Educational Reform.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 20 August 1918, Page 4

Educational Reform.

A small but appreciative audience of 25 or :j() persons listened , to the address of Mr E. L. Combs at the Century Hall last week. j Mr Combs divided his subject i into two phases : what our schools i and teachers ought to he, and what they are. If law, medicine < and dentistry are learned professions, he said, Education should he "the" learned profession. To teach the rising generation to live in the world and make it a* better place, there must be men of outstanding ability who know the world. To qualify for tire profession a diploma should be necessary. This should embody only those subjects which are germane to the work required of the teacher. As things are, the social position anti salary offered to a teacher will not attract men who are qualified to be efficient coal-heavers, shop-assistants, or Government clerks. Almost any teacher will tell you that, helms brothers of equal or less ability occupying much better paid positions outside the service. Parents were too wise now to put their promising children to this profession. The D certificate required by the Department would be a. fair qualification if it were treated in a,* liberal spirit . As it was, ; the reports of the examiners formed a continuous record of poor and slipshod work on the part of candidates. About a quarter of the teae-hers in New Zealand had no certificate of any kind and only ; Jt)o out of about 5000 had University degrees. These last were fairly hard to get, but were antiquated in nature and not necessarily a guarantee of teaching abilitv.

Passing to the question of the school building, he said that medical testimony was the best authority. Dr Lyster had laid down j the rule that the child should have a minimum of 21)0- cubic feet of air and that this should bo completely _ changed by ventilation eight times in an hour. This entailed a floor space of 20 square feet per child (for the height over 10 feet did not affect the question) and efficient ventilation. The "War Regulations had reduced the minimum floor space from 12 to 10 souarp feet, and in very few New Zealand schools was there any attempt at artificial ventilation. Factories were obliged to provide 20 square feet. It was the younger and more helpless and trusting children who usually suffered most from the overcrowding and consequent breathing of carbon dioxide and germ-laden air. These infants, being young, animals, are very adaptable and readily conform to their environment.' This is found among the children of the worst "slums. They arc quite happy and contented intlheir noisome surroundings, but at what cost to their mental and s;uo.iud oqj, ,-se.iniuu [iMrsA'i|d of the Dominion should insist that their children get at least a sufficient supply of fresh air. A good teacher can efficiently educate a maximum of 30 children (some authorities put it at 20). If ho lias 50 or GO lie can only drill them. Numbers above this make the drilling - less effective. In all our large schools there was only drill going on. Women did not make efficient drill sergeants. The charm of a womanly woman was the best influence that could be brought to bear on the child. Her voice should bo "ever soft, gentle and low." Did we get this in the schools? The dismal appearance and filthy interiors of the school buildings were both subjects of scathing comment. To adults, said Mr Co'inbs, mental exertion was an artificial and difficult thing; how much more was it so to the child, 'who was much nearer to the animal in his habits aud instincts. Should we then try to get mental work from the child when dulled by breathing bad air and depressed bv sordid and slum like surround-

ings ? The speaker roundly condemned the Minister of Education because he professed to see all the evils and yet confessed himself impotbnt to remedy tlif'nv. A competent man in his place would either fl'id .means to introduce necessary reforms or would refuse to remain in that humiliating: position. The speaker appealed to the parents In hand tiionvso-lves together and see that their children ,£*ot an education corresponding to the needs and to the prosperous condition of this country. The lecture concluded amid hearty applause and the following resolution was unanimously carried: "This meeting' of citizens of Levin, having heard froim tonight's and other speakers, the scandalous conditions obtaining in our schools conditions prejudicial alike to the vital interests of the country and the physical and mental well-being of its children--- calls upon the Government forthwith, as a matter of urgent importance to institute remedial measures of a comprehensive character." Speaking to the motion, Mr G. M. Henderson said that three days' close contact with Mr Combs had convinced him that the latter was capable of big tinners. He was the apostle of a. movement that would eventually be more important than politics. Those present would one day be jyhid to think that they had witnessed its incention. The l?<?v. J. H. Ilaslam, who acted as chairman, commended th" l able and altruistic manner in which Mr Combs had handled his subject. He deprecated the narrow and cynical spirit of those who regarded the present movement for reform as a attempt of the teachers to g'et higher salaries. Xo one who had heard this nddresss could think so. In criticism of one passage in_ the lecture lie remarked that University honours were- not always a