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Care should be taken that students realise that the majority of workshops are not. nearly such congenial places, especially those run by Chinese. They should leave with this knowledge, and the will to do something to produce the increased efficiency which better lighting and groundspace will always give.
(2) Equipment.
It is essential that the student should leave his school able to turn out reasonably good work on machines which are in the condition of normal workshops equipment. Nothing could be more demoralising than to leave the Trade School with its up to date, high class machine tools and be called on. without notice, to work a lathe with various loosenesses.
The idea of keeping one or two such machines for special practice is worth con- sideration.
(The lathes which have been seen in Chinese workshops in Hong Kong are always in very bad condition.)
(3) Remuneration and Prospects.
The remuneration offered by the various occupations, and the opportunities they afford, should be kept constantly before students. It is well to make them realise from the beginning the competition with which they will be faced on entering the industrial field.
The production of a very well educated type of mechanic as at Penang is likely to be fraught with special difficulties. In the first place such a student naturally ex- pects to receive a higher rate of remuneration than his less well educated brethren; and in these days when the tendency is towards cheap labour, this expectation may be difficult of fulfilment until the student has acquired some actual commercial work- shop experience. There is the danger that he may think that he might as well have been earning a small wage while serving his apprenticeship, instead of paying fees. Occasional short talks on the labour market might prevent a feeling of disillusionment, especially as the student's equipment for ultimate promotion can be strongly emphasised.
(4) Cost of Training.
The cost of training a boy up to Junior Cambridge standard and equipping him with a Trade School training is high. I favour specialising at an earlier stage in the event of similar institutions being founded in Hong Kong.
(5) Recruiting.
The improvement of the standard of manual skill in the engineering trades can be accomplished in two ways, either
(a) by giving better education and training to the sons of artizans, when
there is a resident artizan population available
or (b) by introducing the sons of better class families to manual occupations by
such a channel as the Trade School.
As regards Hong Kong I favour the former procedure. An undue number of boys recruited as at (b) would tend to confine promotion to this class and might depress the sons of the artizan class to coolie conditions.
A leavening of better class boys is, however, very helpful in setting a standard in the School.
(6) Accounting.
Although the system of Store Keeping, etc. is very sound, it involves much work on the part of the Chief Instructor which could be better utilised in direct supervision of students' work. As usual, the Auditors seem to place keeping of accounts before Educational efficiency, and it seems to me that with a more reasonable interpretation of the term "expendable stores" much could be gained educationally with very little possibility of serious deficiencies arising.