SCHOOLS & CHAOS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1470, 19 June 1912, Page 6

SCHOOLS & CHAOS.

THE COMMISSION.

FURTHER OTAGO EVIDENCE

(By Telegraph.—Press Association.) Dunedin, June IS. At the sitting of the Education Commission to-day, .Mr. W. S. Fitzgerald furnished a report on uncrrtiiicnted touchers, lie- said that too much was Ih.mii!.' made of their presence in school:, and that scant justice was being done to many of them. Although the number of tincertiiicated teachers in Olago schools was nearly one-sixth of the whole number, the efficiency of Hid schools was such that (i!) per cent were rated "excellent" to "good," and only ■! per cent, below

"satisfactory. , ' He would urge that an unccrtiiicatcd teacher, who was making a reasonablo effort towards securing a certificate, and who presented :i school or class in at least a "satisfactory" condition, should receive the full salary belonging to that grade of school.

Lady Principal of Girlon College. Miss 3!oss, principal of Girton College, appeared as rcpresonhvl ive of the Duniulm private schools for girls. She stated that, in the fundamentals, the girls were not so well grounded as they used to be. Too many subjects were attempted, and there was no time for thorough drilling in essentials to c(iuij), young people for a future career. Three essential aims should be kept prominently in view: (I) Training of character, based on knowledge of th;i Scriptures, and events of national history; (2) inculcating, habits of obedience, politeness, and order; (3) training a boy or girl as efficiently as possible- in reading (including love of good books), English composition, and Arithmetic. The study of home management should be compulsory.

Aii ideal training for .senior girls would include, ns far us possible,- instruction under ii refined and capable nlanager in the chief i duties and responsibilities of a home.

The object in establishing a private fcliool was not the preparation of pupils (especially in the case of girls) for compotilivi! public examinations. Compared with earlier clays, she found arithmetic, very weal;, and English. geography, and history, painful. She thought that the public.schools would benefit by a. system of' kindergarten training, embracing cautlidatfri from four and a half to seven years of age. , . Mr. P. G. Pryde—The Oldest Board Secretary. I'atrick Gunn Pryde (secretary of the OhigoV Board for thirty-two years) condemned the manner in which boards were treated when application was made for the establishment of new schools. Ho described how, alter a*most careful o.\amiiintion of the committees' or boards' claims made by the boards' inspectors (who personally visited districts) the Department got a ranger in the district to report, and upon his report depended the success or otherwise of the board's application. Boys That Come Into Offices. Mr. J.- H. Waters, wlio had I,eeii connected with the School Cniuinittpes' Association for many years, 'spoke as n business man, giving his experience of hoys who came to him from schools, and the experience of other business men. The handwriting was not what business men expected—they seemed never to have been taught the necessity for clearness in penmanship. The average boy's training as regarded arithmetic had not. been sufficiently thorough. Ho preferred a product of the primary schools to a boy who had been "marking time" at a high school, wasting his time. In the last three years the. qualifications of boys on questions which he had toadied .seemed to be undoubtedly better. Other Evidence. Air. Bossence, inspector of schools, said flint the increase in the cost of education was due to a recognition of the importance of the subject to the well-being of the community and the acknowledgment of the necessity for thoroughly equipping children for the battle of life. There, was no overlapping as between preliminarj- and other schools. He hoped that the time would come when every school would have a workroom or laboratory. He thought that the authorities should consider the question of a differentiated syllabus for girls' high schools in recognition of the essential difference be-

turoeu the sexes. More limp should be devoted to Nature study in schools.-, T'ncertiiieated teachers in rural schools might lie allowed to take, tli-e D certificate in morn than two .sections.

Mr. ft. C. Israel, a member of the Otago Education Board, advocated closing a number of small schools and teaching children living within a radius of ten miles at a well-equipped central school. -Hi> was opposed to the curtail? ment of the powers of school committees. Tlir> moral tone in some country schools was not good.