The Dominion. THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 1913. PHYSICAL EDUCATION.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1780, 19 June 1913, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 1913. PHYSICAL EDUCATION.

The inauguration of a system of physical education in the public schools is a late addition to the educational activities of the Stato which has a great deal to commend it. Wisely administered, it will produce positive benefits of the utmost value, and, in addition, it should go a long way towards checking the evil of physical deterioration which is causing concern in various parts of the world. Definite and detailed information as to the physical condition' of the population is difficult to obtain, but it is tolerably evident that more or less grave physical defects are more common at the present day than is generally realised, and show no tendency to diminution. So far as New Zealand is concerned, the institution of physical education in the schools of the Dominion is based upon a common-sense recognition of the changing conditions of modern life. In its days of early settlement, New Zealand had no need, of any suph artificial promotion of physical efficiency, but a weaker generation physically, and one living in the mass a different life, has succeeded that of the pioneers, and it is very necessary that the men and women of tomorrow should be taught from their earliest years that systematic exercise and attention to the elementary rules of health are essential to their future well-being and efficiency in any walk of life. Thousands of people in New Zealand to-day live hampered lives because of indifferent health, which an early training on right lines would have enabled them j to avoid, and the institution of physical education muat be rewarded as

a sane attempt to cope with a i serious problem. One great merit of_ the proposal lies in its comprehensive nature, a feature in which it differs markedly from the system of Junior Cadet training, which has now been super- ' seded. Tho object aimed at is to provide for the physical education , of every child of school age in the Dominion. In the first place, the system will bo established in the State primary schools. This will involve the training of over 140,000 children. Later on the benefits of the system are to be extended to secondary and Native schools, and, with the present population of the Dominion, tho total number of children under training at any one time will be upwards of 150,000. Training under the Junior Cadet organisation extended to only about 20,000 boys at a given time. The benefits of physical education will extend universally to both boys and girls of school age in New Zealand. The Byllabus adopted is that which has been in force under the London Board of Education for tho past eight yearß, and has also been adopted, with beneficial results, in some of the Australian States. In its broad features, it embodies a gradually-developing system of exercises, together with simple instruction in personal hygiene and the rules of health. Considering the benefits in prospect, the annual outlay involved is trifling. The Hon. Jas. Allen estimates that it will not exceed £11,000 a year. Thiß is only a few thousand pounds , a year more than the cost of the Junior Cadet system, and seems a very moderate price to pay for an all-round improvement in the physical fitness of the future citizens of New' Zealand. Although tho scheme was only inaugurated towards the end of last year, the machinery necessary to carry it into operation has already been provided. A sub-Department has been created, with Me. T. RoydGarlick as Director, and a staff of ten instructors, male and female. The task lying immediately ahead of the Director and his staff is that of putting some five thousand teachers tnrough a preparatory course lasting for a fortnight. The task is one of somo magnitude, but it is hoped that it will be completed in about eighteen months from tho present time. Tho Director estimates that a thousand teachers will have undergone their training by the end of October next. Great importance is attached to the careful preparation of the teachers for their work as instructors in physical education. It is absolutely essential that they should be fully competent if the children are to derive any real benefit from the proposed courses of instruction. The truth of this will lie instantly recognised by all who have experienced the benefits following upon systematic exercise and attention to the rules of health, and the corresponding futility of spasmodic and unsystematic endeavours in the same direction. Some of the Education Boards of the Dominion have already entered into hearty co-operation with the Director of Physical Education in expediting ,tho training of teachers. In Hawke's Bay, where the first classes were assembled last week, advantage has been taken _ of tho term holidays, during which the schools are closed for a week. A number of the schools have been closed for an additional week, thus enabling 120 teachers to put in thoir fortnight's training. The term holidays can no doubt be similarly utilised in other education districts, but, as the number of instructors available is limited, this will_ not always suffice to meet the position. In the Auckland education district, for example, it has been decided to close down groups of schools in succession, during July and August. Four groups of teachers will thus be released for their fortnight's training, and in all some 640 teachers will bo trained_ during the two months. Education Boards in other parts of the Dominion should have no difficulty in deciding to follow the example set in Hawke's Bay and in Auckland. It is evident that the work of training the teachers must be carried out in a comprehensive way if it is to be of any real value, and, oven though it should be necessary in many parts of the Dominion to close the schools for a fortnight, the passing inconvenience thus caused will be a small price to pay for tho successful establishment _ of a system of physical education which will confer benefits upon all who come under its sway. The interruption of the school routine will, of course, occur only once, and is incidental to the establishment of the new system. In future years the teachers will be trained as instructors at the Training Colleges, or in country classes and camps organised from time to time without interrupting the normal school routine. The problem of the moment is to secure that an army of teachers shall be _ put through a training course with a minimum of delay, and the problem will be quickly solved if Education Boards throughout the Dominion display the same readiness to cooperate with tho Department as those which have already made, the necessary arrangements.