLLEGE

Otago Witness, Issue 4042, 1 September 1931, Page 68

TECHNICAL COLLEGE

BOARD OF MANAGERS The monthly meeting of the Board i£ Managers of the King Edward Technical College was held on Tuesday afternoon, and was attended by Messrs T. Scott (chair man), J. T. Paul, W. Steele, E. F. Duthie. G. Clark. C. J. Hayward, Chris Conn J. Horn, G. W. C. Macdonald, and M=sdames W. Herbert and Cumming. Accounts amounting to £2309 were passed for payment on the motion of Mr Duthie, chairman of the Finance Committee. ART TEACHER. Mr Paul, reporting on behalf of the Appointments Committee, said that 13 applications had been received for the position of art teacher at the college. The committee had reduced the number to seven, and these would be forwarded to the department. It had also been decided to send a circular to the seven applicants giving them further information regard ing their duties, and the amount of the remuneration. Mr Paul stated that all the applications had been received from residents in the Dominion. The chairman said that the names wcuki have to be forwarded to Mr La Trobe. Director of Technical Education. Soma of the applicants appeared to have a misconception regarding the position and the remuneration. The report was adopted. MINISTER OF EDUCATION CRITICISED. The principal read a lengthy letter from the secretary of the Technical Education Association, in which the Minister ’of Education was criticised for not replying to correspondence from the associatioregarding decisions affecting technical education, come to at the annua] conference, and the matter of holding the next annual conference. Mr Duthie: Give him the sack.— (Laughter.) The letter was received. A CONTENTIOUS QUESTION. A'lengthy circular was read from the Napier Board, in which criticism against the amalgamation of the secondary ami technical schools at Napier was dealt with, and the amalgamation upheld. Mr Paul said he did not see how they could be expected to express an opinion on the question of amalgamation in Napier—whether they were for or against amalgamation there. Special circumstances bad arisen in Napier, on account of the earthquake, which may have made it desirable that amalgamation should take place. The attitude they should take up in regard to any amalgamation was to see that the technical side was not subordinated to the academic side. Their responsibility was to protect the interests of technical education, and so far as amalgamation might

threaten their interests, or make them an adjunct to academic education, they should not be loth to protest. It was most unfortunate that for some time past affairs in the education world had apparently been allowed to drift. It was, no doubt, not wise to be hasty in judgment, and there might be some allowance required on account of the unsettled nature of the political and economic situation of the country: but the letter that had been read to them that afternoon by their principal in regard to the Minister not answering correspondence was a most disturbing letter. It seemed that a policy of drift had seized the department. It ought not to be necessary to plead for access to correspondence. It appeared, moreover, that the deliberations of the conference had not received the consideration they should have received. The report of the Education Committee had apparently been shelved. He held that they should weigh very carefully the auestion of amalgamation. Mr Paul said he was not opposed to amalgamation, as such, but he was anxious that a school of the importance of the Dunedin Technical Col lege should have a principal who was. primarily, a master of the subject of technical education. The administration expenses of the Dunedin Technical College ■were exceedingly light, and could not be made lighter if amalgamation came into operation. He did not, however, Ihink they should be asked to give an opinion on the amalgamation in Napier—for or against. The discussion then ended. The chairman added that their principal had submitted a report on the general question of amalgamation. The report read:— AMALGAMATION OF SECONDARY AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS.—A STRONG INDICTMENT. In April last the passage of Finance Bill No. 2 gave to the Minister of Education authority to amalgamate secondary and technical schools in any centre of population. The Education Amendment Act of 1924 had provided for amalgamation with the consent of both governing boards; the Finance Act No. 2, 1931, rendered the Minister independent of the governing boards. Following upon the 1924 Act. the technical schools at New Plymouth and Masterton were amalgamated, each with its local secondary

school. The subsequent progress of technical work in these schools can only be surmised; among technical teachers generally * 8 believed that progress in techni.work has . been slower since amalgamation. But in those two cases the principal of the Technical School did retain his title a certain authority in his school. The newer process of amalgamation calls for the elimination of the technical school as a separate entity. In „P r ii l a st the Napier Technical School Board agreed in principle to amalgamation of this kind. It is understood now that amalgamation of the Napier type is likely to take place in Hamilton and Ashburton, and that it .is to be brought to the same stage m Masterton. When is this process going to end? The Minister has stated that he does not wish to force amalgamation i n the four centres. Both he and the Director of Education have given a personal guarantee that there will be no submergence of technical interests, and there is every reason to believe that both Minister and director mean exactly what they say. Yet the technical schools’ suspicions are not allayed. The following statement is an attempt to show what ground there is for disquiet: — First, the country is not in the confidence of Minister or department. The post primary system of education has been thoroughly examined in the last seven years in three published reports, in which the introduction of the junior high school system, among other reforms, has been strongly urged. From which report is the present proposal drawn, and what is its bearing on the junior high school question? For 10 years junior high schools have been advocated by the department; now they seem to have been wholly set aside. How can the question of secondarj- schools be properly dealt with unless the Minister knows to what extent junior high schools are to be introduced? Why do the Minis ter and the department seek such wide legislative powers and afterwards disclaim the intention to employ them fully? On what grounds were they claimed as a part of emergency legislation and demanded of a House that was worn out with weeks of protracted sittings. Why does the Minister still delay to publisti regulations that are to govern the con trol of amalgamated schools, although more than three months ago those regulations were on his desk? These tin answered questions give much food for thought Second, of what value are the personal guarantees offered by Minister and director to the effect that technical education will not suffer by amalgmation? The Minister of Education’s policy changes with the Minister; the director of education’s past service already entitles him to retire, should he so wish. How then can either of them give guarantees of any permanent value? The single-

mindedness of either the Minister or the director is not in doubt, but they may not be fully informed, and neither is likely to be in a position to remedy any hurtful effect that may arise from this new and far-reaching stroke of policy In any case, a town threatened with tho loss of its technical school is entitled to something more than a personal guarantee.

The experience of the Technical Schoo] Board in Napier suggests that, once amalgamation is approved in principle, some of its effects are unexpected and unpleasant. There, it would appear, immediately the resolution was passed, the Technical School Board ceased to function. The principal of the Technical School was transferred, as were a number of his staff, to other centres, and the existing secondary, school board became in effect the governing board of both schools, and has remained so up to the present. A teacher in the Technical School who applied for a position on the joint school’s staff, for which applications closed in June last, has not yet been notified of the fate of his application. Behind the appearance of reasonableness with which the affairs of the combined schools in Napier are being conducted,, it is asserted that old scores are being wiped out, and old prejudices coming into freer play. These assertions may be -wrong; but a certain colour is lent to them by the procedure that has been followed by the authorities.

Finally, the reason behind the policy of amalgamation has not been made clear. <f it is efficiency, on what grounds are secondary schools deemed more efficient than technical high schools? Is it economy? If so, may not the public be told what economies have resulted in Masterton and New Plymouth since these schools were amalgamated? Is it due to that loose kind of thinking which welcomes uniformity for its own sake. Or is it a subtle means' of reducing expenditure on secondary education, by providing only one type of secondary school? It is only too easy for instruction in any secondary school to follow lines that do not meet the needs of a considerable proportion of the population; for trades and other instructors to be relegated to minor-ifositions on staff, and for non-matriculating courses to decline in importance; for costs of instruction to mount up, often through mere thought-

lessness, and for the staff and governing body not to give a thought to problems of evening instruction. All these tendencies may lead to a point where parents who do not desire a professional education for their children have only the choice between entering them for an unsuitable course, and neglecting their further education. The presence of a technical high school in a town has meant a good deal to such parents. But will their interests be so carefully watched hoard of a single secondary school? lhe Minister .says. “Yes.” My own experience of the role played by boards in the development of secondary schools lead me emphatically to disagree with him, I a S re ® that there may be economy, but of a kind that I do not care to contemplate; a n economy to be practised in the interests of only part of the community, and none the less harmful and selfish for being grounded in thoughtlessness. It is plain that the powers now possessed by Minister and department could actually make an end of technical schools. ?hat power in itself is dangerous, and it there should be, as it is likely there will be,-influential men to whom any departure from uniformity in education ia disagreeable, it may not be long before that power is called into play. In an open conflict with such authority, I am confident that public opinion would demand that the technical school system be retained; but in the face of an apparent attempt to remove it piecemeal, is it not already time for public protest? PRINCIPAL’S REPORT. The principal (Mr Aldridge) reported as follows:— The numbers of students attending the technical High School shows a progressive decline from 812 on March 1, to 770 on July 1, and to 749 at the close of the second term. I am glad to say that nearly all those now leaving are obtainin’’' employment of some kind. In evening classes out of a total of 1139 enrolled, 135 have left for one reason or another, leaving 1004 still in attendance. In accordance with authority received rom the board, negotiations have continned with the Otago University to inaugurate a system of medical inspection in the Technical High School. Dr Hercus lias finally received permission to commence the work, and has decided to use the third term of this year in a preliminary study of the senior pupils. All the senior boys agreed at once to be inspected. Of the girls it appears, from replies received to circulars sent home to their parents, that more than twothirds of the girls will also be willing at the outset. Probably a higher percentage will consent when the nature of the - ln ®P sc * lon 1S more generally understood. Hie report was adopted.