EDUCATION OF MAORI CHILDREN.

Evening Star, Issue 3535, 22 June 1874, Page 3

EDUCATION OF MAORI CHILDREN.

Sir James Fergusson presided at the annual distribution of prizes to the scholars of the Auckland Grammar School on the Ist inst., and in the course of a speech which be made pu that occasion, he said “ With regard to the object of the institution I notice that in its fundamental provisions it is intended to be available to the youths of all races, notonly to us Europeans but to the Natives of this country. Now, should I ask how far it has fulfilled the latter portion of its purpose, I venture to think it has fallen short of what its , promoters intgndpd. In visiting thevarious pq,rts of the country during the first year of my administration, I have been struck with the little care that is being taken to fib the sons of chiefs ■ o the position that ought to be theirs. We see the Natives, unfortunately, indulging in bad habits, and how can we expect it to be otherwise if they are indifferent to their education in youth ? What could we hope of our own children those of the better classes—--were they allowed to grow up only. in the village schools, without restraint or discipline, and without being fitted in any way to occupy the posts of eminence and .responsibility to which we hope they-wfll aspire ; and can we expect so much the children of those who ape thpmsglyes uneducated, and many cases have yielded to influences which become fatal to their races? I think we ought to look diligently for the best means by which the sons of Maori chiefs may set a worthy example to their people, and take part in the management of the country. It seems to me they ought to have the best education the country can afford,. But to turn the best born Maori boys into a school like this would, perhaps, bo injurious to the school and to themselves. It seems to me that in Auckland there ought to be a boarding house, where they could be managed in a manner best suited to their life and-temperaments, and be gradually brought up to da better than- their fathers, and taught to set an example to ■fchejr people, and lead them to higher and: better things.” '