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SATURDAY, APKiL 1, 1961 CHALLENGE IN OUR SCHOOLS BY GEORGE L., ROBERTS NTARIO'S school program is changing, but not nearly as fast as the needs of our economy or of our people, As usual, none of the agencies involved in education has looked ahead in any systematic manner, and the edu cational implications of a rapidly developing technical society are now thrust upon us in an emergency, Technical education in Ontario high schools has changed little in a generation; our educational authorities are now recogniz- ing the lag, but strangely enough it is the fed- eral government that has highlighted the emergency, His Excellency,Governor General Vanier, in proclaiming Technical Training Week, re- cently had this to say: : "Now, as perhaps never before, Canada's 'future progress,prosperity, and security are dependent on the educational level, the tech- nical knowledge and skills of our people, "Te the youth of Canada it means that they not only must remain at school longer, but more of them must seek out apprentice: ship, the trade school, the vocational school, and the technical institute, "And to all those who have the responsi bility of organizing formal education and train. ing, it means methods and facilities must be constantly reviewed and improved." Mr, Roberts is principal of an Oshawa collegiate and vocational institute, chair man ol the studies committee and execu- tive member of the Canadian Conference on Education, and past president of the Canadian Teachers' Federation, ONTARIO TODAY 'Hon, Michael Starr, Minister of Labor, stated as the first objective of Technical Train- ing Week, "To create more public awareness of the excellent career opportunities which exist in the technical, trade and other vocational fields, and to give to these careers their proper place of importance among all occupations in Canada," He commented on the reluctance of many students to choose those careers which are accessible through technical and vocational training, "Parents," he said, "too often feel their children should pursue only the academic side of education," But the issue should not be "either == or", but "both" academic and technical education, HERE is another type of boy that we now have to look after in high school in signif- icant numbers, who would profit from some special shop training, He is the boy of definitely limited academic ability who is coming to high school in numbers and proportion as never before, In two years, in Grades 9 and 10, he can be given suitable courses in English, the social studies, mathematics and science, and elementary training in commercial skills and such shop skills as would make him more useful to employers such as service station operators, heating and air conditioning contractors, build. ers, and those requiring routine welding opera- tions, Here we are, with industry developing all the technological complexities of the most ad- vanced industrial societies in the world, and yet in 1961 Canadian industry is not quite holding Ms own, Students in Oshawa school practise soldering (above), discuss design, One of the major answers is shortage of highly skilled, productive manpower, Modern industry néeds from three to ten technicians per engineer, Manpower is changing dramati- cally from the blue collar to the white coat, Ontario industry during the last few years, | am told on good authority, has depended on immigration for half or more of its technicians, Now that supply has dried up, Industry in the European ountries from which they were coming is booming, and they do not need to emigrate; industry in Canada is not booming, and they are not attracted, Therefore, we have now to educate and train our own technicians if Ontario industry is going to progress, Many boys in high school fail to develop an interest in a particular field of work unless they are given some first hand experience in it, They can no longer get this experience watching their fathers work or even visiting industrial plants, But they can get it in tech- nical shops in high school, And many a boy who would otherwise drop out of school from lack of interest in a purely academic course or in purely abstract subject matter, will gain both an interest in further schooling and an interest in a career in technology if we can offer him a technical course along with worthy academic studies, and not just the old indus- trial or trade type of course, We need both types of course, but we need the newer type leading to technology with increasing urgency, You should understand also that in On- tario the technical diploma from high school does not lead to university, A boy needs the acedemic diploma even if we give him the technical studies in addition, And we can do that if we have the facilities, Some fifty years ago, high school technical education was established in Ontario, It was realized that the industrial development of the , day needed skilled workers who had along with their techniques more general or academic schooling than they would acquire in the ele- mentary school, It was also realized that with the increasing age of school leaving, more and more boys would need and would accept less (CONTINUED ON PAGE 19)