TECHNICAL EDUCATION

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1929, 27 August 1888, Page 3

TECHNICAL EDUCATION

Professor Thomas, of Auckknd, saye: — r We believe that one of the first BLeps to ' be taken In connection with teohafcal ' education la its relation to the public 1 sah >nls la to curtail the purely literary 1 suhj ca, and to extond the teaching of t'lemoutarj' aoiance. In nil th« country eolinolfl, at lea t the priro plea of agrlonl--1 lure anonld form »h=< o'>ief part of the clem ntary ecienoe. It might be taught also In the town schools with great advan--1 tftgo not only on account of Its erinoi'ional value, bat also beoanaa the eobjeot 1b one of importance to the people of tne towa bb well aa the country. We have at present no large or real manufacturing towns ; and m any o»se It 1b both natural and desirable that the country populalon should be reorulted from the towoi. There will, doubtless, always be some coming from the country to engage In tbe occupations of the town, and there should be—especially m New Zealand—an outward flow of a p»rt of the populations of the towns But we can soatca'y hope to see either town or oountry take to agricultural pursuits if we give them an education of a literary oharaoter and one which fits them for sedentary pursuits. A'l men naturally tend to adopt the occupations of which they kno'vionothing ; and a boy who has no knovrle tge of oountry objects, of animals, of plants, and of crops, and the cultivation of the soil, Is eoaroaly likely to long for a oountry life. In a oountry where agriculture if, and must long; continue to dp, the chief industry, the elementary principles of the soience and practice of agriculture should be one of the first Rubj o! b to. beinoluded m the elementary science teaching It is thercfo c remarkable to find that it ia distinctly d'scourged. It is (rue that it is stated m the " Standards'' that agricultural chemiitry, if efficiently taught, may take the plaoo of other elementary ec:enc<>, but agricultural oiemstryia on y a part of the varied knowledge inc'uded under iho principles of agricutura. A knowledge of plant life ; that ia, of certain portions of botany, ia at least as nece3aary, for the life of the crop is the life of the plant, and a knowledge of the composition of aoils and mmure3 is of little avdil, unless the needs of thj living organism be also ootißiderod. The very processes of tilling the ground are based upon the lawa of plani life. The regulation, howav ;r, Is with two or three exception* a dead letter ; even m our country eohorb it la r^re to find any agriculture taught. The reason of this will be seen at onoe by anyone who reada with care the oylUbua for the teachera' certificate examination. Agriculture m any form or Blnpe is nowhere reoognlsed therein. Italian, indeed, will be found, aa well aa olhev su'-jeota of ooaeiderablo ornamental valuo, but not ths,t eplenoe which, of all that oan be named, is the mosD Important In Now Zealand. The reason for this seems to be that for the higher oattifioatea (B oc A) the syllabus of subjeota la tacen f*orri the regulations for the decrees cf the New Zaaland UnjrnMliy. If it be easenfclal to adhere to those regulations we wonld suggest that the principles of agriculture should be at onoe reoopnised as a subject by the University of Nevr Zealand, not only for the matrloulation but alao for the degrees m arta and eciancts. It Is clear to everyone that the large majority of teachera will teaoh the subjects which they themselves know, that Is those subjects whioh they hive taken up m their examinations. It would show a waDt of knowledge of average human nature to suppose that mmy will go out of thoir way to'learn an additional Bubjaot when that subject is not favored by the authorities. There are a few'who are auffiolontly enthusiastic m their calling but their number li very email.