The Dominion THURSDAY. MAY 13. 1920. THE CLAIMS OF EDUCATION

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 195, 13 May 1920, Page 4

The Dominion THURSDAY. MAY 13. 1920. THE CLAIMS OF EDUCATION

State expenditure on education in this country rose from a little more than a-million and a quarter Sjtcrling in 1913-14 to close on two millions in 1918-19 and amounted to well over two millions -in the financial year which recently came to an , end. Yet. it is 'evident that the Minister of Education must pro- ] cure a further considerable increase in the annual vote if he is even to . approach absolution of the prob- j lems that, as he_ has said, "are ] crowding upon him all at once. < Notwithstanding the substantial increase in expenditure during the war years, tho Minister is called \ upon to cope with a • cumulation of demands. There is i much to be done in meeting the , claims of teachers in regard to salaries, the restriction of classes, and other matters; and the replacement and extension of, school buildings, ; nowhere, called for more urgently ; than m Wellington city, will in itself make heavy inroads on whatever resources are available. Looking only at what may be described as the bare essentials of educational efficiency, the calls to be. met are enormous, but it would be the poorest kind of national economy to evarlo ov neglect them on that account. Apart from the retention in some cases of school buildings that ought to have been destroyed long ago and the • unsatisfied grievances of teachers, the need of making more liberal provision for education is exemplified in other _ ways. The standards of education in any coun- | try are the measure of its .progress in succeeding /years, and the records of the New Zealand Department of Education show that a considerable proportion of the children who attend the public schools receive only an incomplete primary education. The then Minister of Education stated in his report to Parliament last year that according to returns supplied by tho education boards the number of pupils over fourteen years of age who left school in 1917 without passing Standard VI was 5057 (2764 boys and 2203 girls), being more than half as many as .left school with a Standard Vl■ cer^1 "" cate. The Minister added that the figure's had decreased _ during the last two yeai's, but evidently there ■is still great room for improvement. The proportion of children who receive somo form of secondarv instruction is also much smaller than it ought to be. In the most general and fragmentary survev it is very plain that a policy or sound progress in education is going to cost this country an annual amount that it will not be easy to The serious financial problems entailed in reasonably 1 satisfying educational needs make it all the more nccessary that the present Minister should be solidly backed by public opinion'in his evidently progressive aims Mr. PARR has. shown himself to be in full sympathy not only with the decand for up-to-date ana healthy schools, but with the claims of the teaching profession. A promising example of his enterprise appears in the arrangements that are being made for the early erection of an infant school on portion of the Terrace Gaol site, and no doubt the representative deputation which is to interview him on Monday next ' will induce him to undertake a more extended programme of school replacement and .improvement in Wellington. The Minister is showing good judgment also in the attention he is giving to the of the grading of teachers, ihis undoubtedly is a question of extreme urgency, for the grading scheme as it stands is the cause ol widespread dissatisfaction through- . out a great part of the profession. It is evident that the ' scheme still falls considerably short : Of its intended purposc-the establishment of a fair basis for the promotion of teachers, not only in one district, but between all districts. In bringing together the inspectors of, • all the educational districts and re- . presentative teachers, the Minister . has taken a hopeful step towards evolving a Dominion grading ; scheme that will bo worthy of the : name, though the exclusion from | the conference of experienced mcrn- ; bej's of education boards is an i omission open to question. It will clearly be incumbent on Parliament ' during the forthcoming session to give extended consideration to the whole nuestion of making such provision for education as will satisfy legitimate demands. There _is no • doubt that the present- Minister is ready and eager to make enterpris- • ing use of all available resources and he ought to be given the fullest ■ possible support in his policy of ' dealing in their ordor with tho 1 most urgent problems of educational progress and reform.