JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL.

Marlborough Express, Volume LX, Issue 231, 30 September 1926, Page 4

JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL.

THE OO'NDITIONS IN MARLBOROUGH. [To The Editor.] Sir,— -The visit of the Minister for Education to the Marlboi'ough ward has mad© members of the College Board of Governors a,nd of School Committees ponder as to the position in which they are now placed as regards the Junior High School. Many now are beginning to question the wisdom of the people in accepting the offer from Sir James Parr, then Minister for Education. They realise that they are receiving what is,, .at the present time to them;, "a pig in a poke." One member at Monday evening's meeting of committees even went the length of stating that the school is to be poorly staffed but it seems to me that he was speaking rather hastily and with no knowledge of the teachers in question. The fact, however, remains that Marlborough is receiving something wliieh can be of very little use when weighed against the upsetting factors necessarily consequent upon, its inception. The aim of Junior High Schools is to consolidat© under one roof the pupils of Standards 5 and 6, and i ndex 'every : child's abilities, so that, at the end of his primary course, he can be drafted into that occiipation to which he will have shown the most aptitude. Some will go straight into nianual labor, the remainder, who sliow aptitude and inclination, nn I 1 ni on /vrr rxzviH- i fi

cates, be entitled to either one of two things: Firstly, technical instruction. for those who wil] enter a trade; secondly, commercial or arts course at our ordiuary High Schools for those whose berft is for either commercial or professional vocations. In this wiay it is intended that. bV the close of a primary child's education, the staff of the Junior High he attends will be able to classify his aptitudes, and1 clraft him into that part of our educational system which will he of most value to him. In Marlborough there are serious objeotions to the establishment of a Junior High School. The first, which is common to the whole of !New Zealand, is that, while the aim is a splendid one, the system was hurriedly put into effect before arrangements were properly made for absorption from the institutions. Oonsequently the system is a failure — one which. however, can be rectified. Again, in a scattered district like Marlborough, a vast amount of travelling by young children is entailed. Apart from any risk inoiclent upon the travelling, it will detract to a considerable extent from the power of the child's mind to Iearn his lessons. Nor are there within a ten-mile radius of Blenheim many schools whioh can be consolidated. But, to my mind, the most serious objection is tlie lack of a Technical College in Blenheim. New Zealand's most urgent cry todav is for trained tradesmen, and they will not be produced under the projeeted innovation. And that, if I remember Sir James Parr's words correctly, was his chief reason for inaugurating the system. The laboi-ers will be turned out, the professionals and conimercials will be drafted up, but what will beeome of the tradesmen P There is no provision made for them to receive higber instruction. In tlie meantime children, parents, teachers and taxpayers are being saddled ivith an ad'ditional burden where there seems little hope of an adequate return. I pen these lines in no spirit of carping criticism, but merelv to point out, before. Marlborough reeeives this educational addition, the weak points in the system. They can be rectified, and I believe there are men in tliis district both willing and able to erannle with tliem.

TEACHER.