PRACTICAL COOKING CERTIFICATES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 123, 18 February 1919, Page 2

PRACTICAL COOKING CERTIFICATES

(By "Vox.")

• A great dral has, been said and-writ-ten 'about domestic*" instruction for girls, principally about teaching , them practical cooking. A good deal of:the-speak-ing and writing has been done by educationists, some of it; by Ministers of Education. -But, after years of haphazard control wo arq just about- where, we were in the beginning; that' is, we still -have no regular and- .recognised •; examiners who can givo a teacher's certificate or diploma. Previously this could be obtained by Bitting for the City nnd Guilds., of London examination, which mount that for competitions from this side of the world a , written paper was the only test, and that a girl who, could write a good paper could get a iirst-class certificate (teacher's, mind you) although her practical work might- be indifferent, and .even .bad. Of course, such a'girl is not qualified to teach! . A.nd'.yet..pur.Education Department .provides . 'no other examination for teachers' certificates. Surely this most .-important branch of education' deserves better treatment-.!.: . In the first place what is' wanted is that, all teachers should be able, to pass o stiff practical .and theoretical examina-. tion in New Zealand, both in theory and practice,, to .show a thorough knowledge of food values and cooking" generally. Home, science and natural science arequite distinct from practical cooking. In theSß branches we have ..highly-qualified teachers, who can, and''do; take not only teachers' certificates,, bnt- degrees in New, Zealand. But all the homo science on eirth .does not make a girl .an exponent of practical cooking. . ■ Girls sitting for senior scholarships— in the housecraft section—have their examination,, both practical.'and, theoretical, set by a qualified teacher here, the papers are examined here, and the result duly announced.to the candidate. A better standard is really set for . the scholarship girls-than/is demanded for teachers, under the City and Guilds of London test. By-the-way, there was not even that last year; , there was nothing. ' One . hopes that this is the .breathing space before a new departure.' Our technical school .gives . a. splendid, practical training, arid a girl can .qualifythere for a "plain, cooking'.,certificate" which is'Teally worth more than that at present required from a teacher, partly because it is obtained in New Zealand, and is applicable to New Zealand conditions. What is really required is nothing, very, .elaborate or costly. It is simply that there: should. J)? (and. must bo, if we are to have efficiency). a departmental examination in' New Zealand by which girls can qualify for teachers certificates. Of course, the Education Department would have been well advised to have appointed a board. of women, consisting of qualified teachers and practical housekeepers to assist them, any programme of purely domestin work'would surely be better in the hands'of capable women , than in those of men whose knowledge (if they pos-. sess any)' must be theoretical ' only, There should be.one standard for the whole of New Zealand, and really, two qualified examiners-one for each island could do the work. To conclude, here.is a quotation which speaks for itself, it is from a southern high school magazine, and refers to.the epidemic period, when this school girls were helping in the G.H.S, kitchen: "It was said by one girl that fihe had learned far more in one week than in five yea.rs 'of .previous clrtss-instruction in cookery. And this was the general idea. Then our system is wrong!" One ngrces, and hopes that it will bo put right.