Abstract
The provision of technical education in the Federal Capital Territory, as it was then called, was recommended in the original Report of the Federal Capital Commission in 1921. At that time it was envisaged that Justice, Education, and Police services should be extended from New South Wales.In 1925 the Federal Capital Commission invited Mr James Wangle, Superintendent of Technical Education within the New South Wales Department of Education, to come to Canberra and report on what technical education services were needed. His recommendations were accepted and so was his further offer of the extension of the services of his own (N.S.W.) Branch to the Federal Capital Territory.
Following this Report, a new wing was built at the Telopea Park High School to accommodate the Trades School, and in 1928 Wangle1s recommendations came into full effect. The Canberra Trades School opened and a Junior Technical course was added as an option to students at the Telopea Park High School. New South Wales technical education policies were to dominate technical training in Canberra for the next decade.
The Depression in the early 1930's impeded the growth of technical training for several years. However, the opening of the Vocational Training School in 1936 to assist unemployed youth was important in the evolution of technical education in Canberra as it allowed the status of the Trades School to be raised to Technical College level in 1939.
The outbreak of World War II had a profound effect upon the Technical College. Evolution accelerated when the College became involved in the Commonwealth Technical Training Scheme, in December 1939. The College trained over 5000 airmen and more than 300 munitions workers under this scheme.
After the War the College became involved in the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme (C.R.T.S.) with the Principal holding the position of Deputy Director of Industrial Training on the Regional Committee of the C.R.T.S. Trainees came from interstate as well as locally. This gave the College a student population out of all proportion to the City's population.
During the 19501s the Menzies Government's policies for Canberra as a "National" Growth Centre together with the transfer of Government Departments to Canberra created a high demand for tradesmen and a consequential demand for technical training.
As the training needs increased the facilities of the Technical College became increasingly strained. The situation was becoming critical when in 1957 the Canberra Technical Education Committee was appointed to advise the Department of the Interior on matters relating to the provision of technical education in Canberra. Despite its efforts to have a new College built it was not until 1962 that the first building was opened. This Committee faced continual frustration in its efforts to improve technical education services, and official intransigence made its earnest efforts largely irrelevant. The new college resulted more from the need of the Government Printer to expand his premises than from the advice of this Committee.
By 1967 however achievement of some of the aims of this Committee began to show; buildings were appearing on the new campus at Reid, and whilst it was to be another decade before technical education was given tertiary status, the policy to expand the Technical Officer designation within the Public Service and the introduction of the Assistance with Study Scheme created a need for more Certificate level courses. So at the end of the period under review a whole new area of growth began.
| Date of Award | 1981 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Supervisor | Geoffrey Burkhardt (Supervisor) |
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