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TALK ON EDUCATION.

HIGH SCHOOLS AND TECHNICAL

SCHOOLS.

THE MINISTER'S ASPIRATIONS

Tho Hon. J. A. Hanan, Minister of Education, in replying to a request from from the Ashburton Technical School Board on Saturday for a grant of £500 towards the additions «to the present school building, said it gave him great pleasure to meet members of the board and to note the progress and interest that was being taken in educational matters in Ashburton. He had during his term of office endeavoured to stimulate a live interest in technical education. Personally, ho considered it was a subject of supreme importance affecting the welfare of this country. His desiro was to make education very practical and more efficient. He realised that unless they had a strong body of public opinion behind the Government and the Minister of Education, education would be beset with great difficulties. They would have to aim in this country to fortify the children for the great industrial struggle that would take place after the war. He would like this to sink into the minds of the people of this country. At the present time we were doing a great deal in this country to help win the war. We had been helping to equip tho naTy and the military, and quite rightly so. We would now have to turn to and equip our industrial army ta meet the great industrial war that would follow. This could only be done by training our boys and girls to a high state of efficiency. When they had brought about industrial efficiency, then they would have brought about national efficiency. It would be necessary to give the education system a bias by better training in agricultural science. Tho welfare of this country mainly depended on agricultural training. Our boys should be encouraged to take up agricultural pursuits. It wfts also necessary to train our mechanics in the towns to a higher state of efficiency in order to cope with tho industrial side, and this training would have to be done through the schools. He also wished to strongly; emphasise the necessity for" a proper education for the girls who were to become-the future mothers. This was a subject that would require every attention. It was absolutely necessary that the woman for her part should learn how to conduct the home properly and on economic lines, and on this the future welfare of the country would greatly depend. The freeplace system would result in increased demands for high schools* and *a great deal more money would be required for extensions. This matter he had under consideration. He realised, in regard to the education of the future, that certain things now in existence would have to be undone. What might take place would be in the nature of a disorganisation of what obtains a.t preI sent. They would not have/to consider the individual, but' what would be in the. best interests as a whole for the children of tho Dominion, and any development would have to be made on sound, finished lines. He had endeavoured in his address to convey to the public the necessity of bringing about educational progress. Last session he had been enabled to get certain amendments brought down dealing with education, and he hoped next session Ito get more done. He felt sure that I public opinion created in this country [would exercise pressure on the Government, and the Government would their realise the necessity of having progressive legislation introduced in regard to education. He wished to refnr to tho interest which tho Press h,arl been taking to stimulate the public mind-in these matters. The question of secondary school education was also receiving his consideration. The Council of Education had also been considering certain questions, and would make certain recommendations to him. " He had not yet seen these recommendations, but he believed they would be on lines which he had already indicated. The overlapping question was also a question of. great importance, so far as it concerned the conditions existing between certain courses in high schools and technical classes. He maintained that it would be necessary to define what the high schools stood for and what the technical schools stood for. He hoped to be able to deal satisfactorily with the subject, and. to put tho system on better lines. Coming to the local question, the Minister said he was pleased to see so much .interest being taken in education. It seemed to him that it would be necessary to have a proper organised system of education in this country. I "We have not that system at present. To speak plainly, we have been tinkering with the subject." Recently, they had had the number of education boards reduced and the education districts enlarged. He wanted to see tho programme in each education board district working on sound, progressive lines. In some districts the children had been handicapped as against the children in others. They ,wanted to bring about a system of educational equality in the education districts throughout New Zealand. Ho hoped this would be a national and not a parochial movement. He wanted to refer to the great interest taken by farmers in agriculture in this country. Ir, was highly gratifying to note what they had done in the Wanganui district in this direction, where a real live interest was being shown in agricultural education.. In Hawera it was gratifying to see how keen the farmers were on agricultural instruction. There they had a class for boys and also a class where farmers were receiving instruction. These classes had met with general appreciation from farmers in that locality. He felt sure that, spirit and the same support would grow through-" out New Zealand in regard.to agricultural education. He felt' Confident that this class of education would also obtain its proper share of grants in New Zealand.. He wished to point out that the Education Department' had only a limited sum at its disposal for education. Some people seemed to-be of the opinion that too much money was being spent on education. He was not] prepared to say that the country was ■ now getting full value for the amount spent; he considered an alteration could be made so as to get better value. Industrial and scientific education must come to the front in every < enlightened community. Every provision should be made, and ho hoped the members of the House would lie induced to look upon it in that livrjit. Candidates at election times would, he felt sure, be given to understand that they must support increased votes for education. Technical school education was only in its infancy. He wmteel to get wro money to enable him to remove the drawbacks that obtain. i Tn other towns they wore labouring under difficulties

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AG19160918.2.11

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVI, Issue 3557, 18 September 1916, Page 3

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,132

TALK ON EDUCATION. Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVI, Issue 3557, 18 September 1916, Page 3

TALK ON EDUCATION. Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVI, Issue 3557, 18 September 1916, Page 3

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