Tertiary education balance 'outmoded'

By Jim Mitchell, N.Z.S.P.A.

New Zealand suffers from "an outmoded balance of territory education," Professor R. M. Chapman said this week. To cure this, a system of community colleges, which would offer two-year courses, was suggested

Professor Chapman, who is head of the Political Studies Department at Auckland University, said that community colleges would do four main things:

• Reduce the cost of tertiary education;

• Help secondary education;

• Provide small cities and large towns with "capstones to community education; and

• Tie vocational training to a liberal all-round education.

Community colleges would grant diplomas in vocational subjects, and associateships in arts and sciences, he said.

They would be able to leach courses suited to the areas in which they were sited, examples being oil and glass-making technology in Whangarei, and fishing in Nelson.

Staff were already available, but they were not being utilised.

Professor Chapman said he felt sure that the professions and industrial groups would release men to teach on a part-time basis.

Local secondary schools might be organised around the community colleges.

It would be necessary to enlist the local populations in support of the concept.

The total cost of such a scheme would be around $20-30 million in buildings, as against the cost of $23 million fro a frigate.

The colleges would replace upper sixth forms in most schools, and by offering a two-year course would also serve the purpose of catching late developers.

These, after realising their ability could go on to university from the college, and would be credited with a year's work.