TECHANICAL CLASSES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7663, 24 June 1896, Page 4

TECHANICAL CLASSES.

Kf A; Mekong to v cpnßider the advisability of f-^fonning a Technical Classes Association s?, : £ot.6isbbme was held iii the public school r^lasb; nighty .when there were about Bixty . ! s;gen'tletnen > 'a'nii ladarpresent. r ~'- '.y^Mr DeLautour was elected to the chair Son the motion of. Mr Wallace Good, who i:.-Seelined the position. ?; . ; The Chairman, having read the advertisement in : the Herald convening the , • meeting, expressed. his gratitude and that i',;6f- the meeting for the pains Mr Good had ,;, ; taken to 'bring the movement for the i?.- establishing' of technical classes to such ;,.a;£orwafd condition. As regarded the r .business ;for whioh they were brought :-; together, ' he thought they were all of 'opinion that it was desirable to form technical classes in Gisborne, and there- . fore it would not be necessary to go into ..a; discussion on- that part of the question. Tha Manual and Technical Elementary Instruction Act of 1895 gave - certain conditions for a rate of subsidy :'■ which the' Government paid to tech- , meal' schools. . That subsidy was small, but it was to be , lookedupon as only a tentative attempt on the : part of the Government to a solution of -the great question, and if the country showed that there was a strong desire foi '; Government assistance to develop manual and technical education to ; ,aome extent there was no doubt that the. Government -would extend that aid. Hitherto movements of this kind- had been supported by direct subsidy upon sumß raised locally,.bub that system worked badly, because '-,-■ one district got a subsidy and another did " not. The present system was a systematic • ' attempt on the part of the Government .to provide some scheme irrespective of v localities upon a basis graded" on the . number of pupils who take advantage \ of the education, and there was great anxiety in the departments in Wellington 1 at the present time to find out while the House was -in session to what extent the '. Government was seeking to supply the want, and' he (Mr DeLautour) was anxious that the Gisborne people should express ■ their yiewson this matter, and they could .-not do so much better than as an organised -body- working through an association. c Under the Act the only condition imposed /'-was that the' instructors of the school must . ~ be recognised by the Government depart- • inents as being efficient. That was not ail unreasonable condition if a subsidy ■, was to be given. Beyond that there was ': no tie,~ and the subjects for which classes T might be formed were open.- The training was to be either manual or technical. The ; distinction between manual and technical - education was rather fine, "manual" rnean--1 ing the actual practical application, while ." technical was perhaps more of theory v " leading from the mechanical to wise and " practical efficiency. Although tbe subjects were open the Governor-in-Council could provide by rules and regulations .. what. subjects should form the syllabus uf instruction, but very wisely he had not been asked to do so. This being the - initiatory stage, there was no intention to ' . -frame rules and regulations. They rather wanted to feel the pulse of the people so . that by combination of classes they might - find what on the average were the subjects : 'really required.- It might be asked " why ' notgoon with the classes without bothering about working under the Act." His answer was that where there was unity there was. strength, while the immediate --advantage of the subsidy amounting to :3s 4d per pupil per quartor, although not ■great, was of assistance. In addition to that source of revenue, there would be donations from friends, and amounts "might be raised locally by various means, and he thought also — though in the * presence of the Chairman of the High ' Sohool Board, he made the statement with diffidence— that a deserving object, like the one they were considering, would find *r a response at the hands of the Governors .' of the Gisborne High School. These then :-' r.vould be their sources of revenue, and given a membership of, say, 30— they . , ought to double that easily — so far as he - could. dee, looking ahead, they should .;' 'have; uo /difficulty in meeting all the ; financial requirements that would present ■themselves. Then there was also the . problem ho would like those present to •';. consider of how they could give the Gis*'.'borne and surrounding schools the benefit of the technical classes. . That he thought .could be. done in two ways: either for children above a certain age attending the ; , primary schools, being admitted to the membership of the association on some reduced fee. That would place the ad- *' vantages within their reach. Or it was .open to the association to approach .-. the matter in another way. If they .had, a permanent instructor they ' ' could have that instructor recognised aB an -:_- instructor for manual and technical classes ,' iii connection with the Gisborne and sur.l- rounding schools. In this way the pupils :''-""of the schools would receive great benefit, v . whilst the instructor's Balary would be added to by the -subsidy he would get from the Education Board and from the " Government. He thought he need not Say more in introducing the subject. ; .■;' The Rev. Mr Williams said that it 'seemed Co him that it would be well to 'follow the lines that had been travelled ' , by those who had found the By stem a ■success. They, had technical classes in Auckland and Dunedin, and in Auckland ' the classes were under an association. There was an annual subscription and a larger sum constituted life membership. ''Membership of the association entitled members to a vote in matters connected I with the business of the association. In -order to bring matters to a practical head .V he would move " That this meeting deem it desireable to form an association for \ . the furtherance of technical education in Gisborne " (applause). ■ ' Dr Craig seconded the motion. ''-:" Mr Morgan said he had thought that '..something would have been done in this . connection some time ago. It would be in the memory of all that last year a : ~> public meeting was called, and a committee elected for the purpose of co-operating ..with the School Committee iv furthering the object of technical education by getting money colleoted. That committee V had . never done anything to assist the '-, School Committee, and the committee found it waa too large a subject for them to tackle by themselves. The School Com- ■ - mitteerecognised the importance of techui- ;; cal instruction, and they realised that if Gisborne did not take advantage of the v facilities . offered they would find themselves at a great disadvantage when they came in contact with the outside world. r \ Although Gisborne had been termed " a i-% one horse show " he thought they had got "; sufficient material to work upon, and they v:-:;hud got men in their midst good enough to teach. So far as the School Committee ft :,ffaa able it would assist the project. Not jf.^only would lie like to see classes for young V --men established but also classes for young He thought that the ladies oi |> f Gisborne would see that the girls wore W; not rtegleoted when these technical classes au established fact. %j$JfM& Ambridge in his own defence said gi.that <he was a member of the original ■jgootflmittee, and had attended three meet- ;.; ings in the hope that something might be gl^tne.VvHe" endorsed what Mr Morgan |* had* Said and believed that the scheme $|.bad taken a more practical form vow. l^jSe^belfeved 1 it was a step in the right ;¥|airection,,and he also thought that the ggirls.:;should not be lost eight of. The ||p|hs£feature at present was the procuring &Sfftp«[o money; to augumeot whut the S^P^WJ? ll^ would give them. He thought our mjdat who would to give what aid they formation and support of that if every member WmWi^P^ .«°mriiittee had been as

anxious as Mr Ambridge they would have had technical olassea now working at the ■ schools. (Applause.) The motion on boing put to the meeting was carried unanimously. Mr Mann suggested that the meeting should proceed to tho selection of a , committee to draw up some practical scheme and to request the committee to convene another meeting when they have such scheme ready. Mr Good, on being a-sked to give an outline of the instruction to be imparted at the technical classes, said th»t the subject he was most intimately connected with was building construction. The usual method of conducting i class in that branch was for each student to be provided with a drawing board and instruments. The elementaiy parts of the science were taught and the students drew from the instructions of the teacher. The work of building would be taken from the beginning - starting with foundations and going through all the grades of both wooden and brick buildings. Of course in this branch mathematics would play an import .nt part, but that would be better imparted to the student 3"i one of the other classes, hs the bu ;l ding instructor would not have t : -ne to devote to the teaching of it. " The Chairman mentioned that the students of the leading technical schools in the colony obtained certificates from London. Mr Hationa was organising secretary for New Zealand and collected examination papers and the London institute granted certificates. Students who gained these certificates had passed the highest branches of technical instruction anywhere, and it gave them courage to enter into competition with those outside. Dr Craig supported the suggestion of Mr Maun. The meeting that night showed that the Gisborne people did not intend to be left behind in this matter. The suggestion was adopted, and the following provisional committee to draw up a prospectus of the association was appointed : Rev. W. H. Williams, Dr Cr.vig, Messrs DeLautour, Morgan, Mann, H. Bull, Good, Ovenden, Davys, Graham, Ambridge, and W. F. Crawford. Mr A, Y. Ross said that there was great advantage to be gain'd from technical classes, and he knew many instances where gross blunders had been caused merely through a lack of technical knowledge. He knew that there were tradesmen in Gisborne who would be very much benefited by attending technical classn. He said that there was hardly a boy in the district after he had passed the sixth standard who could measure ploughing or draining, or any work he had been engaged on. He hoped the technical classes would succeed. Mr W. F. Crawford said he would like to- assist the association in every way in his power. He was very pleased to see such a large attendance on so very inclement a nighr, and hoped it augured well for the success of the scht'me they had in view. He hoped the young people would join the association, and go in with zest to the work of the different classes formed. Personally, he would be veiy glad to take charge of a class in photography if it was thought expedient to go into that department. (Applause). He spoke enthusiastically of the study of photography as a pastime. There were very few who had studied the science who had not realised how many other studies it drew in its wake. The student was led into chemistry right off, and there was a constant study of optics and light. Whatever time he could spare he would be most happy as far as his abilities allowed to assist the association. Membership lists were then handed round the room, and 49 present signified by signature their willingness to join the Technical Classes Association. The main benefit of the classes, it was further stated, was to give the student proficiency in the special trade or industry he was connected or desired to connect himself with. The meeting was then brought to a close with hearty votes of thanks to Mr Good for the pains he had taken in so successfully bringing the matter forward, and to Mr DeLautour for presiding and his lucid address in opening the meeting.