WORK FOR BOYS.

Wairarapa Age, 1 June 1928, Page 3

WORK FOR BOYS.

OBSERVATIONS BY MR. W. PEPPY ACADEMIC AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING. “ ‘What can we do with our boys?’ is a burning question with parents in New Zealand to-day; offices are full to overflowing, and there are many applications for every vacancy. On the other hand, ode hardly ever hears of a boy wanting a position on a farm ’’ stated Mr. W. Perry at the Royal Agri-' cultural Society’s Conference in Wellington on Wednesday evening. “There never was a better opportunity for boys to take up farming life than at present. They must be prepared to start at the bottom and work up as our most successful farmers of to-day did when they started. There is too much academic teaching in most schools. The later school years should be used for training boys in the direction of their life’s work, whatever it may be. It is my firm conviction that unemployment will continue unless our education system is altered. The age to start a boy on a farm is not more than sixteen years; he is keener at that age in his observation, and learns his job quicker and better than after he has been crammed with academic learning up to the age of eighteen years. If less were spent on higher education and a greater proportion on vocational training, there would be far fewer misfits in the community, and the position ot the Dominion economically would be much more sound. The Flock House system of dealing with boys from England seems to be working well Whv shouldn t New Zealand boys get the “o”:? throueh Stato e i?stitu ‘ A J l ' l glve many a town boy a much-needed opportunity. There is e and the ™T ° f . fa ™ worker.., and the position is getting worse.’’