The Manawatu Herald. Tuesday, February 10, 1914. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1206, 10 February 1914, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Tuesday, February 10, 1914. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Speaking recently on educational mallets, Mr F, Pirani, the chairman of the Wanganui Education Board, ventured to prophesy that in the near future the smaller schools would merely be utilised for the education of the younger children, and when they reached, say, the fourth standard, they would have to go to a large central institution, specially established for the purpose of providing a thorough vocational education — right up to the university standard for the professions, scientific farming and the utilisation of the land, domestic science, hygiene, eugim eerlng, the different trades, etc. The difficulty in the way in the past had been the absence of good means of conveyance and communication, but that was rapidly being overcome ; and as sure as they stood there so surely would the change he thus foreshadowed be brought about, if the educationists who controlled the system understood how to cope with the modern needs with foresight and acumen. 01 course, some of them might think that the country children were not able to compete with those in the towns in higher education. But it was all a matter of opportunity, and, having had a great deal to do with scholarship pupils from the country districts, he would not believe that there were not many intellects as bright and pupils as sturdy in the country as those especially fine samples whose good fortune it was to get the opportunity of proving their worth in the towns and cities. New Zealand, be concluded, was destined to be a great nation —'her sous had already made her name respected and admired far and wide—and it was to the educationists who loved the opportunities afforded them to lend a helping hand to the rising generation that he looked to, to safeguard the future development of the race. We can fully endorse Mr Pirani’s remarks, and have held and expounded similar views for some years. We do not believe that large sums of money expended in certain districts on socalled “high” and “technical” schools are justified by results. Centralisation of secondary schools should commend itself to the serious consideration of Boards, and the tin-pot tinkering that now obtains in this connection should be stopped.