The Cine Technician (1953-1956)

16G CINE TECHNICI A N November 1956 Sorry — It's Education! IF I seem apologetic it is because I have undertaken to write on a subject which is not universally popular — Education ! The only time I ever found it really draw a large audience, was by mistake. I was due to address a meeting in a South Yorkshire colliery area and the local bellman in mistake announced that the speaker was Herbert Smith, the popular miners' leader. I certainly got the audience, five hundred miners. They had a dispute on and thought Herbert was coming to talk about it! When the Chairman announced my subject, " Education for Workers ", there was a sudden exodus of four out of every five! Yet there was not one of those miners who would not have sworn that education is vitally necessary — for the other fellow. Bleak and Dismal Past The fact is that in Education as in so many other things we are victims of an unfortunate history. It is not a long history. Up to the end of the 19th Century most of the working-class children would have had no educational opportunity at all, but for the voluntary efforts of the church schools, and it was only in 1902, with the Balfour Education Act. that the State laid the foundation by making local education authorities responsible. In 1832 the State grant for education was £20,000, and in the same year it spent £30,000 on cleaning out the royal stables! It was only in 1944 that we conceded the right of every child to a free secondary education, and we are not justified in expecting wild enthusiasm for education among an adult population which, in the main, has only dismal memories of its own bleak and meagre opportunities. We Delude Ourselves The trouble today is not that the educational opportunities are bleak and meagre, the opportunities were never more abundant. What is wrong is that the kind of education we have had has given us no sense of relative values, and we delude ourselves that we are living, when in fact we are only existing. In a defence of " The Intellectual in the English World ". Harold Nicholson said a few weeks ago that "the English public is less interested in the important than the unimportant, they feel more passionately about what happens at Lord's Cricket Ground or at the Old Trafford, than they do about what happens at Port Said or Singapore ". Do you doubt it? If so, think of the millions of 'phone calls put By ERNEST GREEN HON. TREASURER OF THE WORKERS' EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION through to the Post Office Telephones for the special service during the test matches this year, and ask yourself how many would have used such a service to enquire what the U.N. Security Council had done about the Suez question? Of course it would be presumptuous for me to assume that you are uninterested in education. Any man who has had to go through the prolonged task of fitting himself to follow a profession in which technical skill is the test of efficiency, must have had to sweat blood and tears to guarantee his claim to a livelihood. Thus there is a compelling interest, an incentive to the kind of education which equips us to earn a living and there are quite a lot of people who can earn a very substantial living with no other kind of education. Living or Earning a Living In general, however, it is recognised that most of the satisfactions we enjoy outside our job of work are those which depend upon what education we have acquired outside our technical or professional training. 1 do not know if you found your training as a technician fascinating and enjoyable. I hope so. In any case I am sure you would not claim that it even pretended to give you an insight into the social and economic problems that face you in the society you live in. Still less, would it provide the kind of historic background to industrial, social and political history, on the basis of which we form opinions on contemporary affairs. To be a complete training it should really have included some aspects of logic, philosophy and psychology, for these are the criteria on which we cultivate our relationships with others inside and outside industry. Equipment for Life In fact the education in which I am trying to interest you, is that which provides you with the power and the will to contribute something to social progress, to help to build a new society. There is no need to be an apologetic advocate for this. It is sometimes called liberal education. The pursuit of knowledge is the most fascinating adventure. You know how you enjoy having a good " argy bargy " and pitting your ideas against the next best man. That is what a Worki re' Educational Association class is. It is a small group of people coming together under the guidance of an expert tutor, to argue out all the problems in which they are interested. It may be history, politics, literature, trade union problems, international affairs. It may be that they want to develop their capacity for enjoyment of music, drama or literature, and to find the satisfactions in life which come from adding to one's intellectual stature and personality. Most of those who have joined W.E.A. courses are trade unionists. Over fortv trade unions provide through the "W.E.T.U.C. facilities for their members to attend summer courses at home and abroad, to join in one-day and week-end courses and to take up correspondence courses, and attend classes. I know your Union would welcome your interest in furthering your own education. It recognises that the Trade Union Movement depends for its unity and progress on a well-informed membership. If, therefore, you would we'eome co-operation between your Union and the Workers' Educational Association and would be interested in taking advantage of W.E.A. educational activities, send the form on the next page to your General Secretary.