MAORI CHILDREN AS SCHOLARS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 3, 28 September 1907, Page 3

MAORI CHILDREN AS SCHOLARS.

Tho Maori who attends tho Native school is in many ways an exomplary littlo scholar. It might bo rather dilfi-. cult-to make tho avcrago colonial schoolboy ibelicve-it, but it is a fact: that .ho would rather go to school than stay at home; and that when at school he is-amenable to his teacher, .and' seldom requires to be chastised. Ho will-.walk miles to get to school. Fancy a'party of children, as thoy do ■in ono iustancp oyory school day in tho year, going niiio miles to school,. ami;nine miles home again, and. when you have realised this phase of their scholastic yearnings you will understand that many of these children sincerely ; dislike, holidays. Ono teacher of. a; native school who was taken to task for not observing the loyal holidays, gave as a reason the disliko tho - children had for, staying away from school. Since statistics speak louder than words it may bo said that the average attendance for all Maori schools last year' was 85 per cent; while one school, the naiiio of which assuredly ought to be printed in. very big letters and imnded down to posterity, had a record of 99.5' per cont. ' ■-■ # : Tho Native school, which is always a country school, is tho biggest factor in- the Maori ! child's lifp. - Tho colonial child, even : in the country, has sources of information and opportunities for intellectual development /that, aro. denied to tho Maori, and for this reason a tremendous responsibility rests on tho,Native school teacher," who in most cases is worthy of his task. Ho beconies tho child's intellectual'and spiritual parent, and ho can claim .full credit for'the results of tho school course. It is not easy for , townsfolk to realis'o what the life of a native school teacher is like, how: isolated it is, how fullof opportunities to servo tho native race, and what -splendid advantago is taken of those opportunities. The teacher is hot, only. tho friend and advisor, of • the ■;, children, but . 'of the adults throughout the district; his home-life,-for tho teacher is usually married,' sots a standard of civilised life for them, and ho is also amateur doctor prescribing simple remedies for their common maladies. The historic instarico of this occurred some years back when typhoid fever was rife- in a nativo village, and the teacher, having obtajned 'authority', to close tho school, devoted himself to tho work of nursing tho sick, fifty* of whom' ho had on his. hands at, one time. Ho had a rival in tho shape of a tohunga' who undertook fifteen eases, and that excellent little book, "Health for the Maori," records how thcr teacher lost only 4 per 'cent, of his cases, while'the. tohunga,' who lost 86 per cent, was expelled from the dis-. trict and nover allowed to return. That was a sensational..instance, but the work of prevention and euro goes on quietly all tho year round. One lady teacher along the West Coast who has been, the Maoris say, an angel in their midst, has saved the lives of dozens of babies, not only by tho advice sho has been able to give the mothers as to tho caro of infants in health, but.byher treatment .when they are ill. When tho need arises she takes tho baby into lior homo and cares for it' until it is well again, and for these acts of hers thej Maoris aro intensely grateful. , Our teachers keep tlio district informed with news, for -there- is nothing a Maori loves more than to hear news from somewlibro, the neighbouring village, the other island, or from abroad. Of course tho personality of tho teachor counts for far rnoro in'tho success of these schools than it wouldin an, ordinary- town school. A Maori parent has absolutely no control,over his children, and if tho youngsters did not choose to go to school, thero would be no means of making them go. They must love the school and their teacher, 'and tho difficulties they overcomo,. the distances they wall;, and the record of their attendance are the best certificates of competency that a teacher can have. The school at Te Kao in tho far north of Auckland is ono of tho most inaccessible. All tho year round no white man but <tho school inspector visits it, and there for tho last five years tho school teacher and his wife have lived, devoting themselves to their work; whose importance.they fully realise, and so loved by tho people of the district are thoy that the children from the scattered settlement:; "attend," says the report drily, "with commendable regularity"—a. tribute to tho teacher of which he may well _ be proud. Tho election of ri nativo school committee is a very great affair. The parents and guardians of the children aro the voters, and it takes them about threo clays of talk before thoy aro ready to proceed to ballot. Tho chairman is generally'a'man,of some standing, and when no happens to be a rangitira; things run very smoothly indeed, for his word is law. Quite recently a committee that had been duly elected proved to be lazy and filled tho mind of the chairman with dissatisfaction. He . therefore dissolved it, and olectcd a new ono, which he wis pleaded to be nlif 1 to report, worked much, better. A lazy wmmittee is, however, very uncommon. Usually the committors ta!;e ; their ('.otic.-, scri.vj.ily, and on o:'.r.:p'iiM:oh ■ ihy — the' jrr.Mt d-i.v at ih". Maori cciiool, when tr.e c'liUrm c?ni:o ! dressed \» thf-ir better-beat, when, the whole viilv.'.o turns cut to w::';cli tl;6 p.-rf:ii'r:'.;:n: , :> -the enmnuttre i'i .r.uo i/i 1;;> on haV.-l. air.', the ch.-iirnvn

removal of a noisy dog, now of an interrupting infant. It is on examination days' that the committee speaks its mind to the Inspector, and expresses its opinion of.'tho teacher with perfect frankness.' If -the teacher has been remiss, then it is time for him to hear about it. "This school was closed on such and such a day" says the chief sternly, giving the exact date. "There was no public holiday, why was tho school closed'-'" ami tho teacher has to justify his action. The school committee afford very v loya! help to the department- in many ways, and there are at least eight workshops which have been provided by the committees at their own expense. By tho way it is interesting to know two of tho Nativd school committees boast of a woman member. Tho syllabus of a native school is practically .the, same as that of an ordinary Board country school, 'with tho difference that special attention is devoted- to tho teaching of English, and with romarkably good results judging by the copy books. Looking through- them one' can roaliso how as.noybd tho teachers must bo by the attitude adopted towards the ohidrcn by tlie majority of tourists: