Maoris and Technical Education

Special Education Courses for Maoris by Noel Harrison former head of the Department of General Studies at Wellington Polytechnic This is the third of a series of four articles on technical institutes and the chances for job training they provide. Technical institutes — also called polytechnics — have grown so fast in the last ten years that they are now about one third the size of our universities. Because of this they now offer many new training courses that were not even envisaged a few years ago. Special courses for Maori youngsters, particularly those from rural areas where job opportunities are scarce, have proved very successful. Five polytechnics, in Auckland, Hamilton, Petone, Wellington and Christchurch, have started courses covering a wide variety of trade skills. They also have courses which prepare students for employment in cities, or which introduce them to jobs like hotel restaurant work. The main reasons for running these courses are that many young Maoris have found difficulties in getting apprenticeships. or in adjusting quickly to the move from country to city, with its very different type of life. Some have been handicapped educationally because of the shortage of trained teachers in rural areas. And many have found it hard to get much information or advice about jobs open to them in the city. Vocational guidance officers are spread only thinly through country areas, and many teachers don't know much about some of the new developments in industry and commerce. The Hunn Report of 1960 and the Education Commission of 1962 strongly urged the starting of special courses to help young Maoris overcome these handicaps. They didn't want special priveleges for Maoris: they wanted to give young Maoris equal educational opportunities. Technical institutes, working with the Department of Maori and Island Affairs, helped with the creation of the first trade training schemes. The success of these led to more trades being added to the scheme, and later, to other courses aiming to help boys and girls who could not be included in the trades courses. As a result, many young Maoris have been thoroughly trained in the trades. Employers compete for the successful students, and a big group of well-qualified Maori tradesmen is being built up, men who are acting as an excellent example to the young. A new idea — pre-employment courses Frederick Baker. a motor mechanic trainee at Christchurch Technical Institute in 1968 National Publicity Studios photographs