Untitled

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4966, 21 February 1877, Page 2

The Wanganui Herald has of late assumed to itself the role of censor of the acts and doings of the Wellington Education Board, its Inspector, Mr. Lee, and all and sundry who' are inclined to give that body their active and moral support. In one number we find an article condemnatory alike of Mr. Lee’s report and of the system of education within the Wellington School District. Then we see an article upholding a martyr who has (and we think justly) incurred the censure of the Inspector for an obvious neglect of duty. Throughout these articles the animus is too plain to be mistaken or overlooked. In the light of these facts we are led to ask oursleves a few questions. First, what can be the reason for all this tirade 1 We fancy we can divine the cause of this new-born zeal in the cause of education. The Herald has become the champion of the County Councils, and is anxious to place the control of public education in the hands of those, bodies. If these be the conscientious opinions of the writer, we find no fault with him for giving expression to them, although we differ widely from him as to the advisability of such a course. In fact, we have already shown how utterly unworkable, and even ruinous, such a course would be. But we do protest most emphatically against this misrepresentation of facts, for the furtherance of pet schemes, or party purposes. The Board may be far from perfect, and Mr. Lee far from infallible, but it is but fair to give both the credit due to their own acts. If the Board and its officers have worked well and efficiently during the short time they have been in existence, and have brought about a state of things in educational matters which is far superior to anything that ever existed before within the range of their operations, they surely deserve credit for having labored hard, intelligently, and faithfully for the public good. We _ need scarcely refer to the state of education in the province when the present Board accepted the responsibilities of, the situation. Its obvious duty in the first place was to secure the services of a competent Inspector. The choice fell upon Mr. Lee, and the result has shown that their

opinion of that gentleman’s abilities was well founded. It is needless to say that on Mr. Lee taking office he" found matters in a state of chaos and utter confusion, and it speaks volumes in favor of his determination and indomitable perseverance that-in the short space of three years he has educed something like order out of the previous confusion, and placed the primary education of the province upon a sound and workable basis. When Mr. Lee first inspected our' schools he found them to a large extent in the hands of men who were utterly unfit for the important duties which they had undertaken. Some there were, who, though wishing to do well, were ignorant of the art of teaching. Those who were both intellectually and morally unfit had to be removed as quickly as others could be found to take their places ; those who were weak had to be instructed. This was the herculeanwork which lay before the Board when Mr. Lee was appointed Inspector. These were at once the fruits and the evidence of shameful neglect of public instruction on the part of the Provincial Government and Legislature. With these facts before us, it is a matter of extreme satisfaction to all true friends of the colony that so much real good has been effected in so short a time. That some mistakes have been made in the selection of teachers is not to be wondered at when we consider how very small a percentage of even the most highly educated are adapted for the peculiar work. It is a very common error to suppose that any one make a successful teacher, supposing him to possess sufficient education. Where it was found impossible to secure the services of trained teachers, it was necessary to have recourse to raw material. Persons of education and respectability, but having no experience in the art of teaching and school management, were appointed as assistants in the various town schools, to obtain some insight into the work, and quickly drafted off to supply the urgent requirements of the country districts. Among so many really new to the work it is but reasonable to suppose there would be some failures. Things of this nature are not the work of a day, and none but the moat unreasonable would expect a system requiring such a thorough renovation to be brought to a state of perfection in so short a time. In one of the articles referred to the Herald brings forward a list of sweeping charges against our system of education, and indicates the necessity of a thorough reform. It also contains a wholesale denunciation of Mr; Lee and his recently published report. It is singular to note how very frequently those who clamor for reform are themselves the opponents of it. In the same issue we have an article on the unsatisfactory state of education, according to the writer’s views. We are then treated to another article, taking Mr. Lee severely to task for trying to remedy what he finds weak and defective. We have already expressed ourselves strongly against the interests of public education being committed to the tender mercies of County Councils, and we have no objection to break a lance with the j Herald on that score. We think we can promise , him that he shall not come out scathless; but let him fight with honorable weapons; let him not descend to hurl insinuations and innuendoes at a valuable and conscientious officer, simply because he happens to be the representative of a system of education which however much good it may have effected in past times, does not fall in with the enlarged views and comprehensive ideas of the enlightened editor of the Herald. We have no doubt he has an extensive knowledge and intimate acquaintance with the practical working of educational schemes. Speaking in the interests of the rising generation, the only thing we hope is that the visionary notions recently promulgated by that may never be put to the test of actualexperience, but may ever remain in the fertile brain of the patriotic editor. The writer before referred to takes exception to the outspoken manner in which Mr. Lee has expressed himself in his report, in reference to certain schools, and to the Wanganui Grammar School in particular. In our opinion, the Inspector would have been guilty of a gross neglect of duty had he not made the Board acquainted with the real state of matters in those schools in which, after a series of visits, he is convinced honest work is not done. A report of the kind, to be of any value to the public, must be truthful; it must tell the whole truth, without reservation, and that without respect of persons. Let Mr. Lee continue to pursue this straightforward and upright course, and he will secure the lasting respect of the public in whose behalf he labors. We may mention that the publishing of the report, about which our contemporary is so severely exercised, was not the act of Mr. Lee, but of the Board, who, as the representatives of the people, are supposed to do what they think best calculated to advance the interests committed to their trust. The master of the school in question has published a letter in his own defence. It is not the business of the journalist to comment upon individual cases of this kind ; he proper authorities are alone competent to deal with it; but we may venture to say this .much ; that a teacher who, having had charge of a school for ten consecutive years, can achieve no better, results than those obtained by the master mentioned, and that in classes more ■ particularly under his own supervision, would appear to be an index of things far from satisfactory either to the Board, the Inspector, of the public.