THE EDUCATION SYSTEM.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1601, 5 July 1887, Page 4

THE EDUCATION SYSTEM.

In connection with, or rather as a part of the thorough system of retrenchment m the public expenditure which - the leaders of all political parties are agreed is an imperative necessity, and which the electors of the Colony are unmistakably resolved upon, it cannot bul be that the question as to whether it is not possible to reduce the cost lwithout interfering with the efficiency ~ of our educational system should occupy, as it does, a large share of public attention. A charge upon the public purse of per annum, and which goes on increasing from , year to year, is so enormous as neces- ; sarily to challenge attention and is, we venture to think, notwithstanding the benefits derived, heavier than we are able to bear. And Sir Robert Stout, notwithstanding, we are convinced lhat retrenchment m this direction is perfectly possible, and that the true way to preserve our national system is not to permit it to become so burdensome financially as to break down of its own weight, but to bring its cost within reasonable limits. One of the proposals m that direction, which has been frequently made, is that free State education should be limited to the fourth standard, and it has much to recommend it. Replying to Sir Robert's objections to such a proposal that the maintenance intact by the present system is a democratic necessity, and that to limit free State education, to the fourth standard would be a benefit to the rich man and an injustice to the poor, the Wellington " Post " says :— " There is not a particle of truth m this reasoning. The tacts are precisely the reverse of what such an argument would make them appear. The poor man is now being taxed, indirectly it is true, but none the less taxed, to maintain standards of education, of which very iew of his children can avail themselves, and which we venture to say would, m the majority of cases, be of very little real benefit or advantage to them if they could. The poor man is paying heavily through the Customs, and m other ways, to provide high standards of education for the children of classes who can well afford to pay for such instruction if they require their children to receive it. We venture to say that if a return could be procured it would show that the vast majority of the children who remain at school after having passed the fourth standard are those of well to-do parents, and that the children of the poorer classes, who cannot aspire to civil service, or commercial clerkships, but must earn their living by manual labor, are generally taken away from school, if not before, immediately after having passed the fourth standard. If the workshops of the colony could be searched, we expect ihat very few tt the apprentices would be found to have remained at school after passing the fourth standard, Those who do remain after lhat generally expect to find what is termed " genteel " employment, and regard with a kind or contemptuous pity those schoolfellows who have to use any more laborious implement than a pen to earn their future living. Our school system is crowding most unduly the ratfks of seekers after "genteel" employment. Sir Robert Stout talks of the industrial war of the future, but this is altogether beside the question. Our present school system is not of a technical character, ncr does it qualify for industrial puisuits. On the contrary, its tendency is to create a distaste and disinclination for such pursuits, and m this lies one of the greatest objections to it. Our public schools are not turning out from their higher standards, laborers, tradesmen, artisans, farmers, or domestic servants. The boys all want to be clerks of one kind or another, and the girls, if they cannot be shopwomen, prefer factory work to domestic service. In fact the chief end and effect of our present educational system is to turn out a very useless article to swell the number of non-producers, and to flood the clerical employments with hosts of superficially and really very imperfectlyeducated candidates for situations m which they can wear fine clothes and need not dirty their hands. For boys and girls who are content to be workers — and the vast majority must ultimately depend on manual labor for subsistence —-it is not necessary that school teaching should be carried beyond the fourth standard. This will give them a'starting point, from which they may work onward if they possess the abilities, but m the vast majority of instances they will learn little beyond it at school, which^ will be of much advantage to them m after life. For youths designed for professional life, the secondary schools are the proper place after the fourth standard is passed. We believe that the teachers Of the secondary schools much prefer to receive pupils from the State schools after passing the fourth standard than after the fifth or sixth standards" Passing on toconsider the further proposal to raise the minimum school age our contemporary writes :— " Sir Robert Stout says if the school age was raised or the standards reduced, country schools would have to be shut up and the already poor pay «of the teachers be still further reduced. Neither would be necessary. There is no need of insisting on absolute uniformity, and the exceptional circumstances of sparsely populated districts could be exceptionally dealt with, while the diminished number of teachers required would enable better salaries to be given to those who were retained, while at the same time a great saying 01 expenditure would be at-, tamed." Summing up the whole question the " Post " concludes an article with which a large number of thinking persons will entirely agree with the following remarks :— " Such a reduction as we advocate m the education system would, we are convinced, be for the benefit of the poor rather than the rich, would make the system more practically useful, and would m every way prove beneficial to the colony. With reduced standards the difficulty of finding money to provide school buildings would m a large measure be solved. The present buildings would suffice for requirements for some time to come. Whether Sir Robert Stout likes it or not, we are sure that the colony will demand substantial curtailment m the present expenditure on education, and that demand will be thoroughly m the interests of the democracy."

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