EDUCATION

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 2 August 1929, Page 6

EDUCATION

CHANGE OF POLICY If the prosi>crity of the Dominion depends upon the agricultural and pastoral industries —and 1 do not think that any one will dispute the fact—it is obvious that our system of education should be designed to prpvidejour children with a'good 'general education with a bias towards' farming: that is to say, lii the later stages of the school life the teaching of subjects appertaining to the problems and life of the man on the land should be a prominent feature of the school curriculum. At present it would appear that our education system is out of touch with our economic conditions in giving,, if anything, a bias towards tljie 'professions. It is'the policy of the Government to correct this, and, as already announced, it is intended to set up a select committee to take evidence from the fanning, technical, industrial, and professional groups in order to ascertain the best method of attaining the desired end. I In many cases where .the conditions have been; favourable for school consolidation, and local opinion is not antagonistic to the change, small schools are being closed and conveyance of the pupils to larger schools instituted, the children thus obtaining the advantage of instruction in better-equipped schools and from more highly qualified teachers than wduld j otherwise have been the case; anil,ifjirth'er, -it has been possible; to provideifot Secondary instruction in! some of the..consolidated schools for many country children who under ordinary conditions would haye had no opportunity of obtaining more than prim-ary-school instruction. It is gratifying to find that country settlers are learning to appreciate the advantages of the consolidated schools, and the Government hopes to extend in this way to more and more country pupils some of the privileges in .the past enjoyed only by the more fortunate inhabitants of the larger centres. A further method of providing better education facilities for children situated in remote localities is by means of the Correspondence School, the activities of which .are being extended to provide courses of' secondary-school instruction. Already one hundred pupils have been enrolled in the secondary department. The primary classes of the school have also !been extended to deal with over seven hundred pupils. All of these factors are of ; great value in raising the istandard of'education in country districts, and when the currioulum has been amended on the lines I have indicated these additional facilities will assist the prospective settlers to obtain the maximum production from the lands which they will take up in du e course. The growing recognition of the value of providing special forms of instruction for backward children has brought fresh responsibilities, and has led during the {iasfc year to the establishment. of further classes and the" appointment of additional staff to deal with them. Recent legislation has considerably, widened the scope of the social work as carried out by the Child Welfare Branch of the Education Department, necessitating the employment of additional Welfare officers and better provision in institutions for'the classification of the inmates. Two ( new institutions for girls were established, at Christchurch and Timaru.