NATIONAL EDUCATION.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1496, 19 July 1912, Page 6

NATIONAL EDUCATION.

THE JUNIOR CADETS,

GENERAL GODLEY CONTRADICTED,

,BY CAPTAIN STEVENS,

SCHOOL CHILDREN'S TEETH "APPALLING CONDITION."

.The Royal Commission, appointed by the Mackenzie Government 'to inquire into" the condition of certain aspects of national education in Now Zealand, resumed its sittings in Wollingtom yesterday, Mr. Mark Cohen (chairman' of tho Commission) presiding.

The Captain and the General. Captain A. C. C. Stevens, staff, officer for junior cadets, who holds the ■ ap- ' pointment 'under the ' Department of Education, submitted a statomont, expressing his views on-junior cadet training generally, and Major-General Godley's criticism of tho same in particular. ■ "I-.am an of tho New Zealand Staff. .Corps, ami as. such a subordinate of Major-General' Godley,' , . said. Captain Stevens. : "I am, however, seconded for special, service with .the Education Depar'tmont (my' original appointment was mudo by the Minister for Education), and. I am' responsible, directly to the Minister for Education.- It has been su"-, gestedby the General Officor Commanding, I' believe, that this position is an anomaly, but I- respectfully beg to differ. Between 1901-1001 I was. a Political Evident in N<Srth'ern' Nigeria, under General Frederick Lngard l , and although' a very junior lieutenant .of. the Royal ■Field Artillery, I took -seniority to military officers in niy. district,."years my senior in age and also in military Tank. I was seconded for political work for five years -in ,that ca.se, and. in the p-esent cose I am also seconded for special work. 'In my former case my controlling de-partment-was the Colonial Office, and in. this latter case the Education Department. In giving evidence, therefore, before tho Commissioii I do so not as an officer in tho New :Zealand,.Staff .Corps under the control of General Godley, but :a? the Staff Officer for Junior Caclots under, tho Minister for Education. Having made my position- clear, I will proceed .to criticise General. >Godley's evidence. • .... .■'

A Subordinate's Criticism. "General Godley humorously suggested that Junior Cadets had Been put unfertile Dducatidn Department'■'.;, to protect ..them iroin the Detence authorities,': but that .legislators had defeated 'their .'own. intentions; for ■ they* got more military"-drill probably from '.the'.Junior.Cadet jDep'artinunt.than they would have,got from, the [Defence authorities. This is a very oneBided View, and one. not supporte'd by facts. The_-time , allowed for drill, at .kchoolsJsVone,hour,per w.eek,.ahd half of ■thisJSimq■;is," i devoted to; physical;exercises.AV'ith half an hour per "week 'only it' is impossible-to do. a very great deal of military .work. '■■•■■ ■ ■ - "The General says that on arrival at the-age. of fourteen years a- boy is , handed over to him; logically, he cannot accept anything a bdy had done up to that time, 1 ' therefore,- he had to'-start afresh. It is just'.this attitude of ; ignoring''our wort'/as , 'Junior"Cadets that'l wish- to emphatically protest against. ..'lt is inaccurate; for: tho General Officer Commanding .to say., that iie has'no knowledge of thei,work -oK-t'h'e Junior. Cadets. The' (Junior Cadets have paraded' with the Senior Cadets and Territorials (and old volunteers) ,during the. past four, years on all ceremonial occasions. Their work is public-properly, and I. think it has been universally admitted that Junior Cadets have acquitted themselves well whenever, asked to appear in public; and official appreciations have, been fonvarded (vide letter froni' Colonel-Wblfe, AdjutantUeaeral.Keur. Zealand Defence Forces) to this office by his Excellency the Governor and others. So much for ceremonial occasions,', which after all are the culminating- resnlt of careful individual instruc- , tioa. iii schools. . . '

That."Bogus Organisation." . "The General goes on to say that lie has' to retrain Junior Cadets because he has nothing to •do with what they had ilone.in military training. The General must" be aware that Major M'Donald, who really: is the 'fattier , of the Junior Cadet movement, is a reliablo officer. The fact, that he has been selected for special training in 'England;is in itself proof that he is considered as above the average in ability. The G.O.C. knows that Major M'Donald was tho Commandant of Junior Cadets since their inception, and that the lines on which he worked were probably,, sound. 'Since Major Jl'Donald's departure to England, I have., acted in his place; I do .not ..' propose to say much about my own capabilities, but I may say that il have had practical experience of soldiering with. British troops in four different countries, and that since I have been ataff officer in command , of junior cadets 1 have never had any personal criticism cC my control of affairs levelled at me, .although I feel inclined to regard the General's evidence before the Commission as reflecting seriously on my ability and that of the nine picked instructors under me and the Junior Cadet Department generally. The results of junior cadet training are published annually in the form of a Parliamentary report, for Miy<ino to see, so that I do not see that it is difficult to find out what we do and how it.is.done. ,;.... "The junior cadet organisation is referred to as a 'bogus' one, and 'officers carry titles who do not held commissions.' 'In reply to this allow me to say that the Salvation Army wear uniforms, and carry military titles, but.no oho, I feel sure, would on thoso 'grounds wish to interfere ycifh! their good work or place them under the. Defence Department, in crdor- -that their officers might acquire a proper military air, ,or send. . their ~ bands to 'Kneller Hall' for in.M ruction before allowing them'to perform in. public. "The average junior. cadet officer realises that he is a civilian. He knows thai? he has not.got a commission, and.'that ho is only 'appointed.' The title ho carries only hfllcU good on junior cadet parades. There is,'however, another class of junior xajlet officer who is anxious to obtain military .status, namely, the 'man who hiving carefully and conscientiously acquired military knowledge by reading and praotice, presents himself for examination. ' If'he passes for n : lieutenant at present ho .receives the substantive rank of lieutenant in. the Reserve of' Officers. If, however, ho passes for captain, or anv liigher' rank, the corresponding substantive, rank is not. allowed by the-Defence Department. This has given rise to great discontent amongst a certain section of junior .cadet enthusiasts, and it is to this that -the-General , refers when ho says that certain officers of junior cadets desired military status. Personally, I think this difficulty can bo easily-over-come by throwing open as freely us posfiible commissions to schoolmasters in the Territorials and Senior Cadets. Thev could thus get the military status they are k> k««n on. Than schoolmasters, I do not believe better material exists for ofheering a citizen armv. They are intelligent, .used to handling boys and youths, and accustomed to discipline.

Boy Scout Training. The General makes certain siigßoslions tor junior cadet training,, viz,. •For boys uiickr l<l years ho would make tho training: physical drill, ivith very little .military trnmiftif, mid include certain portions of tho 1.-oy spoilt traiiiing in .the syllhbus. "With these proposals up to a certain point I am in hearfv accord, and I prnctibMly. make tho same suggestion? 111 my Parliamentary report of _.this year, but l..\yish to make, the point of '.demilitarisation', very clear. I consider srjuhtl and coinnany drill -should Ix> retained, at .schools, anil be done in uniform, too. "There are 20,000 junior cadets iu uniform iu-Xen- Zealand. -The Department ha■> j.£27,000 invited in eiinipment, nnd this equipment .is of.no u-e to any Javo Junior radr-:.-. I recnmiiieiid Hint battalion drills should ho iihollslii'd, but that the battalion organisation be retained. The present'toy gun.' wei;;iiing n I'eiv- ounces aiKJ costing Hs., referred to by the General frequently a* a 'rifio,' Slid which is only used for,'.leill purpose?! misht bfc dropped. K alfo officers' s*orcls. Miniature rongei should b< , . rftSineti, 'fii a boy cannot be tanstt too muck about km to handle.

bro-arms and avoid accidents, apart altogether from the desirability of teaching tho principles of correct shooting

. "We Lead the World!" "The General sn.v.-i flint in Australia the junior cadets me not allowed to wear a uniform, and they were not given ri/les. Tin's is right in a measure, but bcloro compulsory military drill came in, .Australian junior cadets, I understand, did -wear uniforms, and they paid 12-J. Gil. each privately for these.' Owing to the enormous expenso junior cadets at present aro'not equipped, but no doubt they will bo later on. I personally do not see why, because Australia lags behind, we should mark time in New Zealand. New Zealand leads ths way in a good many things and in my humble opinion we lead the world with regard to this cadet system at schools, and other countries would do well to imitate us. ''Lord Roberts, .writing to me personally not long ago, referring to the junior cadet system at schools, said: 'I wish wo had something of tho sort hero in England.' "The junior cadet control, General Godley says, might well Temain under the Education Department. With this view I am in entire accord. It would be a fatal mistake to place us under the Dofence Department. The point has beeu fought out for years by Major M'Donald, and it is certainly upheld by teachers from one end of New Zealand to the other. To place us under the Defence Department would be to' introduce 'dual control.'

A Glimpse of the Department. "Having dealt .with General Godley's criticisms allow me briefly to say how tho. junior cadet system is carried out ut present.and on what lines I suggest itrshoulil be carried out in the future. ■ ' (a) For'the personnel of tho junior cadet staff I would refer you ■to the schedule of tho Parliamentary report for 1912 (attached), with the exception of Major ITDonald (commandant), who is now struck I off our strength the personnel remains the same. "(b) The nine instructors referred to are nil picked men, five being New Zealand Artillery men and four N.C.O.'s from British regiments. All are young nctivo men who have specialised- in physical training both before and after joining the Department. "(c) These instructors are stationed at the four largest centres and visit schools within a ten-mile radius. They further organise and conduct weekly classes for teachers at other centres; also, whenever possible, volunteer camps of. instruction are hold in vacation times to get at the back-blocks teacher who could not otherwise be touched. These camps are for teachers and no junior cadet is ever taken into camp now. "(d) I personally inspect as many schools as) I can during the year, see 'the cadets at work, and also since I realise tho vast importance of physical work and deep-breathing, try and turn out every boy and girl in the school, and see the teachers and pupils give a practical deriionstration. ' (e).,.My office wort, I', regret to. say, keeps me in'-.Wellington far .more' than*l could'wish,, but;' nevertheless, I. manage to coyer a. good- deal of New Zealand in .the course of the year. '.'.'.'

. ' Proposals for Training,. "The now system of physical training which-I - would like to see introduced in the public schools of .New Zealand should bo universal. It should embrace every boy and every girl, and be systematically taught and results recorded in conjunction with the medical inspection at schools already authorised. , . .'.. ."'There should be, a-■ physical ' director .and.a central organisacipu :tu -control, and. I respectfully suggest that-the present Junior Cadet system ..'affords* at orice a good medium for economically and effect tively carrying -out this movement. ■, "\Ve have Junior Cadets at 12G0 schools, 'and 1200 officers. Wα can make use of these officers, who do not receive emoluments for their work as is done at present. Our headquarters staff aro all trained in the class of work that would bo asked of them, and the cost to the country is comparatively small, viz., IIiO.OOO sc l lo 3i children, approximately, could be dealt with for JU6OOO, or even .t'aOOu, , per'annum. '.:' ' j ;:':.. . "1 consider that: (a)" local experts should bo subsidised; (b) the Junior Cadet instructors should be put through a thorough course under an expert; (c) ono or two of our present instructors should be sent to Sweden for special training; (d) teachers' classes should be formed at normal colleges, men under a male expert, females under a female expert; (e) teachers' classes should bo conducted at as many centres as possible; (f) camps should be held for male teachers in term holidays whenever possible; (g) lectures and demonstrations should be systematically given at schools; (h) Tcsults of training and of each individual child should be carefully recorded once a year.

Captain Stevens as Physical Director. "It may be urged that. I am'not sufficiently expert to be a physical director. I do not seo that this follows. A man in a largo way us a carpenter, need not necessarily l;o able to put in a windowsasli as well as his foreman, and it does not necessarily follow that a general can shoot as well as a private. I have all my life boon a keen athlete, and since being with junior cadets liave given the subject of' physical training special attention, and have- .made a study of it, and I am quite ready to inaugurate a satisfactory • system in New Zealand if given adequate support. I know local conditions, and. that is half the battle. Import a Swedish expert, and it would take him as lon;,' as it has taken me to acquire that special knowledge. I. am strongly in favour of sending two New Zealaml instructors to Europe for training, or, failing this, subsidising the ser-' vices, of local experts who have came to New- Zealand with credentials from recognised schools in physical training in England, Sweden, Switzerland, and elsewhere. ' "In conclusion, I consider our present 'Regulations for Junior Cadets' require entire revision nml modification. They were compiled before the compulsory military traininsr came in, and suited the times. Now, "Teinpnra mutantivet nos in eis muntaniur"— the territorial and senior cadet is with us, and the junior cadet syllabus of training must, be made to co-ordinate with the general scheme This, I maintain, can. bo done without total demilitarisation, or any very drastic alferaton of our present system* and organisation, or without throwing .£27,000 worth of equipment on the scrap jie<ip. "I have lately had a nmss of correspondence from teachers, all over the country deploring the 'proposed 'demilitarisation of junior cadets,' if only on the grounds of discipline, and I feel sure from the bottom of my heart that it would l>e a grievous mistake to do away with junior cadets. The general opinion is that siidh a measure would bo a. retrograde one. and set the schools back 15 years in the matter of discipline. I ain personally prepared t.6 resign my military rank if I may seo the movement through which I.have foreshadowed, and I most respectfully leave it to you to make the strongest possible recommendations yon can on the lines I have' sketched out."

BAD TEETH IN SCHOOLS. AN URGENT PROBLEM. Before tho Education , Commission yesterdny, .1 deputation from the New Zealand _-Bontal Conference, at present sitting in Wellington, gave- some interesting evidence with respect to the condition of the testh of New Zealand school child<l'cn. Tho deputation consisted of Mr. Kishworth (president of the. conference) Dr. I'iclcwill (Professor of Dentiil -SurKfiv at. the Dental Hospital in Dunedin), and Mr. R. Hursthoiise, a member of the Executive Committee of the Deiitnl Associntiora.

A School Inspection: Its Results. During the course of his. evidence, Mr. RiSlhvorth said Hint ft recent inspection of two of the Auckland schools-disclosed the fact that US per cent, of the children !ftul one or more-, decayed teeth-HJOb children were- examined. Only 1 per cent, cf these l-ogulnrly cleaned their tt-et h or vi.VitKl a dentist. In funny ca.se.s the children irero so debilitated physically from various conscquonces attendant npoii a bad condition of the teslh that their coiKtjhitioii.s had undergone a .permanent deterioration. . This condition of the teel.h of the younger generation was a mitionaJ' evil, and uritently called for remedial measure?. In any systematic cainphisM, which mi'sht be inaueuriifccl. the co-operation of tho schoolmaster was rssentiol. At . pre-mt the. dental pvofessnn received nu hc!,p from the tcachcr=. TV the chairman (Mr. M. Cohen); H« .'vrould be surprised if the proportion of

decayed teeth throughout New Zealand was not well over !)0 per cent. Speaking generally, the .condition of the boys' teeth was better than that cf the girls. The condition which was disckseif by Din examination of (lie (ho Auckland schools could be taken as representative of tiie Dominion. •

"Sound Teeth, Sound Mind." Dr. Piokerill, prefacing; his evidence with the remark that the old Latin saying: "Mens sano in cnrp.cre y;mo" might very well be reduced In "dons sana, meiis saua"—sotuul teeth, sound mind. Investigations of dental troubvx in relation to education in the older countries indicated that the children with healthy mouths usually surpassed the rest of their less fortunate fellows in school work. Where prompt remedial measures word taken in eases of "denial caries," it was found that the eftieif-iu'y of the children increased from GO to "0 per cent. "When I came here some five years ago," said the professor, "I found* the conditions of/teeth in this country simply appalling in the universality of decay. The extent of dental disease in this Houutry, especially among children.-, ,i? absolutely astounding. I do not think I have seen a. single child vin this country with a perfectly healthy mouth of teeth. The , alarming prevalence of this condition of carious teeth among children constitutes a very serious loss to the efficiency of the country as a whole. It has been estimated at a .quarter of a million a year, but- I should put it much higher. It is entirely due to. ignorance on tho part of children and their parents as to tho proper treatment of teeth. Dental diseases, like other.diseases, may' bo eliminated by physiological means aloue. If each child were given knowledge as to how tho diseaso is brought about, and so to , the means of securing immunity, the condition 'jf affairs—9B per cent, bad teeth to 2 of good—might very well be reversed. But the only way we can reach tho whole of ths • population is through the "schools. ■ Scholars should bo taught dental hygiene, and the-very'important matter is not getting the attention it deserves. "What I would propose as a practical remedy is this:- • ■

How to Stem the Tide, "What I would propose is, first, that there should be lectures given in all training colleges to all student teachers on dental hygiene, and the subject should lie made compulsory for the teacher's certificate," said the speaker. "They should be given a full knowledge of the. causes of the disease and the physiological means of combatting them. This knowledge they should impart in a suitable form to their pupils. "Secondly, teachers already in charge of schools should receive roiiio tmch instruction at the present time, eo that remedial measures may bo initiated without delay. I think the question is largely one of diet, and by diet tho disease may bo very largely eiiminatod.v It should therefore receive the special attention of tho girls taking cookery lessons in our technical and other schools. 'In this connection the Dental Association is preparing/a model lecture, which will, be right up to date, in containing all the , most recent findings-and authentic research work into the subject., It will be illustrated by lantern slides and generally designed for ths purpose of use in the primary schools."

Sloppy Foods. Replying to questions, Dr. Pickerill said thnt ho attributed tho causes of "dental caries" largely to. errors of diet common in Neu- Zealand—tho over use of staichy, sloppy .foods, and the too sparing use of vegetables and fruit.. Ho had been simply astounded at' the scanty use. of vegetables which, he had noted, w«s general in' New Zealand. There were, o( course, /other reasons, but -errors in diet wtiro certainly - the 'chief factor in tho lamentable condition which' was general in tho teeth of New Zealand people. The Australasian people were the. greatest irieat eaters in the world, and thoy had by far the worst teeth. Tho prevalence of dental caries—decay of the teeth—showed a. marked decrease in 'communities where people ate littlo meat and plenty of vegetables. This was notably evidenced amo.ig some of the Asiatic peoples.

Remedial Measures. With regard to remedial measures- in New Zealand, ho felt that Ilia Dcntul Association would co-operate in overy possible way with the-school teachers, it, however, dental surgeons gave lertirrts at tho training colleges or in the schools, it was only fair that they should receive fees. i . "Certainly," said seveTal members. "There is no need to labour that point," said the chairman. Continuing, Dr. Pickerill suggested o>at the medical inspectors of mjlicols recantlv appointed might assist by securing sfcitistiKS. of the prevalence of dental disease when-on their rounds of inspection. .Air. Hursthouse said that a concomitant evil was bad ventilation, and this taken ■in. conjunction with a bad state of the teeth, made the conditions of tho school children infinitely worse. It was import-ant'-that the treatment of dental caries should bo commenced with before tho teeth reached that degree of sensitiveness through decay, which interfered with pro-per-mastication. Once the teeth were pu* n\ proper order, iho children should >e taught to keep them clean. One very simple preservative was the frequent viiwHig of the mouth with fresh water.