EDUCATION.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 3430, 26 November 1900, Page 4

EDUCATION.

MANUAL AND TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION.

Mr 6. Hogben, Inspector-General of Schools and Secretary for Education, met a number of teachers at the Main School on Saturday to explain the provisions of tha[ Manual and Technical Instruction Act of last session. Mr J. G. Gow, Inspector of Schools, occupied the chair, m the absence of the chairman of the Board of Education (who was indisposed), and an apology was also sent by Mr Farnie, another member. There were about five-and-thirty present, including the headmasters of the Timaru. Waimate, and Temi'.ka High Schools, Bros. George v.ivl Pius of thd Marist Brothers' school, Mr Bell, assistant Inspector, and one cr two members of the Timaru Main School Committee. The attendance of teachers would have been larger if the meeting could have been held next Saturday, when most of the teachers would hare been m town for pay-day.

Mr Hogben explained how he came to be present. When at Invercargill, the member for the district, Mr Hanan, asked him to give some explanations of the Act m public, and then suggested that lie should do the same at Oamaru and Timaru, and on this lie wrote to Mr Howell, chairman of th* Board, offering to do so, and^he latter had called the meeting. It must be understood that he was not speaking officially, but he was very glad to me3t them. The new Act was very much wider than the old one. Tn the first place it provided for the establishment of many more different kinds of schools, and it provided a larger sum of mon«!y to assist such schools. It was an Act to promote " manual, technical, and commercial" instruction. All subjects connected with agriculture and industrial pursuits woulld be included tinder these heads, and any pursuit m the colony may bsnefit by tie Act, to the extent that help can be given to schools that train those who are going into any industry whatever. As regards technical education, it gives facilities for making as complete provision for it as tb.9 colony seems to want. It alsa provided for manual instruction m primary and secondary schools. " School classes" may be established by an Education Board, or by the board of a secondaiy school ; these classes to be held during school hours, the syllabus to be defined by regulations under the Act. Theie regulations have been drefted, but not yet approved. As drafted thsy will practically allow any subject to be taken up that trains at once hand and eye and train. "Manual Insliucfion," as the De partment understands it, is part of the general education, and is not intended to mako tradesmen or even to be -the first step towards the making of tradesmen. It is simply an extension of the kindergarten " occupations " ; of modelling m various materials and practice m the use of tools, so far as these can be made parts of general education. A distinction is made between "school classes," which are to be held m school hours, and " special classes" to be leld out of school hours. The latter may or may not be connected with any school, but they are to be controlled by school boards, and these " special classes" may include the ■work of the ordinary schools. A third class of schools are called "associated classes." These may be established by an Education Board, or by, a School Committee if the Board does not undertake to do it, or by a University College, m conjunction with an agricultural association, or any industrial association or union, or any public association formed m connection with any branch of trade industry or commerce. That is to say, one of the educational bodies must be joined with the non-educational body to establish these " associated' classes." " College classes" are classes for higher technical education established by any University College. There wers two very distinct aims, which the teachers, as representing those interested m education, should keep before them. One concerned the introduction of "manual instruction" into the primary and secondary schools. He hoped they were all convinced of the importance of thia. The new school regulations to some extent provide for it, and he hoped that some result would follow m the direction of a modification of the syllabus by the conference of inspectors to be held m January next. Consideration of this question had been purposely postponed by the Minister until after the conference, and he had no doubt that the syllabus would be considerably modified. One of his points would certainly be the desirability of allowing facilities for a larger amount of manual and practical instruction. The Act does not specify any amount of capitation for " school classes," but it allows grants to be made m aid of such classes, not exceeding the payments made to other classes. Regulations have been drafted fixing the amounts to be paid for the differeat kinds of instruction, on the basis of the cost of carrying on such classes with efficiency. In most cases it would be simply the cost of the material, and this cost he had carefully ascertained from teachers m different parts of the country. He did not think there would be much difficulty m arriving at the amount per head payable to the Boards for children m. the primary or secondary schools for manual instruction. The Act also gives the Minister power to make grants m aid for the erection and equipment of buildings and for schools for the training of instructors under the Act, and for various other purposes. Manual instruction could be introduced into the schools with very little delay, but the Board, its officers, and the teachers, would have several questions to consider besides that of cost. The questions, how far teachers were qualified to take up such work and the special needs of the district. Certainly the training ought not to be the same all over tho colony but should, vary -with the industries of the locality, the needs of large towns differed from those of smaller ones, and from those of the country. It must rest -with the local authority to use their best judgment m determining the particular kind of manual instruction suited to their district. He would j Jiave strongly impressed upon the members J of the Board of Education had they been present, the desirability of as sooh as possible making arrangements for the instruction of instructors. (Applause.) This had «ot been overlooked m the Act, and the Minister was quite willing to give grants m aid of classes for this purpose, to equip {hem, and to give facilities as far as the Hallway Department will allow, for teadhers travelling to such classes. This was one of the first things to be attended to. Some teachers had introduced such work already, and some of the work requires very little preparation, beyond a book of instruction and some practice on the part of the teacher. But the system could not be got well under way until they had competent instructors, and he hoped soon to ho able to place before the Minister applications for such appointments, and he tsaA no doubt, from what he knew of them, that the teachers of South Canterbury would enthusiastically welcome th» opportunity to attend the classes. Besides manual instruction there was technical instruction. This did not, as many ■opposed, affect the towns only. The Act applied to every place where there sufficient people to form a class. Twery member of the community would b» <be better for some technical training m Ins special line, and every line could be provided for. The London County Council and the City Guilds' Institute have about seventy subjects m their course, and «» English Board of Education makes pro•weion for 48 groups of different subjects, mo that a very large choice of subjects s anflieated by English expedience. Of course -• syllabus to suit New Zealand *nwt differ from one suited to a closely -populated country like England. He hoped that at Timaru, Waianat«, Temukn, Geraldine, and other places if possible, there would be technical schools efttab'ta'icd very soon. A very important po : nf-. wpr *!,K thpt it is no use try-* inp to snve yo'in^ men or young women technical instruction if their general education is not good enough. (Hear, hear.) IT iher cannot mriersfsr"! English, cannot write English well enough to describe what they see or do. technical instruction must mtnne-r or Inter brenlr down. And tliev fiU'S^ he rblr to <1o •.•v;<l<r*pl.ical work arisinjr from, fheir ir-S?.. Ti- cse preparatory tfwoTJfifvtioTis ;irc .••b-o ITiJ1 TiJ Ay necessary. If lias Iliovcfftre hp.on fowl necessary" m all «onnfriei to warn penpla that, howerer en-thnsiast'-illy tliev may take up the subject, they cannot have successful technical schools without " continuation schools," to •ontinue the general education. Continua

tion schools therefore are not only valuable m themselves, but are valuable as concomitants to technical education. The capitation to be paid for classes other than "school classes" is defined by the Act, and is just twice what it was under the former Act, and is still more because it cm be paid on a greater number of attendances. It is threepence per head per hour, for ten weeks per quarter ; so that attendance for ten hours m a quarter gives a minimum of 2s 6d per pupil to the controlling authority, and more may be paid if the attendances are larger. The English rate is not so nnich. Continuation schools may earn half that amount. They do not need- so much apparatus, and the si,:e of the classes nead not be restricted as they must be for technical work. Mr Hogben quoted a few ether -provisions of the Act, and then, said th.it there were so many other points thai it would be better if he gave the rest of the time to answering questions. Tile chairman said the Board of Education was quite willing to take up the work, and were only waiting i'or a lead — for some one to show them what was to-be done and how to do it. They were waiting for reduction of the syllabus for one thing, and to see what the Government were going to do m the way of providing in-atructoi-3 from headquarters to organise the classes. In Englaud they have organising instructors.

Mr Kogben said there would be two organising inspectors, whose business it would be to go round the different districts, not to give lectures or instruction, (though they might do so, bufc nob to give a course of instruction), but to assist the districts to organise the work. The Department would get the best men possible, who would have a. syllabus, etc., to place before the people, and ib would be their business to do everything they could to assist m the institution of classes. As for instructors, he did not think peripatetic instructors would answer very well, the instruction must be local ; and all the Dep?v'.ui3'- l t could do would be to send an Mr Valentine asked whether the new Act .over-rides the Act of IST? concerning continuation schools, was to be read with it. — Mr Hogben said continuation schools must be up to the standard prescribed by the new Act, If it was desired to get capitation for them, tie proper course w.us to- gat the Education Board to recognise the:n and act as the controlling authority. If the Board was unwilling, then a committee could establish them m conjunction with auy p3op;O who liked to form themselves into a public association. Tha Act does not prevent any evening classes being established under the Act of 1877 ; but it says that such classes will be recognised and capitation paid only on their conforming to the conditions laid down m the new Act. In reply to Mr Johnson, Mr Hogben said fees could be charged for attendance at continuation schools, but they must be ! approved by the Minister, who, he knew, would not approve of high fees. — Classes for training teachers would be tinder the local authority which instituted them, not under the central Department. — One of the first things to consider was by whom a, class should be started— whether by the Board of Education alone, or by the Board

m conjunction with some public association. There were several ways of doing at, and each district could make its choice among them. If under joint control, the Minister would regulate the proportion of representation m the management according to the proportion of the cost of maintenance provided by each. Mr Johnson asked whether there was any probability of teachers' salaries being cut down to provide funds for these classes. That was a ticklish point with teachers. Salaries were low enough now, without their being reduced to provide means for carrying out the new Act. — Mr Hogben said he could express no opinion on that point, but he did not think it would be necessary. Mr Valentine asked whether the Department or the teacher would fix the syllabus, and Mr Hogben said that the Department would issue regulations which would only contain, suggestions, and the teacher would prepare his own syllabus within the lines laid down. No doubt a syllabus would be prepared, as is done at Home, but not to tie the hands of teachers. It would be better to leave the teachers free, so long as their syllabus comes up to the requirements the Department had m contemplation, and so long as their teaching is efficient. In reply to Mr Pitcaithly, Mr Hogben said there was nothing to prevent continuation and technical classes being taken by the same set of teachers, but they must be dealt with separately.— At a place like Waimate, he should say that agriculture would be the best subject for a technical school; these schools should reflect the life of the district, and this was the case also to some extent with manual instruction, bearing m mind however that all manual instruction is to be given as a part of general education.. It was important to notice that instruction- would not be accounted technical unless it combined instruction m the principles of the science as applied to industry, with individual laboratory or workshop practice. In chemistry for instance (suggested by Mr Pitcaithly) " demonstration experiments " by the teacher, who simply showed the pupils the experiments, would not count at all. The whole class must individually perform the experiments. Otherwise the work would be that of a continuation school, certainly not of a technical school. That necessarily meant more apparatus than was needed for " demonstration " experiments, and the Minister has power to make grants m aid to the controlling authority for the initial cost of apparatus, and for the subsequent supplies of materials. The amounts to be allocated to different subjects would be fixed by the local authority, and thig would apply to buildings also. The amounts voted by Parliament for this year— of which nothing could now be spent, except m the last quarter— were £10,000 for building, and £8000 for maintenance. As time gota on the demand for grants for buildings will decrease, and the demand for maintenance will increase. Mr Johnson .-Do you think that m a small centre like Timaru we should start with a continuation school and try to work up to a technical school ; or should we begin at the top and expect the rest to follow? Mr Hogben would start both if possible, taking the technical subjects for which there seemed to be a reasonable: demand m Timaru, if necessary calling into consultation representatives of trade societies or industrial associations. The assistance of these bodies had beeu most valuable m some places. Men who could take a broad view of their trade were anxious that their Apprentices should be properly trained The bnildtag trades were particularly safe to approach m this matter. He should say take one or two subjects for which there was most demand, establish schools for 1 them, and at the same time establish as many continuation schools as they '•ould get boys and girls to come to. It was not easy to get pupils to attend continuation schools but it would be much easier to get them if there were technical schools for them to go to later. Many young people take an.^nterest -m learning about their 2, i ?' h V ould not 8° to a continuation school for its own sake, as they think they rhave done with school work. In some places i it is made a condition that the pupils must have attended continuation schools before going to the technical schools. In Germany ,t i 3 compulsory on all to go to continuation schools until they are sevenSchool) asked whether technical teachers already engaged, not possessed of any certificate or diploma of competency, --ould hnre to be replaced by others. AIi M Km lanced the tenrher of rookery at w 2 S - Hlgh Scho °l-Mr Hoirben V«d that efficient instructors would be reco.tr- " v« *• * fe T years the standards of qualification would be raise,! as it had been raised m the Old Country, out m the meantime efficient teachers would be recngrnfced by the Minister whether they possessed diplomas or vn* Mr Hogben remarked that the most exp-n---m-e school classes were carpentry, cookery and dressmaking. " J ' Speaking to the question generally, he would give them an important warning which had been sent him by a friend m London, Dr Garnet*, organiser to the London Technical Board, and that was that it

is a mistake to pay instructors simply by capitation. They should be paid for their time. To pay by capitation makes .hem compete with one another, and it disheartens the man who teaches an important subject, but who gets few pupils. Hat was the experience of the Board m London Mr Johnson said the practice of the Dunedin Technical Classes Association disregarded the number of pupils a teacher reply to Mr McLeod, Mr Hogben <aid the Department would not supply instructors for teachers, but would help districts as far as possible m searching for competent men. In reply to Mr Valentine, who quoted the failure of classes formed at Gore a fewyears ago through the burden of railway fares for instructors, Mr Hogben said the Education Department always did its best to get concessions m the interests of education, but as the Railway Department had to produce its own balance sheet they could not get everything they asked for. No further questions being asked, Mr Gow on behalf of the meeting thanked Mr Hogben for giving them an explanation of the bearings of the Act, and how classes may be established. He was sorry that it had been given almost wholly to representatives of the teaching profession. Ho would haye liked the meeting to be held m town when some of the business men might have been present to hear what was said, seeing that they are as much interested m this matter as the teachers. Perhaps at some other time Mr Hogben could address a public meeing. The vote of thanks was carried with applause, and m returning thanks, Mr Hogben said he hoped to see the Act largely taken advantage of. They should not forget that it is desirable to obtain the co-operation of those connected with business and trades, nor that school life is a part of the whole life. If they could form an idea of what the community wanted, the community would help them m the matter of organisation. Get the business and trades people to co-operate and the scheme would be made thoroughly successful.