LESS LATIN IN SCHOOLS.

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 31, 20 February 1937, Page 4

LESS LATIN IN SCHOOLS.

Owing tbe networ'k of examinations througb wbicb an Englisb cbild advances in bis progress from axi uneducated infant to tbe edueated man, alterations in curriculum bave to be initiated or approved by tbe bigber spberes before tbey can be adopted by tbe lower, says tbe Manchester Guardian. If tbe alterations now suggested by tbe Association of Preparatory Scbools were to come into force, tbey would mean tbat teaching in public sehools and universities would bave to fall into line* Criticism by preparatory scbool headmasters has taken tbe familiar line — less Latin, more handicrafts, less empbasis on pure knowledge and more on general knowledge. But even if Latin were (wbicb by nOw it iS not) tbe foundatiOn of Englisb education, it would be wrong to talk as if its value was purely decorative. It may be rigbt to concentrate most attention on Englisb and let history and geography revolve i'ound tbis maiil tbeme, but certainly some knowledge of Latin is of eonsiderable advantage for understanding tbe Englisb language or tbe history of Europe.