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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.
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(6) THE TECHNICAL SCHOOL, Kuala Lumpur.
The number of Junior European Officers in Malaya is very small and such appointments are practically confined to foremen on the railway. For this reason a well educated type of local Technical Assistant is required by all branches of the Public Works Department, etc., and it was to provide these officers with the requisite techni- cal training that the School was instituted. Originally the School formed a sub- department of the Public Works Department, but has recently passed into the control of the Education Department, for purposes of administration. This arrangement has made it possible to include a fair number of private fee-paying students in the school, these being accepted to fill places not earmarked for the Public Works Department or the Railway.
The Principalship is a full time appointment, and the various European lecturers are released for the necessary hours from the Government Department in which they are serving. By this means students are kept up with the latest practice and there is no tendency for instruction to become too academic. Also, each student receives exactly the type of training which is required by the Department in which he expects to serve. There are a few junior local instructors for the more elementary classes.
The minimum education qualification is Junior Cambridge, and any student may be required to continue his English studies until the Principal is satisfied with the standard attained.
Each department of the Public Works Department and Railway Service has a special apprenticeship system covering four years, each sub-department having a very carefully detailed scheme of training, in which the technical and practical aspects have been carefully co-ordinated. The Public Works Department apprentice does one year practical, then 2 years at the Technical School, then a final 6 months' practical training before sitting the examination which will enable him to pass out as a Technical Subordinate (Grade III) at from S$900 to $1,000 p.a. according to the percentage received.
Choosing the Railway system for a more detailed examination of its organisation, it is found that, on appointment, the apprentice is attached to one of the sub-depart- ments, and remains in that department throughout his service.
The sub-departments are:-
Engine and Machinery Maintenance. Rolling Stock
Boiler
Train Lighting
Smithy
Pattern Shop & Foundry
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