The Dominion THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1917. EDUCATION AND THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3183, 6 September 1917, Page 4

The Dominion THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1917. EDUCATION AND THE WAR

The annual report on State Education, which was presented to Parliament yesterday, contains plain evidence that the Hon. J. A. Hanan is administering his Department in tho spirit of a progressive reformer. At the same time, it discloses a condition of affairs which cannot be regarded as satisfactory in view of tho place that education takes aud must take in preparations to meet after-war conditions. Credit, it is true, must be given to tho Minister and the experts of his Department I for a measure of reform and improvement carried out in particularly difficult and hampering circumstances. Something- has been done to impart practical value to our education system by diverting a certain number of children- from secondary schools, where they would spend their time to little purpose, to technical colleges, and a step in the right direction has been taken also in making free technical instruction available to children who leavo the primary schools without gaining _ a proficiency certificate. Not a little activity has been displayed- in connection with 'the amendment of the primary syllabus, the grading of teachers, the extension of measures taken to safeguard and promote the physical welfare of children, and other matters,- and very necessary reforms are projected by the Minister in the system which at present applies to the maintenance and rebuilding of schools. But no one can read the report without realising that far.more drastic reforms than have been accomplished or arc in immediate prospect aro imperatively necessary, and that tho Minister of Education and his officers are reduced to nibbling- at problems which call for very much bolder treatment. Tho war, with its unlimited demands upon organising power and productive capacity, has very convincingly demonstrated the folly and futility of haphazard educational methods, but the idea seems to prevail with a largo proportion of the people of this country and not a few of our public men that the lessons of the war as they bear on education, and not least on ele- j mentary education, are not of local application. This is an attitude of mind which cannot be too rudely disturbed. We are approaching a period in which we shall have to carry burdens of debt and taxation which it is not yet possiblo to _ measure, and possibly face in addition new and more stringent conditions of commercial competition than wo were called upon to meet in the days before the war! Given an active spirit of enterprise which will enable us to make the most of our opportunities, in the development of our natural resources and in other ways,'there is nothing appalling in the outlook. But, with such" a future in prospect, wo certainly cannot afford to drift and take things for granted, and such an attitude is nowhere more unwise than in regard to education. AVo must, above all things, cultivate efficiency if we intend to play a worthy part in tho difficult times ahead, and our system of elementary education as it stands is far from being as well calculated as it might bo to cultivate and promote efficiency. This is ui no sense a reflection on the work recently done by the present Minister and his Department. They soDm on the whole- to be making very good use- of tho resources placed at their disposal, but for evidence that a problem of magnitude has .still to bu attacked in developing elementary education as a factor making for efficiency if. is not necessary to go outside the Minister's

report. For instance, Mr. Hanan mentions that of .about fifteen thousand pupils returned as having left public schools last year it is probably safe to assume that about half did not continue their education. Of this number of between seven and eight thousand children, about "5 ■per cent, reached the age of fourteen without having passed Standard VI, and hence left tho public schools without a certificate qualifying them for further free education. This is not a state of affairs which a country like New Zealand can afford to contemplate with 'equanimity at any time, much less with conditions in near prospect which promise to set a premium upon industrial and commercial efficiency and to correspondingly penalise deficiencies under this head. Tho utilitarian aspect is not by iny means the only one to bo taken into account, but in itself it is of commanding importance at the present time, because of its vital bearing on the promotion of national efficiency.

The Minister of Education very frankly recognises that the proposals under consideration which do not involve more than an extension of the present system of voluntary attendance at' technical classes are but a step towards the solution of the problem of post-primary education. In contending that post-prim-ary instruction to be effective must bo compulsory and must be givenin the daytime he is voicing the opinion which ' prevails in tho progressive countries of the Old World, and is rapidly coming to command univorsal acceptance as the foundation of practical policy. Britain in this matter is wisely, if somewhat belatedly, taking a lead from her chief enemy in tho present war. As Mr. George George, Director ofthe Auckland Technical College, points out in a recent magazine article, a system in vogue in most of tho German States whereby all boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 17 or 18 (that is after they have passed through the primary school*) had its place in tho educational activities which enabled Germany to make wonderful progress in her policy of "peaceful penetration" before the war. That Britain has recognised tho necessity of amending her educational system, and bringing it up to date is_ indicated in various ways, notably in the final report of the Departmental Committee on Juvenile Education, published a month or two ago. Tho Committee recommended amongst other things:

That it bo an obligation lipjm all young persons between 14 and 18 yenra of age to attend 6iich day continuation clashes as may be prescribed for thorn by the local education authorities, during a number of liours to be fixed by statute, which should not be less than eight hours a week for. forty ivocks in tho yoar.

It may be some time before this recommendation and others which accompany it arc carried fully into effect, but people in this country who are inclined to think that educational reforms which are plainly necessary may safely and wisely be deferred until after tho war will find no support for that attitude in the policy pursued in Great Britain. Whatever difficulties and obstacles exist here exist in a greater degree- in the Mother Country. Britain's financial resources arc concentrated on tho war to a greater extent than those of New Zealand, and her teaching and inspecting staffs, like our own, havo been heavily depleted by military demands. Yet, in spite of her greater difficulties, Britain is finding it possible not only to plan but to carry out educational developments and reforms. As an example it may he mentioned that Dr. Fisher (British Minister of Education) _ has asked Parliament for an additional grant of £3,500,000 for elementary education in England and Wales alone. Without depreciating the good work done by tho Minister of Education and his Department, it must be said that our own record in meeting the demand for educational _ reforms which the war hag emphasised does not compare well with that of the Mother Country. In resting content with the gradual amendment of a system of elementary education which allows half the children who leave our public schools year by year to drift into the ranks of those from whom tho benefits 'if education are withheld, we show ourselves amazingly lacking in forethought and common-sense.