The Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1885. OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1578, 10 December 1885, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1885. OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM.

In a recent issue of the Auckland Weakly A r ems a correspondent makes some pertinent remarks on our educational system m this Colony. He begins by inquiring if it is correct, as stated, that the sum of £ 400,000 is spent annually on education m New Zealand, and if so what good has been effected ? After deprecating the drawbacks of the present system, m connection with " cramming 11 creating a distaste for mechanical labour, &c. &c, the writer proposes, as a remedy for " existing evils, 11 to give a go»d sound education to all m the three LVs ; those who require more to pay for it. Let some of the money now being spent be devoted to technical instead of general education, where the rising generation can be prepared for special duties m life (unless we have determined to be nothing out a nation of school teachers). He quotes m support of his argument the condition of Peru, before the Spanish conquest, and affirms that the state of prosperity and culture to which it was brought was mainly owing to the adoption of the motto, " Every man to his trade., 1 If a man were a blacksmith, his son was compelled to follow the same profession, except where the strongest reasons were shown for it being otherwise. The same m all trades and professions. | By this means every man attained /o the highest perfection m his calling, having all the technical secrets and hereditary bias of his ancestors for generations. While not altogether coinciding with the views expressed above, we must admit that there is much food tor earnest reflection m the line of argument adopted. Equally so is the fact, which is beyond question, that the prominent and wealthy men m our country, as a rule, are those whose I strength of body and mind had not Lbeen capped by habitual close study, ! for the most part m branches of no practical use m after life. On the other hand, look at many of those ■ who arrive here with every vessel now. Their parents have denied themselves, and spent, perhaps, all they had m giving their sons a good education, and perhaps sending them to college. They have no mor.ey left to come to the colonies. When they arrive, what can they do ? Simply nothing but be gentlemen, and m many instances not that. Perhaps some bring a, little money, Bnd thinking that the easiest and most genteel occupation, requiring no previous training, is farming, they try it. All praise to them for trying to make a living by " roughing it, 11 and it is not their fault, but that of their parents that they usual|ly have to give up m despair. And finding that their knowledge of the dead languages cannot be profitably employed to the clearing of fern or potato planting, they despairingly wonder what they can do They find that for farming, as well as everything else, "a fellow must be brought up to it. 11 There is no denying the applicability of the above to a great number of instances within the knowledge of everyone who has studied the varying aspects of colo.nial life. The correspondent from whom we have quoted concludes as follows : — " We want a system of education by which each individual can get what he requires, not a Dotheboy's Hall place, where each one has to get sulphur and treacle whether he wants it or not. 1 ' )]Ve commend the above extracts to the thoughtful consideration of all persons interested m endeavouring to effect practical reforms m the admittedly incomplete, defective, and misdirected system of state education now m vogue m this Colony.