Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, NOV. 21, 1896. Drill or Shorthand ?

Manawatu Herald, 21 November 1895, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, NOV. 21, 1896. Drill or Shorthand ?

» The Wanganui Education Board am not receiving many marks of approval from the school committees for their monstrous waste of money in the appointment of M. De Mey. First of all the appointment does noi seem to have been made in the inter* ests of the children at present at tending school, for of what advan tage will the instruction given once a month be to them ? M. De Mey is to instruct the teachers, who, when they know how, are to instruct the children ! A beautiful system is it not where one's children are to be the means by which others are to be benefit ted, and these others being persons who are in receipt of not unfair salaries to do just otherwise ? Still it will be urged that teachers must learn before they can instruct, and that drilling in of an advantage to the children. Granted. The ob jection is not to the subject matter but to the manner of imparting the information. As at present a cen tral school is chosen in a district, M. De Mey attend?, and the Board expects the other schools surrounding to dose and the teachers to attend [

at the central school. Thus parents are to lose a day's schooling to give one t<o a teacher) Why cannot teachers be taken, a few at a time, at the Headquarters of Board, and properly instructed so that they can be sent back carefully trained ? The present system is a frightful waste of money which members will find hard to justify. Talking of drilling reminds us to ask the Board to ascerunder which King the teacher? are to act, the Dnil Instructor or the School Inßpector ? The tn«pectoi has ordered not only a particular style of, writing but a particular position for each scholar to assume when writing. This position the Instructor say 3 is most injurious to the scholar ! These opposite opinions are very worrying and it would be Well if these two distinguished members of the educational staff would Confer together and thus avoid publishing such contrary opinions of one another's pet views. Salary, travelling allowances and other items will make a big hole in £400 on this latest fad. If drilling will not go down perhaps our Board will fall into the absurdity credited to the London Education Hoard and permit the scholars to learn French ? | Our education system is so little understood that it gets belauded up t< he skies, but any parent would easily point out to Inspectors how much of the rubbish taught they would gladly see swept away if it would make room for the teaching of of " arts and crafts " useful on leaving school, such; as say* shorthand writing and type-Writing, the accom plishment of which would secure im mediate employment. These are no exceptional items, in every office, private and public the type Writer is in use, and the value of the type, writer is its value in plainly transcribing notes taken in shorthand of hurried instructions given by th> head of the office. These two item are only samples and were it possibi 1 a hope could be entertained that the members of our Education Board would be at all likely to interest themselves in the welfare of tb. scholars generally instead of mdi vidual scholars, we would be glad to go into the matter more in detail, but we have little hope of getting a representative Board whilst the vot ing remains on the exceedingly un fair basis it is at present. The fact that another Session of Parliament has passed without any attempt to remedy this wrong shows better than anything how uninterested the average parent is in the educational ad* vancement of hi* child.