WORKERS' EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17418, 31 March 1922, Page 4

WORKERS' EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION.

ACTIVITIES IN 1021. The seventh annual repay* of the Educational Association in 7 • which has just been ii-.ied. S'- v ' 5 interesting details'* of tho progress of ihs Association throughout the Dominion. In its report the Dominion Counc u refers to the {set that the movement has cmn cnuciscd a3 misjudged in many qv.arte.s, out has succeeded in coining through the ordeal unscathed. The committee set up by the University Senate to report on the Association s work visited nearly every cbs.f, anu >t» demonstrate - .! the goad work done oy tno movement. In 19i0 there were, in the.Dominion, 56 tutorial classes and study circles with a roii number ci HOC students.: in I'j.a the classes and study circles had to 70, and the students io over '2OOO. In each district a series of public lectures, dealing with prominent questions and national problems, was organised and thus, by t.ie cia.33 and the popular lectuvc, thd • - i — l *• is succeeding in creating a "rcat in.arest in education and the pioblems that concern. the welfare of the peop.o. In tir:s way tne ideal of an educated democracy is being gradually attained. During tho year the. organisation of the movement along national lines has been developed and the Dominion conference, which was attended by dele-uics nom each centre with the exception of Auckland, was held in January of'the present year. An amended constitution was a?cp-.id (cubjeot to ratification by the District Councils), and it was decided thai a conierence should he held yearly in February. Acknowledgment is made of the increase of the Government grant for the present year from xSCO to £IOOO, and the report states that the Dominion Council appreciates this practical recognition of the value of the Association's work. The report states, in conclusion"The prospects for the coming year are very bright, and with the appointment of more permanent tutors, the countrv districts will be biougut within the scope of the movement, with clals&cs being formed'in every township. By this method N'ew Zealand may yet be the first country in the world to achie'.e a truly peasant culture, which, after ali, is ihe true test of a country's g^e-atness."