PARLIAMENT.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 982, 24 November 1910, Page 6

PARLIAMENT.

THE COUNCIL.

DENTISTS AMENDMENT BILL,

"When tho Legislative Council met at I 2.30 yesterday aiternoon tho Dentists Amendment Bill was .further considered in Committee. The Hon. J. R. SINCLAIR (Otago) moved the amendment he had spoken of on Tuesday, to amend Section 22, Subsection 2, oi the • principal Act, to make it cover ■ the case of unregistered dentists who perform any dental operations on their own account. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said ho had discussed tho amendment proposed by Mr. Sinclair with tho Minister for Internal Affairs. Tho amendment, or one something. in the same shape, had been moved in another place, and had been defeated. In the present shape it would, he believed, certainly be rejected. Ono of - tho principal reasons for the opposition to tho. clause was* that .it would expose people in the country to the deprivation of tho small services they sometimes got from, a chemist. Tho Hon. J. R. Sinclair was given leavo to withdraw tho amendment An amendment was moved by tho At-torney-General to compel registration before June 30 next, instead of December 31, as originally provided in tho clause covering provisions for registration in particular cases, which was accepted on Tuesday. The alteration ivas agreed to, and the Bill was reported with amendments. ' ' Tho measure was then put through, its final stages and passed. HAWKE'S BAY RIVERS. The amendments made by the Houso of Representatives in tho Hawke's Bay Rivers Bill were 1 agreed' to without discussion, the Attorney-General remarking that the amendments were purely formal. AUCTIONEERS AMENDMENT. The:ATTORNEY-GENERAL, in moving the second reading of the Auctione&rs Amendment Bill, remarked that the Bill would remove inconvenience, and, to some extent, unnecessary expense occasioned by ■ the present law.. The Committee stage of the Bill will be taken to-day. SCENERY PRESERVATION. Tho ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved tho second reading of the' Scenery Preservation Amendment Bill. This.was agreed to after a brief discussion. BILLS FROM THE HOUSE; The following Bills were received from the Houso of RepVesentati'vcs and' wero 'read'a first time:—Shops and Offices Bill, Hospital and Charitablo Institution Bill, Slaughtering and Inspection Amendment Bill, Crown Suits Amendment Bill, Census and Statistics Bill, Poukawa Native ■Reserves Amendment Bill, and the Workers' Dwellings Amendment Bill. EDUCATION AMENDMENT BILL. Tho Education Amendment Bill, which, as the, Attorney-General explained, had been, carefully revised by a Select Committee of the Council, 'was debated at length on tho motion to go into CommitTho Hon. J. R. SINCLAIR (Otago) objected to the definition of ■ technical schools as technical high schools. He protested against tho assumption by theso schools of the title "high schools." Tho ATTORNEY-GENERAL said . lie would agree to alter tho definition to ."technical day schools," instead of "technical high schools."

Tho Hon. J. E. JENKINSON (Wellington) said ho thought tho time had arrived when tho Legislature should • take tho question of technical education seriously into consideration. Wo were, in his opinion, throwing away thousands ofpounds and not getting'much benefit for the expenditure. Ho did not think tho system at present in force was going to givo tho return that should bo expected. Sufficient time was not given to training, there was not sufficient practical instruction, and tho teachers had very little control over the pupils. Ho hoped that Parliament would take some steps that would ensure that tho Dominion would get a reasonable return for tho expenditure, and tho students a satisfactory training.

The Hon. J. ANSTEY (Canterbury) expressed the opinion that it was impossible to view without alarm the enormous increase in tho cost of the education system. He-thought no ono would begrudgo the money spent if ' there was a reasonable return, but unfortunately there was hot. He believed we should inquire as to the reason for the increased cost, and that tho time was not far distant when Parliament would have to carefully review tho whole of the education system, and see if we were proceeding on right lines or not. - . Tho steps made towards centralisation were partly responsible for the increased cost, and they also destroyed all local interest. He was expressing the views of high educational authorities when lie said that education in our primary schools was not nearly as good to-day as it was ten years ago. Ho objected strongly to children being crammed with scientific knowledge which they could not assimilate, and urged that scientific education should go hand, in hand with practical instruction. It seemed to him that the Education Department recognised tlio -deficiency in the primary education system, _ and that they were trying to make up the deficiency by imposing greater burdens on. tho "children.

The Hon. J. BARR (Canterbury) said that som6 of the clauses in the Bill would have been moro honest if they had been struck out altogether. They had been so - mutilated. Ho believed there was need for an entire review of the education system. Tho children were being stuffed with a whole lot of scientific information which they could not assimilate. He did not think anyone was going to grudge an increaso in cost of education, seeing that much of the increase was duo to cost of erecting buildings. Th\s, lie added, must obtain for some years to con'e. In his opinion, the utter selfishness and apathy of the employers was the great bar to the progress oftlia technical education system. The employers wero blinded by looking after their own immediate interests. A Bill of this importance should never have been brought down at this late stage of the session. An important'-Bill dealing with education should not be rushed through and skimmed over-in the dying hours of tho session. Further, the Bill had been so altered in the_ House of Representatives as to. make it almost useless. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said it was very easy to speak in general condemnation of such a huge Department as the Education Department, but it was , more difficult for the critics to say how to set about improvements. Referring to the increased cost of the education system, he said a great part of it was duo to tho fact that the Government was now giving to tho children of working people tho benefits of socondary education. Salaries of teachers had been increased several times during tho past ten years, and still tlie teachers wero far from being overpaid. It was surprising what a large amount a small increaso in teachers' salaries meant. Personally, he did not think wo should object to a little heavier burden to givo tho teachers more money. Probably the main .reason that the education system ' does ' not bring forth better results, said Dr. Findlay, was because our people did not value it sufficiently and impress it's value on tho children. The people, looked upon, the education system too lightly. At this stngo tho debate was adjourned, and progress wns reported. Tho Council rose at 5 p.m.