Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-02-25
VOCATIONAL TRAINING FOR
HAWAIPS SCHOOL CHILDRENUP

other city il is the plan that the school
children work for week at some
trade and then 50 TO school the next
week 10 learn what they have discoy-
cred is necessary for tkeir line OF
work. -.:
Committee Receives Plans.
The plans OF the special committee
were received fayorably by the school
commissioners and were turned over
TO the school board committee on vo-
c2tional training which is composed of
w f.. Harrington tcaairman), Mrs.
wilcox ana Mrs. Pond. This commit
tee will cooperate with Superintendent
Willis T, Pope and Inspector Gibson,
and also with the special committee
which called en- the meeting. In case
such a vocational guidance system
were established in Honolulu, it would
place the islands in line with modern
educational work on the mainland
Commissioner Farrington's report
on vocation training said:
There is a steadily widening inter-
est in practical education for Hawaii's
boys and girls in many schools, as
the opportunity offers, the teachers
are taking up many lines of industrial
and domestic science, that are of
especial value. In this connection we
would call particular attention to
what has been done at the Normal
school where the MONDAY lunch
problem has developed a first class
school in home cooking and the sew
ing class has become an establish
ment for practical dressmaking. Here
the foundation is being laid among
the future teachers of the public
schools for corps of teachers who
will be able to develop the practical
side" of education when assigned to
positions in the public service.
Hawaii needs a vocational high
school in each county of the Terri
tory. these manual training schools
should be available for the pupils who
may not be quick in book learning, .
but is apt in some branch of the
trades not excluding agriculture.
Maui, with the Lahainaluna school
comes the nearest to having such an
institution OF any county of the Ter
ritory. This institution is of course
open to students from all parts of
to make note of the report brought
to the commission by Commissioner
Aiken that, during recent visit to
Lahainaluna be found such an oppo-
sition among the parents to placing
the boys at work in the cultivation
of cane, that the school is losing
many of its pupils. The attendance
is falling off. In other words there is
among many neutrality-suspicious. OF
the Territory a well-defined prejudice
against having their boys taught to
grow cane, because they feel that this
is mot education" but rather training
their Toys for the work of coolies"
This is an interesting side
light on the effect of coolie
labor on the native citizens of the
islands and its tendency to degrade
the dignity of agricultural labor as
performed on the large plantations of
the territory. 1t is most unfortunate
state of affairs, but it is nevertheless
a condition and creates a real prob
lem whether it is better to eonfine the
activities of Lahainaluna strictly to
trades or try to overcome the preju-
dice against labor associated in the
minds of some of our fellow-country-
men with the coolie laborer.
Work of Time and Money.
TO establish vocational high schools
in each county is a work that will
take considerable time and calls for
the appropriation OF considerable
sums of money to provide these insti-
tutions the proper working equipment.
They will eventually come, because
the ultimate destiny of Hawaii's place
under the American flag was never
more certain than the coming in these
islands of practical application OF edu-
cation to the activities of everyday
citizen toll.
What to do in the meantime is
matter that has received much
thought
Your committee in this connection
recommends that there be provided
for each county Supervisor of Sew
ing and Domestic Science, and SUI
perVisor of Agriculture. The duties of
these supervisors in their respective
counties will be to give instruction in
the schools of their county in much
the same manner as music and other
branches are now taught by special
teachers who visit the several schools
within their jurisdiction. This special
teacher should be equipped to go into
q school, size up the situation, deal
with the peculiar problems found and
ay out a program for the teacher to