PHYSICAL EDUCATION.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1977, 6 February 1914, Page 9

PHYSICAL EDUCATION.

THE GROWING DEMAND. Reports received by t1?o Hon. James Allen (Minister of Education) aro uniformly to tho effect tha^.the hew system of physical, education in tho State Schools is everywhere being successfully established. Convincing evidence of its popularity ij .stippjicd iiy tho demands c' a ii ar ? koing made upon the services of'the instructors retained by tho Department to impart tho necessary traiii"jg to teachers. For instance, an application has just been recoived from the Otago Education Board which desires to put a body of five or six hundred teachers m tho hands of tho instructors as soon as possible. Mr. Allen informed a reporter yesterday that ' thero was work offering for many more instructors than were available. 'Whether moro infractors could be provided lib was not 'iii a position to say. It was a matter of money. It will bo a long time before •tho demands made upon tho instructional staff fall away to aiiy great oxtent. Apart.from .the heavy, initial task of instructing teachers throughout , tho Dominion, the instructors will be required to. inspect'tho schools at regular intervals in order to ensure tho physical educatioii of tlio children, being carried out on proper lines. • Another,permanent task imposed upon tlio staff instructors will bo that of. training young-teachers while they aro passing through the training colleges. It will be., .necessaiy to assemble the instructors themselves from time to time, and put' them thro, ugh refresher courses .in order to keep, them up.to date! .Viewed as a whole, tho position undoubtedly ' pre-' sents many problems,, but oil .the other hand there is abundant evidence of the utility and popularity of the hew system.