Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, MAY 3, 1917. NATIONAL EDUCATION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1707, 3 May 1917, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, MAY 3, 1917. NATIONAL EDUCATION.

THE Auckland Herald, in an editorial on our national schools, savs if

parents are not visibly concerned with the education of their children.

it is useless to expect politician - to ♦give much thought to the all-imp mtant task of making our school system as perfect as possible. Householders ought to make il clear beyond the possibility of mistake that they understand the true worth of education, and that they .are desirous of placing the management of the schools in the hands of persons who are able and willing to perform (he duties which Parliament has imposed upon them. It may be said (hat the school committees occupy 100 subordinate a position to exercise any real influence. This is a mistake. Directly and indirectly they can do a great deal to increase the elliciency of our educational system. The committees form a connecting link between the home and the school, and the annual meetings provide the parents with an opportunity of giving expression to (heir opinions and their wishes. Co-operation between the teacher and the parent is essential to the attainment of the best educational results. Every intelligent parent should be able to see what his children are becoming, and whether they are getting as much benefit from their schooling as might reasonably be expected. Our contemporary, like ourselves, realises that parents do not take sufficient interest in the educational welfare! of their children. What further evidence is required than the lack of attendance al (he recent local householders’ meeting? To further quote! our cemtemporary: “The scope eif naliemal education has been greatly wieleneel in recent years. Experts now recetgnise that a chilel's capacity to learn depends in a large measure upon its bodily health. Physical e-allure has, therefore, been given a prominent place on the schoed time-table, and the se-hoed docteir Ims founel a place em the stall' of: the 1 Education Depa rtmemt. Technical schools are being enlarged and multiplied. More attention is being paid to the I (inching of science. It is well tbn I due attention should be- given to the commercial and scientific side! of education,Tor it is ditlicult to overestimate the value of se-ieuce in human life. On the other hand, sci-em-e is not everything, and men and women are something more than money-making machines. A nation needs to make- its children good citizens, as well as competent workmen and clever business men. A writer keys stress on the fact that ‘insight, respect for truth, and contempt of e-harlatanism, a lucid and piercing intelligence which appraises facts for what they are, and sees through pompous pretences,’ are gifts that make a nation great. In the same humanistic spirit, a leading English educationalist reminds us that education and .instruction are two different things, and that national salvation is not to be found in aniline dyes. The head of a great British engineering Jinn leceutly asserted that the true function of education wees to teach boys low to learn and how to live —not how to make a living. There emu be m» doubt thiil our education system is becking in character-building power. How to remedy this defect is ei very difficult problem. There are many indications that farreaching changes in school nmthods

will lake place in the near future. Every citizen should remember that the welfare of New Zealand depends largely upon the efliciene-y of its national schools, and should take every opportunity of showing interest in the training of the rising generation.