CHANGED STATUS LIKELY

Southland Times, Issue 25754, 18 August 1945, Page 4

CHANGED STATUS LIKELY

TECHNICAL COLLEGE AS CITY SCHOOL “So far as I can judge, our school must, by pressure of departmental policy, and by lack of accommodation, become less and less a Southland institution and more and more a city school. In other words, there seems certain to be a numerical strengthening of the various district high schools; but whether such increases will make possible genuinely varied courses of work may be open to some doubt,” stated Mr C. A. Stewart, principal of the Southland Technical College, in the course of a report presented to a meeting of the board of managers of the college. “With its knowledge of conditions throughout the Dominion in cities, towns and townships of all sizes, the department should be able to frame a pretty clear policy on the size of postprimary school that justifies expenditure on -full workshops equipment, and that can attract and. hold specialist teachers, more particularly men able to keep in touch with outside trade conditions,” Mr Stewart added. “There should be statistics available to indicate what Southland districts seem

likely .to attain these conditions say, by a process of natural growth or by a policy of consolidation. Over a fairly long period of years our school has had wonderful support from the country people of Southland.” Referring to .staffing, Mr Stewart said that the sudden end of the war seemed about to free teachers on service for their civilian work and so to make the department’s more generous staffing scheme really effective. Schools, like businesses and all places of employment, might expect a difficult period of adjustment, in many cases intensified by long-neglected building requirements.