The Evening Star THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1874

Evening Star, Issue 3508, 21 May 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1874

Certain wise or unwise persons would have us believe, that the one thing needed in Otago to perfect our educational system is that secondary education in this Province should be left to chance, or, as it is more plausibly put, to private competition. According to these persons, primary education—the education of the masses—should be provided for by the State. The University, too, should be helped to the utmost; but for that large and important class who want something more than a mere common school training, and are yet unable to go through a complete University course, nothing whatever is to be done. This is inconsistent in the extreme. Why should it be thought necessary to have a hiatus or gap in the system—to provide for the upper and lower class education, and to Jeave the middle class to itself ? The Victorians are now in exactly the position that these educationists wish the people ot Otago to be placed in. They have first-class common schools and a University of very great excellence, but the middle class education is left entirely to proprietary and denominational schools. According to Mr Fish and otliers who hold the same opinion as he does, the people of Victoria ought to consider themselves very highly blessed. But it is not so. On the contrary, we find the Minister of Education telling the people of Victoria that the attention of the Government's now being turned to the great necessity which exists for secondary State Schools, “ to bridge over the chasm between the Common Schools and the University.” It would appear, then, that the Victorians, who have tried Mr Fish’s plan of leaving secondary education to take care of itself, are not by any means in love with it. We are firmly persuaded that if the Council were to abolish, the High School they would be taking a retrograde step. There can be no manner of doubt that such a f step would have a tendency to throw the secular education of the young people of the Province into the hands of the denominations. The greater part of the support that Mr Fish receives on this question is accorded to him by those who are anxious to see the High School abolished, in order that the ground mav be cleared for the establishment of schools under the direct control and management of the clergy of one or two of the religious denominations, ft is to be regretted that Mr Fish should have allowed himself, unwittingly of course, to be thus made use of. He would be acting more wisely if he suffered the clergy of these denominations to burn their own fingers—-to pull chesnuts out of the fire for themselves. At all events it seems certain that the abolition of the High School would be the signal for the establishment of numerous denominational schools in Dunedin : the word “ proprietary ” is used in Mr Fish’s motion, but everybody knows what the nature of these schools would be. But while we would deprecate any such step as would tend to throw the secular education of the people into the hands of the denominations, we hope that the Council will turn their attention to the urgent necessity which exists for the adoption of such measures as may place the middle-class education of the Province on a thoroughly satisfactory footing. It must be admitted by all that things cannot go on as they are. No school can thrive while its very existence is so thoroughly precarious that the pupils attending it are earnestly engaged in discussing whether it is likely that the school will be abolished in two weeeks or in three. We are inclined to think very highly indeed of the management of the Boys’ High School, when we find that discipline is maintained, and the work in school goes on as usual, although such questions are being discussed in the playground. Under really favorable circumstances, such an institution might be expected to do first-class work. In moving his resolutions for the constitution of an Otago' Harbor Trust, the Provincial Solicitor said : It might be asked, why should a Harbor Board be appointed? Why should not the Executive carry out the work as heretofore. To carry out a scheme of this kind with anything like perfection and economy, there should be certain men appointed with this object, and this object .alone, in view. There was great danger, when the thing was left to an Executive, subject to change, and coming annually before the Council for votes, thatjthe Province would go on spending Id,ooo or 15,000 a-year without any result to show for it. We think that the arguments here adduced in favor of the constitution of a Harbor Trust may be equally made to show, mutatis mutandis, that the secondary education of the Province should be placed under the control of some sort of non-political Board; that it should be managed by a body of men appointed “ with this object and with this object alone.” If this were done, there can be little doubt that the most satisfactory results would follow. Some sort of endowment would, of course, be necessary, but it would by no means follow that any particular school should be endowed. The best plan would probably be to endow a “ Secondary Education Trust” with a certain amount of land, as was done in the case of the University, and'to constitute the Trust in such a way that there might be no danger of its degenerating into a

mere close corporation, and then leave the Trust to do its work. By some such means as these the Council might be relieved of its yearly High School “bore,” and the High School itself be placed on a proper footing. But it should be remembered that within a very few years High Schools will be required in various places throughout the Province. The Grammar Schools, in their present state, can only be looked upon as temporary expedients': it will soon be necessary for them to leave the lower education to other schools, and to confine themselves to the higher work. At present these schools are in the tadpole condition; their tails form their most important part: these tails will have to be dropped off before they will be able to do their work thoroughly well. It would be well, therefore, that the Council shou.d make provision for the secondary education of the Province as a whole, and not merely deal with the High School alone. We do hope that the Council will consider this matter to be one that is worthy of their calmest consideration, and that this session will not pass without something being done to bring it to a final settlement one way or the other.