SOLDIERS’ TRAINING.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16505, 5 August 1919, Page 4

SOLDIERS’ TRAINING.

AVOEK AMONG HOSPITAL PATIENTS. I NEARLY ONE THOUSAND | PUPILS. 1 BriiCUt TO HERALD. | WELLINGTON, August -1, The Educational and Vocational Train- ' ing Branch of the Defence Department has now reached a stage at which classes i have, be.cn organised in nearly nil the | hospitals where soldiers are treated’, | and a number of soldier out-patients arc j getting the benefit of this scheme, thus j improving their chances of making head--1 way in civil occupations. It is estimated i that there are now over a thousand sol- ! dim attending classes, i The attitude of the soldiers to the ' educational and vocational scheme was at first suspicious, if not actually hostile. They resented the idc.a of compulsory education, though as a matter of fact the only element of compulsion which has been introduced into the sysi tern is where a man will be directly implored in health as a result of training recommended by his medical officer. Some difficulty was experienced in trying to rouse the patients out of the inertness which characterises hospital life. Many of them apparently took little interest in their future. Rut the Vocation Officers who are sent into the hospitals are returned soldiers who are quite well able to understand the men’s outlook, and to overcome their indifference. The latest reports show that these ■ early difficulties are disappearing; ...iw there is very little opposition to the scheme, and the soldiers realise that the Vocation Officers arc anxious to help them. Though some, classes fail, others are immediately started —there is no : hard and fast syllabus to be applied uniformly in all districts—and ns a result of experience of the requirements of the men there is an increasing number of students, and an extremely wide variety in the classes throughout the Dominion. No fewer than fifty-three subjects arc taught altogether, the most popular subjects being indicated by the ! following details of the number of pupils on the instruction rolls on July I. Tire numbers bare no doubt increased since that time. _ _ Pupils. I Motor Engineering 129 ! Leather Work 129 I Basket Work 9(1 WooL Classing 79 I Book-keeping 76 Carpentry 68 Embroidery 62 Eornomics 19 Splint Making 16 Bee-keeping 31 Commercial Subjects 20 Boot Repairing 23 Poultry Fanning 23 j Loco and Tractor Driving 21 A number of special subjects are taken by individual soldiers in different centres. They are mainly out-patients who wish to “brush up’’ their knowledge, or ; gain some information which will bo of i value to’ them in their civil vocations, i Assistant Vocation Officers have recently been appointed so that these outpatients may lx- systematically interviewed and helped. It has been found that the best results are obtained at the Sanatoria, where the patients arc nearly recovered, and where they stay for some months. When men are sent to a hospital for operative treatment they are really invalids, and it is useless to expect them to take up courses which cover a considerable time. Occupational classes are the first step j towards bringing the soldier back to ac- ’ tive effort. In many cases the exorcises i for special muscles have a valuable curative effect. Leather o work, basket-mak-ing, wood-carving, spinning and weaving and embroidery (tor cot cases) are taught. The classes are well attended, and 1 as a rule are popular. Basket-mak-ing does not now attract so large a number of patients as leather work. It is found that the splint-making, though offering little in _tha way of future openings for soldiers, enables them to get a good deal of useful training in the handling of iron and leather tools which will bo valuable to them in almost any trade they may take up after discharge. Carpentry and cabinetmaking ore not as popular as might bo expected. As curative agents they aro useful to give training to special muscles, and' to get men gradually accustomed to the resumption of bodily effort. A certain amount of training in engineering is given in tho splint shops at the hospitals. At Rotorua, there is a special vocational training in electrical engineering, but tho only form of engineering which is really popular is motor engineering. There is a. demand for this class of instruction all over the Dominion, and everywhere the classes have been successful. Boot repairing classes have been established at Rotorua., Napier, Miramar and Haniner. They arc generally successful, though not largely attended. A good deal of useful work is done in repairing the boots of hospital patients. This is a trade which can bo learned in a short time,, and fair assured after a few months’ instructional work. There is Jess interest taken in farming lectures than might be expected in an agricultural country, though wool-class-ing has been a popular subject in some centres. At Hanmer, where an instructional farm is attached to the hospital, a farm manager has been appointed who is an enthusiastic instructor, and 1 it is expected that in the spring and summer a good general agricultural education will bo given. Farming will also be taught at tho farm attached to the new consumptive hospital at Waipukurnu.

It was expected! at the initiation of the scheme that technical schools would provide suitable training for soldiers, but experience has brought to light many difficulties. The, courses there are too long, and- are not intensive; they are held at inconvenient hours for soldiers, and are often crowded with youths and girls. But the chief difficulty is that the soldiers are not eager for vocational instruction, and require not a little persuasion before they will attend the classes at all. The solution has been found in special classes independent of the Technical Schools. The Vocation Officer at Christchurch reports on this point: “The special soldiers’ classes are in all cases successful, and it is recognised that where the right kind of instruction the soldiers want is provided, good attendance can always ho obtained.” It should be added, however, that Dunedin Technical School is an exception, as over sixty soldiers are attending classes there. It will be seen from this review of the position that the t Educational and Vocational Training ’ Branch has constantly modified its pro-

gramme to meet the needs of the men, and that tho facilities it provides are row generally utilised to the advantage of the soldier patients in Now Zealand .