The Dominion. THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 1916. EDUCATION IN THE CRUCIBLE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2864, 31 August 1916, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 1916. EDUCATION IN THE CRUCIBLE

The decision of the British Government' to set up two committees to make a thorough investigation of the British education system is the outcome of strong, representations which havo been made regarding the shortcomings' of existing methods and the urgent need for far-reaching reforms. The conviction that thero is something radically wrong with tho existing system has been spreading for some time past, and tho demand for changes of a fundamental character has lately becomc so pronounced and so insistent that the Government lias been compelled to take action. Thero seems to be a general agreement among experts that the kind of training which British boys and girls are now receiving in the national schools is not by any means an adequate preparation tor tho -part they will have to play in the life of- tho nation; but this unanimity disappears as soon as educationists pass from destructive criticism to the task of reconstruction. A bewildering variety of remedies has been proposed with the utmost confidence. Some reformers teH lis that:more science is the great desideratum; others are equally certain that the ono thing needful is technical instruction; others again advocate vocational teaching on an elaborate scalc. Still another set of reformqrs emphatically declare that the main dofect of the present system is its ineffectiveness from the character-building point of view. 'Some contend that too much is already being attempted, while others think that the Existing scheme is not comprehensive enough. At the last meeting of the British Association, the school system camc in for severe criticism. Ono speaker 'commented on tho futility of much that is being taught. In his opinion the new soheme of education should be framed very largely on the lines of the boy scout movement. This would bring tho schools in closer touch with actual life, and develop the minds of tho children in a free and natuVal manner. National education in New Zealand has followed closely upon English lines, and i? open to much the same criticism as that which has caused the British Government to have a thorough inquiry made. It is understood that when the war is oyer educational reconstruction will be ouc of tho first tasks which will have to be taken in hand.

The need for education reform is just as urgent in New Zealand as in Britain. The present Minister of Education _ has promised to make some drastic changes, and it may bo hoped that instead of patching and tinkering the system will be considered as a whole, so that the different brandies' of education may be made to fit into each other. But we ought to know exactly what wo arc aiming at. The British, inquiry is to be comprehensive. It aims at obtaining a fair balance between the essentials of a liberal education and the claims of science, trade, and industry. We havo heard a great deal at times about German educational aims and mothods, and so far as the application of science to industry is concerned ' Germany can point to material successes. ' There are people who in the past have grown enthusiastic respecting the wonders Germany had achieved by training her people to be scientific in theory, thought, and practice. She_certainly has succeeclod in- stealing Bri-

tain's scientific discoveries, and has used them to build up her commorce and to perfect her war machine; but in her effort to gain the whole world she is in serious danger of losing her own soul. Germany's moral degradation should remind us that it is possible to put too high a value upon industrial efficiency. In a recent speech in the House of Lords, the Earl of Cromer deprecated tho tendency to place education on an | exclusively utilitarian basis. He declared that the moral collapse of Germany was one of tho most extraordinary and tragic things in history. Side by side with great advances in national prosperity and scientific knowledge and attainments, there has been a vast deterioration in the German character. One of the causes of this deterioration, in the opinion of Lord Ceoiieu, is to be found in the fact that the atmosphere created bv humanistic studios and literature nas ceased to have any real influence in moulding the public mind. The whole national mind of Germany' seems to havo been materialised, and that is just what Lord Oeomer fears may happen in Britain if too little attention is I paid to the classical and humanistic sido of education. It is undoubtedly necessary ' that science—theoretical and practical—should be taught in a moro thorough and systematic manner; but it should never bo forthat men and women are something more than industrial machines. An ideal system of education should ensuro a well-balanced development of all the faculties — physical, mental, moral, and spiritual. CommentingonLoßD Cromer's impressive and timely warning, the London Daily Telegraj)h remarks that those who belittle tho humanities and preach to us the sole saving power of science would abate the Prussian-arrogance of their tone if they remombercd the other sido of the medal.