Thames Star WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 30, 1936. LABOUR SHORTAGE.

Thames Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 19825, 30 September 1936, Page 2

Thames Star

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 30, 1936. LABOUR SHORTAGE.

"With malic* toward* nan*; with charity for all; with firmneM in the right, as Gad gives u* to ••• the right."—Lincoln.

In our issue of yesterday we pointed out the shortage of skilled labour in many industries and the necessity of organising ways and means of improVing the conditions under which apprentices are engaged and trained in industry. The importance of this matter has been brought under the notice of the" Government Departments concerned, and tlhe matter is now under consideration by the Technical Education Association, which is at present holding its session in Wellington. Since there is at present a shortage of skilled labour, and since the next few years will probably see an intensive development of secondary industry in New Zealand, tfhis is only natural. The experience of the last few years suggests that, by itself, the apprenticeship system is not adequate even for the supply of normal needs. It is interesting to note that in 1928 the number of apprentices registered by the Labour Department was 10,227. Last year the number had dropped to 3,329. As the Superintendent of Technical Education has pointed out, this is a situation that is likely to recui*. During a slump employers of labour, faced with the need

for reducing costs, are reluctant to engage apprentices; when business

actJrity begins to revive there is in consequence an almost immediate shortage of labour. It seems clear, then, that however good an apprenticeship system may be, it will always require to be supplemented by some form of special training through the schools. To admit this, however, is not to admit the validity of the Hon. P. Fraser's sweeping condemnation of apprenticeship as a method of training. Nor does it justify the contention of some members of.the conference that the re-

sponsibility of training youths for industry should be transferred entirely from employers to school

teachers. There can be no doubt

tihat, quite apart from the effects of the depression upon it, the system of apprenticeship established in New Zealand by the Act of 1923 is seriously defective. On the other hand, as Mr. Fraser says, the training given to the apprentice is often deplorably sketchy. "Industrial training in New Zealand," says a bulletin issued recently by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research, "is very far behind that of other western countries. It is based, in the main, on a pious hope that an apprentice, dropped into a shop,

will somehow 'pick up' all that ho needs, on the assumption, apparently, that skill, like measles, is catching." On the other hand, and this is a point less often mentioned, apprenticeship regulations sometimes involve the employer in a maze of hampering restrictions. Apprenticeship deserves a better

rial in New Zealand than it has

had; and it cannot be forgotten tihat whatever the schools may do by way of training for industry will not bo successful unless the schools are in close touch with employers and linked to industry by some system similar to apprenticeship. Moreover, it would appear that the Technical Education Association is over-opti-mistic when it affirms that "tihe organisation of technical colleges is suitable for the development of trade education on a full-time trade basis, analogous to apprenticeship, but with

adequate provision for continued education on a brdad basis." Technical education in this country has had a checkered career. When technical colleges to be established in the early years of this century, the intention was that they should provide a means of escape from the narrow academicism of the secondary schools and a means of maintaining the supply of craftsmen necessary in a growing country. But in a large measure the technical colleges have fallen under the domination of the university entrance examination and duplicated the work of the secondary schools. As trade schools their usefulness has been correspondingly diminished. It is certain that, if the technical colleges are to perform the functions ambitiously sketched for them by the Technical Education Association, very drastic changes will be necessary.