The Dominion. FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 1918. TRIFLING WITH EDUCATION

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 281, 16 August 1918, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 1918. TRIFLING WITH EDUCATION

The demand for a thorough reform of our national education system is becoming widespread and increasingly emphatic, and the Minister of- Education, and his Department are unable to produce a valid excuse for their continued inaction. They practically admit that the critics have presented a strong case; but little or nothing is done., The most obvious and urgent reforms are _ indefinitely The Minister is always sympathetic. Ho has painted some glowing word-pic-tures of what he intends to do, and for a time many people thought ho was going to be the big strong man 'who would sweep all obstacles aside and march boldly along the way of progress. If his deeds had been as many or as great as his words the present agitation for urgently needed improvements would not havo been necessary. The Minister now seems to have lost faith in his' powers of leadership. Instead of leading the refoi'm movement, he appeals to the teachers to push him along. The chairman of the Auckland Headmasters' Association recently stated that' the Minister realises that grave clanger threatens tho present free and secular education system through tho growth of denominational • schools, and says it •lies with the teachers to arouse publio opinion' and bring pressure to bear on Parliament in order that the danger may be averted. But tho only fair and rational way of successfully meeting the competition of private and _ denominational schools is by making tho national system" more perfect. We do not for a moment think that the Minister means to suggest that tho power of the State should be invoked for the'purpose of crushing out opposition. The people of New Zealand would not tolerate any such tyrannical procedure. The Minister's admission that the growth of denominational schools has becomc a grave danger is equivalent to a confession that the national schools are, under existing conditions, unable to hold their own against their denominational competitors.' This means that there must be something radically wrong with' the State system.

When. State education was first established in New Zealand, it became a kind of fetish.'. Criticism was regarded as almost sacrilegious. The system was free, secular, and compulsory. What more could any reasonable person want? People did not seem to realise that besides being free, sccular, and compulsory, our schools ought to be made progressively efficient. The pernicious idea got abroad that finality in education had been reached. But, fortunately, the voicc of criticism was not permanently silenced. The spell of the fetish was eventually broken, and people began to see that the New Zealand education system was not the best conceivable, nor oven tho best possible. Its defects wero pointed out, at first very gently and apologetically; but now tho demand for reform has become louder and more imperative. The system is assailed on all sides. The parents are dissatisfied, the business men are dissatisfied, the farmers aro dissatisfied, the teachcrs iare dissatisfied. The school buildings aro o\it of date, the playgrounds aro unsuitable, the classes are too large, tho syllabus is' defective, tho examination system is wrong, the salaries of the teachers are too low, the profession is unable to attract a sufficient number of <the required in? 0 men aiK ' women, ine Department has attempted to show that some progress has been made during _ recent years. But its apologia is weak and unconvincing. _ Our schools have fallen far behind the requirements of the science of education. Take, for instance, tho complaints that arc being made of under-staffing and overcrowding. At a confercnco of teachers recently held at Auckland the following examples were cited: 105 children taught by one young pu-pil-teaclicj - ; 130 pupils kept in a room '10ft. by 22ft.; V 0 pupils in a room built to accommodate 55; 100 in a room 26ft. by 24ft. It was also stated that at the Parncll School the shelter-shed accommodation was 500 short of the total number of pupils - j and that at Bercsford Street School the boys, numbering more than 350 I wero entirely without shelter-shed ac-' commodation. These arc staring facts which no Departmental sophistry can explain away, and things in' Wellington arc quite as bad. j The chairman of the Auckland i Headmasters' Association declares j that the teaching profession is at 1 present honeycombed with discon- j tent, and scrvico conditions are fast: becoming intolerable. He says the ; state of affairs has become so un- i satisfactory _ that many parents aro sending their children to denominational schools, where, through tho use of money, an environment can exist that few public schools can have. This severe indictment is supported by Mr. F. L. Combs, of Masterton, who asserted in an address given before the Wellington School Committees' Association that the worst conditions in our schools aro foisted on to tho infant classes, yet tho first two years at school are

more important than all tho rest of the school period put together. A child who makes a bad start is not likely to make a good finish. But it is a mistake to attribute the successful competition by denominational schools to financial advantages. They have to depend on fees and voluntary contributions. They certainly are not wallowing in riches, whereas the national schools have access to the pockets of the taxpayors. If the denominational schools can create the proper environment there is 110 reason why tho Education Department should not be ablo to do the same. But if the authorities cannot, or will not, keep abreast of the times, it is useless for them to whino about the success of more enterprising educationists. If they want to avert a "grave danger" to secular education, let them bestir themselves and grapple more energetically with the problems that confront them. Things arc going from bad to worse, while the Minister of Education and his Department look on hopeless and helpless. [_u the matter of State education New _ Zealand is lagging behind Britain. There is a depjorable lack of strong and wise leadership. There is no surcncss as to what is wanted, but there is a consensus of opinion that the present position is extremely unsatisfactory, and will soon be intolerable. It is high time the policy of drift and procrastination was abandoned. We have had rnovo than enough of talking, and trifling, and tinkering. Never beforo has the average man realised bo fully the value of education. Ho understands that education of the right kind means physical fitness, industrial efficiency, mental alertness, intelligent citizenship, and strong, moral character, and ho knows .that these are the things which will bo supremely important in tho new era which will open when the. war is over.,