The Training of Craftsmen

Abstract

The author outlines a plan to secure for each engineering apprentice the best possible development of his natural aptitudes and abilities as a potential craftsman, technician, or fully trained technologist. This plan calls for the close co-operation of all the agencies concerned with education and with the organization of labour, including the responsible ministries, universities and technical colleges, professional institutions, local education authorities, and, perhaps most of all, the employer. Emphasis is given to the best possible provision of facilities, both in works and in colleges, for those who show capacity for training as highly skilled craftsmen. The importance of the contribution of such men to the national economy is examined, and regret expressed at the relatively inadequate provision made, both in works and in colleges, for the training of those whose primary interests are in actual manufacture. The bearing of recent changes in legislation affecting the structure of secondary education, and the availability of technical courses in their relationship to the age, quality, and outlook of recruits entering the engineering industry, is discussed in some detail. The possibility of setting up new national awards in craftsmanship, with the co-operation of all the agencies concerned, is foreshadowed.