AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 16038, 24 January 1918, Page 4

AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION.

UNDER TARANAKI EDUCATION BOARD. DUAL CONTROL ALLEGED. The question of the control of agricultural instruction under the Taranaki Education Board was brought before the board on Wednesday by a deputation consisting of members of the Hawera and New Plymouth Technical School Committees. Mr. J. B. Murdoch, chairman of the Hawera Technical School Committee, said that so far as Hawera was concerned they appreciated very much the endeavours made by the Taranaki Education Board, to further the interests of technical education in the district. Very good work had boon done, being a very marked improvement on the conditions existing in previous years. The deputation to-day was concerned more particularly with agricultural instruction as it affected the Technical School —not the outside classes. The position at tlie present time did not lend itself to the host i'csults. There was a. director of technical, education and a director of agricultural • instruction. This dual control was very far from .working smoothly,' and the only way of remedying the unsatisfactory state of affairs was to place the classes, under the control of one man. The deputation considered that the director of technical education should have, control over the agricultural classes just as ho did over every other class. Hawera people were perhaps more concerned with agricultural instruction than at this end. They looked upon the agricultural instruction of the young generation as promoting the best interests of the province. The Hawera district was going to bo a. very big agricultural one, and they hoped in time to bo able to have a complete technical institution of their own. The time, however, was not opportune yet. In the meantime they submitted that the best results would ho arrived at by having an agricultural instructor, under the control-of the technical director, lessons to bo given three days in the week at Hawera and the ojther two days at New Plymouth, next week two days at Hawera and throe at New Plymouth, and so on. That would meet the position very well. Haphazard instructions at irregular intervals for half an hour, an hour, nr two hours, was dseless. Then when 'there were two instructors—one taking the classes at one time and the other at another time—they could not be expected to pick up the work exactly where the other left off. Nor would the tuition he continuous and progressive, for one instructor would not be cognisant with what had i been taught by the previous one. A change was undoubtedly necessary to have the best and most effective results. No doubt very good results had been achieved at New Plymouth before, but he saw uo reason why they should not continue or have even better results with the scheme he had proposed. Mr. L. O. Hooker, a member of the Hawera technical committee, . said he could only reiterate what Mr. Murdoch, who was a practical farmer, had said. At the present time, they had dual control with no management. Where this existed the best results were out of the question. Again, what was the use of half-nn-hour, an hour, or two hours, to a student in agriculture. Another material point was that they must have practical men, for without them they could not get practical results. He wished to emphasise that' hs had nq

1 feeling against any director or instrucj tor, but spoke for what he believed was tho best interests of agricultural instruction, which vitally affected tire welfare of the district. Mr. J. Pivton, chairman of the New Plymouth Technical College Committee, said he had littlo«to add to what j .Mr. Murdoch had said. Ho was soiry that Mr. J. S. Conuett, a member of tho technical committee and president of the Agricultural Society, was unable to attend. Tho committee at a recent meeting had discussed the matter which I was brought forward by to-day’s dopui tation, and the committee bad decided i to bring.it before tho board. ; Mr. W. F. Short, a member of the j New Plymouth Technical College Com- ; mittee, said ho was of opinion that I the scheme was being worked at cross- ] purposes without proper control. He j had been informed that some pupils, supposed to be agricultural students, I bad arrived at tho school not knowing where .they were to go or what they were to do, and consequently their time was Wasted. Mr. C. A. Wilkinson, M.P.: Tho board is to understand that the deputation considers the whole system of agricultural classes should, be under the control of tho director, of education in New Plymouth ? Mr. Murdoch: Yes. Tho present dual control is unsatisfactory.

The chairman (Mr. R. Masters) informed the deputation that a communication had just Been received that day from the department which indicated that changes might Hollow at Hawera. The department stated that it was prepared to recognise agricultural,, engineering and almost all the classes. 'lnis pointed to a technical college being a recognised fact in the near future. Mr. Murdoch expressed his satisfaction at the news. , Mr. B. Dixon said he wished to protest' against the inference that the director of agricultural instruction was not a practical man. He was one of the finest agriculturalists in New Zealand, and it was questionable whether any other man in tho Dominion had done more for agriculture than ho had. Ho was not a theorist—ho was a practical and a very able man. As for overlapping, ho (the' speaker) did not see why there should he any. He considered that the present system of having agricultural experts in charge of the instruction was the best one. The charge, that pupils did not know what they had to do, or where to go, was a very serious one to make. 1 If correct, whoever was responsible should be called upon to give an explanation. Mr. Hooker asked if Mr. Dixon could state where the director of agricultural instruction had got his practical experience from.

Mr. Dixon; Ho was brought up on a farm and spent most of his time there before entering the teaching profession —and his one hobby through life has been agriculture., Mr. Wilkinson protested against the trend tho discussion was taking. The, question was not . the relative capabilities of any of the board’s servants, but whether dual control, did exist. Mr. P. White agreed. Mr. Dixon said his object was to prevent a man’s character being damaged in a public meeting. The chairman proceeded to question the deputation regarding the number of agricultural students at Hawera. Mr. Murdoch, in reply, said there were 4 or 5 last year. However, he was confident that if such a proposal as ho suggested was carried into effect—three days one week and two the next—they would very easily get 20 pupils the first year. The position at the present time was that many youths of 16 to 18 who would otherwise be attending the classes were managing farms for their brothers who were at the front. The chairman stated that _ at Stratford, where instruction was given under the same conditions as at Hawera, the results were .eminently satisfactory.

Eighty secondary pupils were instructed, lessons being given six hours, practically a, day, a. week. Would it matter under whom the classes at Ha worn were held so long as they got the necessary time. , Mr. Murdoch thought that so long as the technical director had control of nine-tenths of the classes given it seemed a failure that one should be kept out of his control. The chairman asked what assistance the Hawera committee would be prepared to give in the event of the board agreeing to the proposal. Mr. Murdoch answered, that the committee would be quite prepared to assist, as in the past. They could rest assured that Hawera- people would stand by the board. The chairman said the. board was very pleased to have met the deputation. ' It showed that the Hawera committee was very keenly interested in’tho matter of technical education. The whole matter of agricultural instruction had been discussed informally by the beard, and it was recognised that something would have to be done. No doubt the board would benefit discussions /that had taken place that day. and that it would help them in coming to a conclusion. He hoped that when this conclusion was arrived at it would be accepted in the right spirit and would prove of value to the agricultural interests of the district. The’ deputation then withdrew, and tho board discussed the matter in committee. It was eventually decided to matte) - to the Manual and Technical Committee for a- report to be submitted to tho next meeting of the board or to a- special meeting, if the committee -considered it advisable.