ILLITERATE WORLD

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 17, 16 April 1947, Page 7

ILLITERATE WORLD

UNINFORMED PUBLIC OPINION The mass of uninformed opinion arising from illiteracy constituted a threat to world peace, and because of this the job of education of those people was most urgent, said the Director of Education (Dr. C. E. Beeby), on his. return to Wellington after attending the conference of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in Paris.

About 60 per cent, of the world’s poulation was illiterate, said Dr. Beeby, and with such a formidable task facing Unesco it was obvious that it would be some time before any effects could be expected. The main work of the international body was to plan a campaign and set it in motion. It might take some years, but eventually it was to be hoped that the world would benefit from the establishment of such an organisation as Unesco, which had as one of its duties the educational rehabilitation of countries devastated by war, and the furtherance of education in general.

England, he said, had come to realise as never before the importance of technical education, for she knew that her survival in post-war world trade depended on her technicians and skilled tradesmen. In spite of the acute shortage of manpower, striking numbers of employees were being released,.from work every day to study their trades in special industrial schools.

Because of the vast numbers of workers employed in the various trades Britain had at her disposal some of the finest technical teachers and equipment in the world, and workers were being given the advantage of this. Concentration on technical education, however, had in no way hampered the progress of academic study.

While in England, Scotland, and the United States, Dr. Beeby studied many aspects of education, and gave it as his opinion that while there was an excellent system of education in this country there were a number of things which might help to improve our methods. The liaison between the city and country schools in the Dominion, however, could not be bettered anywhere in the world.