PARENTS AND THE SCHOOLS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 96, 25 April 1911, Page 6

PARENTS AND THE SCHOOLS.

Another election night for school committees has passed, and Wellington can stall proudly claim to be ranked as one of th© principal strongholds of the national secular system of education. The opponents of this system were not. particularly prominent last evening, but their modesty on this occasion should not be regarded as any reliable evidence of diminution of zeal. They may have doubled back a little to make a better spring at a strategic opportunity. Some of the meetings were pleasingly well attended, bufc at others the householders were very meagrely represented. This is trebly to be regretted', from the viewpoints of teacher, pupil, and parent. Resolutions of householders' meetings are often quoted as arguments for or against reforms, bufc what value can such an argument be if it emanates from a handful of people after brief thought md a quick vote on important principles, on which the shaping of national character may depend. Some two years ago the Minister of Education expressed a hope that schoolrooms would serve occasionally a valuable social purposo in bringing parents together to comment) and excEange opinions on educational topics, but this ideal is still far from realisation. No doubt the Minister believed that nis proposal to make school buildings partly a charge on local rates instead' of wholly a charge on the general taxes would haye 1 the effect of stimulating the public to have a close..' interest in matters of school policy. The fact to-day is that the parents do not think sufficiently about the general purposes of school lifej however much. Shey may be interested m scholastic or athletic exploits of their own children. It was complained at Lower Hutt last night that parents lacked proper sympathy with experienced headmasters, wise men of long experience, who gave their best thought and energy to the children's welfare, and 1 we dare say that this complaint could come with equal force from many a district m New Zealand. It would be uritei'estang to have the Minister reviving his theories for a betterment of t'n© relationship.