584 TRADE SCHOOLS AS AIDS TO INDUSTRY. 



life— a most i>otent ifactor in connection with his future indus- 

 trial efficiency. The small present enrolment at the Trade 

 Schools can only point to one fact — that parents do not fully 

 realise the advantages of a Trade School course for their sons. 

 The Johannesburg School has had one more difficulty to 

 contend with — the majority of the pupils want to be mechanical 

 and electrical engineers, with the result that the fitting, machine 

 and electrical shops are liable to be overcrowded. The remain- 

 ing four trades are to a certain extent neglected, so that the 

 school is una])le to supply the demand for blacksmiths, boiler- 

 makers, joiners, plumljers. etc. — all good trades to learn. It 

 should be distinctly remembered that the school ])rovides only 

 a preparation for the skilled crafts, and the difficulty experienced 

 has been attributed to the loose use of the term " engineer "' when 

 fitter or turner is meant. As one writer has very correctly said ; 



While it is important to provide facilities for the able youth to rise 

 from the ranks to a technical position, it is an error to assume that every 

 trade apprentice is capable of so doing, and to direct educational efforts 

 solely to that end. The fundamental fact must be recognised that the 

 majority of such apprentices will work at the 1)ench all tlieir lives, and 

 their training should consequently be such as to tit them for this sphere. 



Much of the prejudice ag-ainst which Trade Schools have 

 had to contend is rapidly disappearing. This prejudice has been 

 due mainly to conservatism and to a ifear on the part of many 

 that the Trade Schools might introduce unfair commercial com- 

 petition with outside employers. This attitude has been fully 

 realised by the ( loverning Body of the Johannesburg Trader 

 School, which has safeguarded the ])osition by passing the fol- 

 lowing resolutions : — 



(1) The (joverning Body is of o])inion that it would be 

 inadvisable to undertake commercial work in the departments 

 already establi.s'hed in the school, luiless with tlic ai^proval of 

 those engaged commercially in the trades concerned. It 'feels 

 that the undertaking of commercial work without such approval 

 would alienate the sym|)athy of both the worker^ and the em- 

 ployers. 



(2) With regard to (rt)vernmcnt work, the Governing Body 

 shall satisfy itself that such work does not involve too much 

 repetition work, and that it is of an educational nature, stiitable 

 for the i)ui)ils in the .shops concerned. 



These resoltttions appear to have satis faclorilv defined the 

 ]X)sition. 



It is pleasant to find support for the Trade School movement 

 from the representatives of the scholastic profession. The 

 President of the S.A. Teachers' Association, in the address re- 

 ferred to. exj^resses the opinion: "Trade Schools will have to 

 be established, and, if we are not to be left behind by more en- 

 lightened nations, at least two years' ccMiipulsory training in 

 these institutions will be recitiired of all boys wlio inten(l to 

 become artisans.'' 



The Director of Education (Transvaal), in his annual re- 



