The I.C.S.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 3, Issue 82, 4 October 1912, Page 2

The I.C.S.

The "1.C.5." is short for International Correspondence Schools. The same letters are also a modern method of spelling Success (with a capital S), That is undeniable to all who hare taken the least trouble to examine the literature, the records, and the testimonials of the. 1.C.5.; to all who have made the slightest investigation, into the work of this extensive, expert, and far-reaching system of latter-day education. ' .

Studying by post as a method of education is quite a recent departure, and the International Correspondence Schools have brought it to such a pitch of perfection that it is really a fine art. There are over 180.000 scholars at present receiving tuition from the I.C.S. These students aro qualifying for nearly every branch of industry, and their places of abode stretch from the heart of London to the lonely bush of Australia, the backblocks of New Zealand, and the isolated farms of the African veldt. .

The schools are a triumph of organisation, and have been eulogised by many of the leading publicists and educationalists of Great Britain and the over sea dominions. Yet it is little more than 20 years since the International Correspondence Schools were established, and their ramifications are now world-wide.

It is said that the number of students in this school alone increase at the rate of 3000 per month. The I.C.S. claim that a student cannot exhaust their patience, that they encourage him in every possible way to persist in his studies until te has thoroughly mastered them. Let it be remembered that this sympathetic contaot is secured and maintained between scholars and teachere who never see each other. Magnificent results have been achieved by a method which is certainly contrary to the conventional means considered essential to the thorough impartatlon of knowledge. - That the salaries of thousands of pupils in the various departments of the world's work have been raised is a small matter in comparison with the increase in the sum of the general knowledge of the world.

Undoubtedly a great service has been done, and is being done, for humanity by these schools. To have trained thousands who would have remained in the rut all their rives to become self-reliant men; to have awakened the study habit and the desire for knowledge when before no such desire existed • to have induced men of practically no education whatever to save their spare cash n order to purchase a technical and a mental training, is a valuable work, the importance of which to the individual -md to the nation cannot be over-esti-mated.

The head office of th 4 I.C.S. in New Zealand is in Melrose Chambers, 63 Dixon street, Wellington, to which we would refer all readers desirous of bettering their standing in the community and strengthening their mental equipment for the strenuous battle of life. The value of such an institution to the workers is surely inestimable, as through the medium of the I.C.S. men who are now occupying inferior positions can, in their own time and for moderate expense, qualify for the very highest appointments.

As to the advantages of correspondence tuition, it has been pointed out that teaching may be defined as conveyance of knowledge and, what is almost more important, the training of the pupil's thinking powers. Knowledge can be conveyed better by the printed than by .the spoken word, and the pupil's thinking powers are far better trained by correspondence than oral tuition. For the student whose days are spent earning his living, correspondence tuition is the surest method by which he can acquire a sound, practical, profitable education; it is cheaper, more efficient, and more convenient than class teaching in a night or technical school.

One word more. A postcard to the I.C.S. office will bring you by return post all information regarding pubjecta, fees, etc. The I.C.S. clock for students and prospective students always points to the present hour. Now, the present hour, noi the next or the one after; now, not by and by, is the watchword, so drop a line at once. Should you enrol as a student, we feel sure you will be satisfied; we have never heard of one single student who has regretted the day he enrolled. We don't think you will be the exception.*