CONTROL OF SCHOOL CADETS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13938, 25 June 1909, Page 3

CONTROL OF SCHOOL CADETS.

Major T. W. McDonald, of the Defence Department, took up his newposition as Inspector of School Cadets on Monday, i'or some time, says the ••N.Z. Times," it has been known by those interested in the public school cadets that the control of the.system will probably not remain permanently in the Education Department's hands, and the appointment of Major McDonald as Inspector of Cadets and his continuance as an officer of the Defence : Department seems to corroborate this view. For the present the system will be under a dual control, inasmuch as the Education Department will continue to find the money, and -a defence officer will see that it is well spent. At some future date a change of control will be effected either by regulation' or legislation. As the whole defence system is to be reviewed and legislated upon, it is probable that the, cadets will be affected by the reorganisation. They constitute an excellent feature of our system of national training, inadequate as that system is at present, and the numbers enrolled in the corps come close to the full total possible" as the vast majority of New Zealand schools have an average of between thirty-five and forty pupils. Half of these are girls, and. a further percentage is not of suitable a£e s so that very little is left for a-cadet company except in the larger centres. The changes of the future may see the system either under the control of the Defence Department or the Education Hoards, with central supervision.