CORRESPONDENCE.
EDUCATION. [To. hi* Editor of the Hebald.] fe?S^|^Aa;.obe '.ot the earliest students of |||the/ Bpience and art classes formed at which iusti|||Sution ./Intake -.;tb" be the birthplace of Bit&Ohfaioal edudatiori for British artisans, trust to be considered in order if I k%*atteujpt to answer the questions stated in feltlfo^letter'of" Worker " in your issue of IpSwistday. '--■ ■-• \ §p:-23;.Technical education, from a student's iJ^fppirit.of view, broadly interpreted, may ,'"; be taken to* mean education in arts and ?§fe sciencos, and by the term arts and sciences |?5-I.wißh-to.be understood not the fine arts, ;?aa painting, sculpture, music, etc., or the s: sciences only, but such arts and ,- -;- sciencea as are necessary in order that \:-\- the arts or trades by which artisans obtain sQ'b .livelihood Imay bo .more readily underS^Btood and more intelligently executed by «j:£tttem.S<£s)iThp aim of technical education may be :*ymore;sirnply stated if I give a brief detail ■^X'oi the ciroumatanc9B under wbich science :%'■. ';.;and ark classes were first formed. In 1851 the exhibition of Hyde Park, tj:;- London, was opened, in which some of c • the best speoimens of art and handicraft 6. --that the world could produce at that time i'i/yr'exe exhibited. As a result of that it was proved beyond all doubt ?r that -the work of British artisans as a JJ'^whole was far behind that of many Euro-;s-4-r,peariand other nationalities in beauty of v^V design, artistic finish, and in many cases In order to obviate this 'VI and to replace British workmen in the -^position they had previously held, many &§oßOieatigo-.men formed themselves into a which the late Prince Conpresident. To this committee sJ-'^the surplus funds from the Hyde Park ■ Exhibition were handed over, and were __. .'utilised in building and forming the South V: Kena'Dgtoo Museum and in the establish--7 ment of technical classes therein, the first ■^* leoturers being Professor Farraday, Dr •: -fcXyon Playfair, Dr Frank Buckland, and ;. v many others whose names I cannot recall 'v , at this moment. So numerous were the ,^:. ■ students at these lectures and classes that %y- the Privy Council formed a Soience and flP'A'rb Department, under whose control £■£ are annually held examinations in the jyp following subjeots of science : Machine i^Veongtruetion .and drawing, building con-j-'atsuction and drawing, naval architecture, { . '. msthematics, theoretical mechanics, ap"•implied mechanics, acoustics, light and heat, ;; magnetism and electricity, inorganio •jS,; chemistry, organic chemistry, geology, S* mineralogy, animal physiology, elementary K;vbotany, general biology, principles of J:-^ mining, .metallurgy, navigation, nautical j^. /astronomy, steam, physical geography, £:|;3>rinqipleß of agriculture, aud possibly others ; and in art freehand and model geometry and perspective draw-.V-.'-iDg, water color painting and design. i; ; '^Certificates of efficiency are awarded, the &>;;teaohera, who are, for the most part, ; ; ; advanced students of the early classes at the museum, being paid on the V^tesulta of the examinations. So great was r : felt to be' the need' of technical education -amongst the workers of Britain, and so - beneficial were the results, that at the V .present time there is scarcely a town in the' United Kingdom that has not its .' ; ' soience and art classes in connection with ; .the mother institution at South Kensing- -^ ton, and the movement is still extending :-%f Jts strength and usefulness. |i,:vy .When one realises what the loss of i,:^ prestige in the arts and manufactures and consequent loss of trade would mean to I't^the 'working men of Britain, he can r .JC scarcely wonder that so great a boon as i, ', teohnical education has been so gratefully i' appreciated by them. What this educaH , tion haa done for the workmen of Britain l^ifr'cari do for the workmen of New y.; Zealand, and I think no apology is v , needed for urging its claims upon the §F£;youths growing up around us, who from ;^-the nature of much of the work in every '-6 day execution cannot hope to gain an 1 1 , insight into the higher branches of their ;*,; trades. I?:; -V. Answering the question as to interc ' ferenoe with primary education, I cannot yfi'aeehow it could possibly do that, as these ;- ; v, ioience olasses,J:o be of any use to workers, .; . must be held in the evening. In the I;: event of scholars from the sixth standard gVitad.High School wishing to join, the vXlbnly question to my mind is : Can they ■/ ; '-v possibly find enough time to engage in wfe{. other studies than their every day school work 1 If so the advantage to be gained lil.V by them would be quite as great as for f~-} those learning their trades, possibly /vA-.more so. 'rfis:. ' r-lts .Effect iipon the Present Contract p& System. — So long as those calling tenders iiM\tor work expeot the maximum of work at S=; the minimum of cost, and instruct those Si; vj drawing up specifications to specify |tt^accordingly, the work done under the ££> present contract system must be much as Kf.^Jb, is, bnt if those drawing up specifics- : turns speoified a better class of work, and J insisted upon its being carried out as £ '' { "- r 'specified, the quality of contract work £:fipould be bettered to any extent required 4'j. to, this -end. Technical education would ■ be a great boon not only to the workman ;• and contractor but ako to those drawing - yup specifications of any kind. It is, %i~y perhaps, hardly necessary to state that :;;.;' if superior work be substituted the cost -■a, -of production will vary directly as the jj-r^jquality of the work executed. $ifi-': The Money Value of Labor. — As I have %~^ shown the aim of technical education to «S|j be the making of more intelligent work- . ■! ' men, and after thirty years' experience in ;:: #, the building trades in its various branches |^{U -I have always found the best workmen to ':''-■:. receive the besb wages, I am of opinion rfy that all other things being equal the man -vV who has received a technical education ii?i( would be likely to receive more wages than £.?;:;' the .Lpne who has not received such i. %i eduoation. £&V~ .Cost of Jsstabliahment. — This depends ■&£j largely upon the number of subjects proZ; posed to be taught, the number of $■/ students wishing to join the olasses, and with which I am at :';■, present unacquainted. I cannot at preriJSßent/iherefore, give any idea as to cost. £';i; Ilumbct of Subjects Proposed to be i£i;.y.Tdntghtif~la most of the science and art r claßseB i with which I am acquainted the of subjeots taken up was six, ' whioh were usually made suitable to the '^"-trades or manufactures chiefly carried on - ,' ".-in their immediate neighborhood. Those "<,j;r/'for a town similar to Gisborne would be 3?£,most probably :— jjf-VC! 1., Manual instruction in the use of tools, &0., and building construction and •^.'drawing, taken as one subject. ist':i^-2. ■ Machine construction and drawing. ''%&'■'■ ?• Applied meohanics. %' ; . f.. 4. Elementary mathematics. I?; l|i-'6- .Freehand and model drawing. iflsfi" 6. Practical, plane, and solid geometry. S'SKn I' have to apologise for the length of |J%:;this letter, but feeling as I do that the ;;{ subjeot is an important one, I must crave !?!k your indulgence in the matter. W?,r- ■■•■•■'• .-'■:"■'- . • Wallace Good. l;i*-v,\: ;-■■ . :
's 'ivy-
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PBH18960616.2.28
Bibliographic details
Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7657, 16 June 1896, Page 4
Word Count
1,165CORRESPONDENCE. Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7657, 16 June 1896, Page 4
Using This Item
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.