ThE Dominion. FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 1918. EDUCATIONAL REFORM

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 86, 4 January 1918, Page 4

ThE Dominion. FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 1918. EDUCATIONAL REFORM

Discussing existing educational conditions in this country and the need for reform, the executive of tho New Zealand Educational Institute has in one particular laid itself open to a charge of inconsistency. It deplores as an undesirable break in tho development of the national system of edneatioii the establishment by some denominations of church schools. "For forty years," it observes, "our system _ of primary schools has been welding our, people into a united nation, in intellect, character, and public spirit at least the equal of any in the world. This wholesome growth is now to be impeded, and all the evils of sectarian differences are to be imported to sow strife and dissension among a united people. It is difficult to see any adequate reason for this movement. ..." These apprehensions are 011 the face of it somewhat far-fetched, and as to the last statement quoted facts have been adduced by the executive itself and in the proceedings of the Institute conference now sitting which seem to go a very long way towards justifying people possessed of the necessary means and enterprise in providing better educational facilities for their children than are-afford-ed by the State. Tho review of educational conditions, in tho course of which the executive condemns the establishment of church schools, also contains a demarid that certain steps should bo taken forthwith "as preliminaries to the comprehensive educational reform that national welfare demands." This demand and its elaboration by tho executive and in discussion at the Institute conference were reported in our news columns yesterday. The executive cited such facts as that the existing teaching staff -is inadequate, and that last year nearly one-third of its members were uncertificated, that in big schools the classes are very much larger than is consistent with efficiency, and so forth.

Discussing a remit which embodied a demand for improved educational facilities, individual members of the Institute painted a decidedly unflattering picture of tho State system of education as it is at present organised and equipped. Miss Myers, for instance, observed, amongst other things, that a great deal of money had to be spent upon remedying evils> which were the result of the conditions under which children were being educated, and asked: "Would not money be better spent upon prevention of tho evil 1" It would seem that teachers are_ in full accord with an opinion which undoubtedly obtains widely amongst tho general public, that the State schools leave at many points a great deal to be desired. This, of course, means first and foremost that there is a real case and urgent need for sweeping reforms. But it also, supplies a reasonable motive for' the action some groups have taken in establishing church schools. The contention of tho executive that as a result the community will suffer a two-fold division into sectarian camps and into social strata is not particularly convincing, and seems to do much less than justice to> our democratic tendencies. On the other hand, tho creation of a certain number of separate schools will afford scope for individual initiative and introduce elements of competition and emulation—factors, all of them, which are capable of serving as use-1

ful a purpose in education as in other fields of activity. It may bo suggested to the Institute that the establishment of church schools is more likely to assist and stimulate the national educational reforms it has at heart than to place impediments in tho way. In assisting lo focus attention on the need for progress and reform in the field of education, the Institute is of course performing a valuable public service. In the conditions created by the war and by way of rational preparation for conditions in prospect, it is more than ever necessary that whole-hearted efforts should be made to riiise our educational system to the highest possible standard of efficiency, and this country would lie in very much better case to confidently face the future if the reforms demanded by the Educational Institute had been carried into effect, j

Of all the detail questions under this head which have been raised at tho educational conferences now in session, the most important is, perhaps, that of the extension and development of technical instruction. Our existing activities nowhere fall more obviously short of what is necessary than in those branches of education which' make for industrial efficiency. Wc publish to-day an address on this subject by Mb. F. Neve, of the Auckland Technical College, which deserves to bo carefully read. It lays due emphasis both upon our existing deficiencies and upon what is necessary in order that we may make clue provision for the future. The prevailing neglect of technical education in this country is strikingly exemplified in the fact that in its capital city technical instruction is carried on in makeshift accommodation, scattered about in various places, and that the crying need for a suitable building has long gone unsatisfied. This state of affairs reflects both on l the Government and on the public, and cannot too soon be amended. The only serious obstacles to be surmounted are apathy and lack of foresight. Some people, it is true, have contended that there is a tendency to over-emphasise the claims of technical and vocational instruction as against those of a more liberal education. Me. Neve deals effectively with this contention in the address published to-day. It may be emphasised hero that the due extension of technical education would at once provide an essential foundation of national efficiency and confer educational benefits where they are at present entirely withheld. In his last annual renort the Minister of Education stated that of about 15,000 pupils returned as having left public schools during the preceding twelve months, over five thousand to secondary education at district high schools, secondary schools, and technical high schools, while over two thousand were admitted to technical classes. More than half the children leaving primary schools are thus receiving no after-education— at all events in State schools—and only a third are passing to secondary instruction in the daytime. It is clear from these figures that there is a wide and open field for an extension of technical education which may very well go hand in hand with a-pronounced improvement in existing standards of general education so far as a considerable section of the community is concerncd.