Youth Is Not Keen

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 841, 9 December 1929, Page 8

Youth Is Not Keen

TRAINEES FOR FARM WORK

THE foundation-stone of the new Massey Agricultural College buildings at Palmerston North, which was laid last week, will also be a milestone in the progress ot agricultural education in New Zealand. In other parts of the country, notably in Auckland, efforts are being made to stimulate enthusiasm for agriculture among young students, because increased facilities for these courses in secondary schools have not produced a satisfactory response.

For advanced tuition in agriculture, the Massey College, along with its prototype, the Lincoln College in Canterbury, has already fulfilled a useful purpose, and displays promise of immense benefit to the Dominion in stimulating future production. But it is clear to those who are watching the progress of land settlement here that, in spite of the elaborate facilities that are provided at this college, the fundamental knowledge, or the groundwork in agriculture, is not being sought by pupils in secondary schools to the extent that was anticipated when it was given a place upon the curriculum. In many directions during the past few days an appeal for greater attention to land problems has been raised. In Auckland on Friday, Mr. W. J. Holdsworth, speaking on behalf of the Land Settlement Development League, predicted that a better system of land settlement would place New Zealand again on the road to prosperity. PLACING BOYS ON FARMS Simultaneously has come the resolution of the Council of the Educational Society on Agricultural Education, which invokes the assistance of farmers’ unions, agricultural and pastoral associations, the National Dairy Association, the fruitgrowers and other societies with an agricultural inclination, to co-operate in forming an organisation for placing boys with suitable farmers and assisting them ultimately to settle them upon the land. The council urges that, with a view to developing and stimulating interest in agriculture and country life generally among boys and girls now living on farms, and so offsetting the drift toward city pursuits, this association should co-operate with agricultural instructors in promoting farm projects similar to those which are working successfully in Canada and ' the United States, and to a limited extent in Taranaki and Wanganui districts. While this educational council and the Land Development League are striving to stimulate the enthusiasm among young farmers, it is of more than cursory interest to recall that every year of school life brings with it fresh facilities for agricultural study in secondary schools, but every

year records a proportional falling off among tbose who adopt these courses as part of their general education. It is noteworthy, for example, that in 1916, 13 out of the 20 secondary schools attended by boys taught agriculture, and 48 per cent, of the students took the subject. In 1928, 12 years later, 28 schools of this class provided an agricultural course, and only 23 per cent, of the students accepted it as part-of their studies a drop of over half, in spite of the increased facilities offered. This record was disappointing to the Chief Inspector of Secondary Schools, Mr. E. J. Parr, who, in a recent statement to the Government, remarked that a few secondary schools have abandoned agriculture courses through lack of support. One school had been deterred from going ahead with a proposed course on account of lack of support from parents. A few others were carrying on with very meagre encouragement. INFLUENCE OF HIGH PRICES In some schools a course, not only of dairy science and agriculture, but also of woodwork and metal, as well as wool-classing, herd-testing and farm accounts, is offered to pupils under specially selected tuition. But here again the percentage of pupils taking advantage of the course is under 20 per cent. After the special efforts that have been made by educationalists to institute these courses, it is regarded as disconcerting that they have not become popular either among parents or students. A cogent hint for those who are dealing with the big problem of land development, and who are combating the drift cityward, is given in the statement of Mr. Parr, who refers to the economic situation of the country, and leaves it at this: “ ... So long as farm lands are procurable at the prevailing high prices the boy whose parents have but moderate means, will not contemplate taking up farming; he is not attracted by the prospect of working as a farm labourer for say 15 years at least in order to scrape together enough capital to acquire a holding of his own. The prospects in other vocations appeal to him much more strongly—especially if he has brains.”