TREND OF EDUCATION

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 49, 26 August 1933, Page 13

TREND OF EDUCATION

AMONG PACIFIC PEOPLES

PART PLAYED BY PRESS

BANFF, August 24. Educationists at a round-table meeting of the Institute of Pacific Relations Conference on Thursday discussed the modern trends of education in all their forms in. the various Pacific countries. They devoted part of the discusion to proposals to be laid before the council as a recommendation for the next programme in 1935. Among the chief topics; chosen for discussion were national education systems and trends; the dangers and policies of cultural contacts, and mutual understanding among the Pacific peoples. The opinion that newspapers constituted the most powerful force in building and directing public opinion was expressed at the conference, and kindly views of the policies of the leading newspapers, in Britain, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and the United States were offered. It was stated that foreign news, especially that from the United States, appearing in Japan and China was apt to be too highly seasoned, and therefore was not interpretative of the spirit of the people from which it came. Such news created false impressions where published, and sometimes led to embarrassing incidents of national and international significance. The dissemination of fair news throughout the world would lead to the formation of sound public opinion and good government, and friendly international understanding would follow. It was stated that war munitions industries and financial interests might be responsible for undesirable nationalistic propaganda.