EDUCATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26638, 8 December 1947, Page 2

EDUCATION

FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW

By Mentor

The recently published report of the Dunedin Free Kindergarten Association reveals a steady growth in the development of pre-school education in our city. For many years the committees responsible for the establishment and administration of the Kindergarten schools were forced to carry on their work with grossly inadequate funds, and had to rely very largely on the generosity of parents of pupils and supporters interested in this branch of education. Within recent years the Government has given more generous recognition of the value of pre-school education by granting increased financial assistance and by paying an allowance to kindergarten trainees, but a still greater measure of assistance will require to be given if these institutions are to function as they should in the community. The kindergarten which caters for the three and four-year-olds provides the chilcf with his first impressions of life in an organised society where he enjoys the companionship of children of his own age—companionship which is an essential experience for the little child. Here under skilled direction he learns self-discipline, to give and take, to live freely with others and to take an interest in things other children are interested in. Teachers in these kindergartens, realising that it is not what is done for the child but what he does for himself that educates him, provide him with a widevariety of activities which lay the foundation for behaviour and further education. In his early years the child’s problems are solved mainly through play, which is his means of living and understanding life. Within their limited means, those responsible for the efficient organisation and work of our kindergarten schools are making a valuable contribution to our education system—a service that deserves a far greater recognition than it receives.

The criticisms made by such wellinformed critics as the principals of our secondary schools and others qualified to offer comment reveal a rather disturbing state of affairs regarding the school certificate examination held recently. A perusal of the papers set for English and history shows that such adverse criticisms as were made were fully justified. The English paper was a booklet of eight more or less closelyprinted pages. One can readily appreciate the mental reaction of a nervously-inclined 16-year-old candidate on being handed such an “examination paper.” The candidates were allowed 10 minutes to read the questions. It would have been a bright child indeed who could have accomplished this task intelligently in the time allowed. The history paper, although not so voluminous as that set for English, covered a wide field, many of the questions set being involved and formulated in such a way as to be beyond the comprehension of Fifth Form pupils. It is not unreasonable to expect that questions in the school certificate examination would be designed to discover what the candidate knows—not what he thinks. They should be set to test factual knowledge—not to obtain expressions of opinion. It would appear that the examiner who set these papers did not appreciate the fact that his questions were to be answered by relatively immature Fifth Form pupils, and it is quite obvious that parents who have kept their children at secondary school for four years or longer to sit this examination will not feel any sense of satisfaction in the knowledge that some of the questions set did not come within the scope of the prescribed syllabus.

Students sitting examinations resort to many curious devices which give them some real or imaginary assistance in the solution of the problems with which they are confronted. Do the following lines addressed to Mentor suggest a new device designed for this purpose?

I’m in a dilemma jus* what to do, That’s - why I forward this problem to you; Would you allow candidates Gum to chew? Calmly enthroned on my ruling dais. With duties done and feeling pious, I own to holding a certain Bias! On " mouthing ” students I’m forced to gaze; I think right back to my school-days. " Gum-chewing ” habits were not our ways. One did not eat in a public place, Of fears one sought to hide all trace. What has come over the youth of our race? Each student’s jittery, jumpy, jerking. Some restlessness within is working, Have they been really over-working? I’m convinced there’s false StimulationStability’s shattered in this generation By serial, film, and sporting sensation. Rotating jaw my spirit annoys, Any cud-chewing cow thus her day employs. God—for some virile girls and boys! Incessant chewing to me seems rude, Imbecile, vulgar, stupid and rude; Or, could it be, Mentor, that I’m just a prude? Therefore I forward this problem to you; I am perplexed. Now what would you do? WOULD YOU ALLOW CANDIDATES GUM TO CHEW? Mentor would make it a criminal offence for anyone to manufacture, distribute, or consume chewing gum.