'hseaday, April 4, 1967

Honourable Gordon L. Bennett:What made you think I was going to do away with it?

L. George Dewar: First announcement. Honourable Gordon L. Bennett: By whom?

L. George Dewar: That's what the article said anyway and Summerside school officials became concerned and the Charlottetown school officials were very much 3 disturbed about it, and so the Minister comes out with another statement on the 10th of February, 1967. This was on television, by the way, and a very good television program, and the Minister states “I would like to state very emphatically that any changes in the Vocational School Program in this Province, (these are the second thoughts) if and when they come will be announced officially by the Department of Education, and only after consultation with all parties concerned.” (Applause)

0n the 18th of February there was another press release and again we have some second thoughts on the question apparently. This comes from the Department of Education. “One of the major problems mentioned when vocational people were forming faculties of the two schools a few weeks ago plans to drop the first two years of the High School course, was that of the background of students coming to take training.” The Director said last night “that educators are pretty well convinced that pupils coming into the vocational school should have a far better background and general knowledge than they now have.”

Honourable Gordon Bennett: Do you agree with that?

Walter R. Shaw: That drops him.

L. George Dewar: I agree that they should have a good grounding in the basic academic subjects, but if you are going to give it to them in the straight academic, in Grades Nine and Ten, they won’t be there to receive it. You have got to get them into this Vocational work, give them the academic training, and the backgron and the general knowledge as you go along with the rest, and I think that the program that was initiated was the one to follow in this respect.

Some Member: Adjourn the Debate. L. George Dewar: Oh we will go on for a while yet. Some Member: The Leader of the Opposition is getting tired.

L. George Dewar: Now in this res t, Mr. Speaker, we are looking forward to dequate policies from the Minister of ucation with respect to vocational training West Prince and in Kings County, because these matters were decided upon by the revious administration and money was voted by the legislature at its last Session to rovide these facilities.

I think that an adequate discharge of the duties with respect to vocational raining would certainly have meant that some action would have been taken in this spect. However, perhaps this action by the federal government may have thrown larm into the heart of the Provincial Treasurer. I don’t know, perhaps it did. But ishopevinthat this will mean that the vocational program will not be restricted in

pro ce.

I wanted to mention the apprenticeship training program, and the Minister of hour will realize the benefits of this. We have had this Act on the statutes of is rovince for about ten years and not one thing was done about it. Not one single it action was taken! These were the inadequate ones that were being pursued by he administration previous to 1959.

t‘ Honourable J. Elmer Blanchard: This was before the federal program came on .

L. George Dewar: Well, the federal had been in effect to some extent before that, but I will admit that the government that was formed in Ottawa in 1957 did take effective action with respect to vocational training in conjunction with the prov-

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