CO-ORDINATION

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 59, 4 December 1918, Page 3

CO-ORDINATION

<j AN EDUCATIONAL NEED CENTRALISED CONTROL FORESHADOWED

Increased centralisation in Hie control of education is foreshadowed ill the aiiIM\\ vcpovt oi the Minister of Education (Hon. J. A. Hiuiiin), presented lo I'avliament yesterday. "Ojhj of ilie greatest difficulties iu the way of making the most effective use of ouv educational, resources is I lie luck of full co-ordinn-tion, between kindergarten, primary,- secondary, teclmiciil, ami university education," says lliu report. "Various' controlling bodies are engaged in tiie administration of each of tlicic branches, but only in an indirect ami often inadequate way is it possible for file Education Department to act as a connecting link between them. Even within Hie separate spheres just mentioned there is considerable loss of efficiency through divergence of aim and method i'.s well as through overlapping of powers .and responsibilities. On the other hand, many mutters are left to local initiative, which cannot adequately be dealt with except in a comprehensive national manner. Tims there is not only overlapping and waste of effort, font thwe are many gaps which need to be filled. The lrhole process of administering the educational system under'present conditions is most tedious and. defective, and lends at times to a considerable amount of negotiation and dissatisfaction even when all'concerned are endeavouring io make the best of the conditions permitted under the, system. , . . "In the near, future the principle of co-ordination will need to be applied further to such matters as the training ot teachers for all grades of schools, the effective distribution of the teaching power of the Dominion, unification of effort in secondary education, end comprehensive, effective, and cconomial method in dealing with school accommodation. In these matters it is impossible for,the separate agencies at present concerned to deal with the whole situation, and Irom a national point of view we cannot afford to let any ono part of the Dominion, or any one phase of education, lag behind another. . "The much-discussed question ot providing adequately for school accommodation and equipment illustrates the situation above referred to. "Nearly nil the buildings concerning which so much criticism is now being made were planned and erected according to the varying views on school architecture obtaining in thirteen separate districts, without any reference to any really competent authority, and without any possibility of supervision or control" by the Department. Owing to serious radical defects in construction and situation in the case of many schools it would be less costly to rebuild on new suites than to attempt to reinodol the existing buildings. The function ot the Department was simply to apportion the building grant among the various boards. In no .ether country have the local authorities such extensive spending power, unless they are at the same time responsible for raising the moneys they expend. Now, when the situation has become acute, the Department is called upon to remedy all the- defects thus created, but it is still asked merely to grant move money to the same local agencies without any security that conditions will bo improved in the future. It seems imperative, if the matter ot school accommodation is going to be dealt' with in any comprehensive and effective manner and financial administration is to.be placed on a businesslike footing, Ithat some definite policy regarding buildings will have to be framed and made applicable generally In (he meantime a substantial increa.se in the Public Works Estimates has 'been applied for for primary, secondary, and technical schools. Having, regard therefore "to the conditions existing in the Dominion, it seems desirable that steps should lie taken to secure unity of control in the management of the various types of educational institutions in order to bring about adjustments, economy, and efficiency in the various spheres ot education represented by primary, secondary, and technical schools. The question of control is now under consideration by the General Council of Education, and when its report is received the whole question as to what further steps should be taken in New Zealand to secure a closer correlation of the various branches of edncation with 'actual needs and con-, ditions will receive full consideration.