Retraining Canadas Disabled Soldiers PDF Download

Excerpt from Retraining Canada's Disabled Soldiers For the purpose of re-establishing in civil life those ex-members of the Canadian Forces so far disabled by service as to be unable to resume their prewar activities, Industrial Re-training was commenced by the Canadian Government in 1915. Mr. W. E. Segsworth, a mining engineer, was appointed Director in July, 1917. The salient features of the Canadian system have been outlined in this volume so that they may be available to those interested in the re-training of the disabled, whether by war or otherwise. This publication should form a distinct contribution to the available knowledge on this subject. There may have been some who, not being familiar with the difference between training normal men and disabled men, were unable to appreciate the basic soundness of the scheme so promptly inaugurated in Canada, and who therefore felt somewhat sceptical of its effectiveness. The practical results obtained from operation over a period exceeding three years, demonstrates its success. Not only had Mr. Segsworth the vision to foresee the value of the plan when started, but with the courage of his convictions he made it effective when requested by me to do so. Although he retired from the active direction of the work nearly a year ago, the organization he developed has been capable of continuing what he so well started, despite an amazing growth in the number of men seeking and receiving the benefit of re-training. An indication of the rapid growth of the activities of Industrial Re-training since Mr. Segsworth became Director in July, 1917, until he retired in March, 1919, to resume his practice as a mining engineer, and thereafter, is obtained from the following: - When the present policy of re-training was adopted and undertaken by him in July, 1917, there were but 638 men in training classes of all kinds. The men receiving their re-training were for the greater part to be found in class rooms which were shared by those taking convalescent training. By December of 1917, the groups were divided, there being at that time 954 men in re-training and 2,199 in convalescent classes. The work has steadily and rapidly grown to the present date, December 31, 1919, at which period there are 23,626 men receiving re-training and 9, 505 graduates. Of the men in retraining, 12,342 are attending schools and 11,284 are training in industries. Classes for convalescents are providing occupational work for an additional 4,323 hospital patients. The figures as of December 31, 1919, include 7,454 minors, young men who enlisted prior to their eighteenth birthday and who, through war service, suffered severe interruption to their training for civilian life, provision for whom was made by the Government as from April 16, 1919. Quite rightly, Mr. Segsworth maintained that unless an unequivocal survey of results was continuously made, the value of the expenditures in money and energy could not be estimated. By his periodical follow-up at their new occupations of those who had been re-trained, data was secured which, I believe, is not available with respect to similar work being conducted in other countries. It might have been reasonably expected that with the rapid and unexpected sudden increase in the number undergoing re-training, combined with the general industrial unsettlement during the transition from war to peace conditions, there would be an appreciable drop in the efficiency of the work. An analysis of the follow-up surveys, however, shows that the organization stood this abnormal strain satisfactorily. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com