Planning for Your Children's Future by Vel Puke Mr Vel Puke, who comes from Waitara and is Senior Vocational Guidance Officer in Christchurch, describes this free service which offers parents and their children advice on careers. ‘What do you want to be when you leave school, Hemi?’ ‘Aw I dunno. Something will turn up.’ I have heard this too often to think that it is an isolated incident. Many young people today do not worry much about careers, and this is particularly noticeable amongst Maoris. The reasons for this attitude are not altogether clear, but it was not so long ago that these decisions were made by the elders, and the younger folk did what was decided for them. With the breakdown of the old way of life it is sometimes difficult for the old people to see that the world of yesterday is gone, and that it is becoming necessary for the younger people to plan the future for themselves. This is what the Pakeha youth has to do, and the Maori youth must do likewise.

Often Less Able to Help The main difference I have noticed between the Pakeha approach and the Maori approach is that Pakeha parents are more involved in their children's future. Because of this they make enquiries, and find out everything they can about possible careers. Maori parents tend to let their children battle this out for themselves, and are not able to help in discussions and offer encouragement because they do not know about the careers that their children are interested in. Of course these are generalities, but they are true enough. As I see it, the main problem is that Maori parents often do not know about the facilities and services which are available to advise them on this question of careers. The Vocational Guidance Service is there to help you; it is a free service, and is available throughout the country. A branch of the Education Department, the Vocational Guidance Service helps young people to prepare for and enter a suitable career. Vocational Guidance Officers are trained to give skilled advice by relating the children's background and abilities to the careres which are open to them. In order to assess these abilities and potentials, they may use psychological tests (not so frightening as it may sound), and interview parents, teachers, social workers, and past employers. The object is to build up as complete a picture of the individual as possible.

Several Possibilities Discussed After this the boy or girl is ‘matched’ with several career possibilities. All aspects of these are fully discussed—details of the work performed, training, prospects and pay, etc.—and the individual decides for himself which he considers to be most suitable. Since this process takes some time, boys and girls should, ideally, interview a Vocational Guidance Officer early in their last year at school. After the decision is made, Officers help to find a suitable vacancy, and later make follow-up enquiries during the first year of work.

Assistance in Country Districts Also Vocational Guidance Centres are located in Auckland, Hamilton, Napier, Lower Hutt, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. Assistance is always available at these centres. Also, most secondary schools in the country are visited by Vocational Guidance Officers at least twice each year. In the country schools they follow the same procedure as that discussed above, but there is less time to spend with each individual. To help offset this, certain teachers in these schools are designated as Careers Advisers. When a Vocational Guidance Officer has interviewed a child, he passes his advice and information on to the Careers Adviser, who gives the boy or girl further guidance. The important thing is that in this way country children can get information about careers which are not available in their own district. This is glossing over the details quite