CHINESE PUPILS.

Shannon News, 23 May 1924, Page 2

CHINESE PUPILS.

MORE ALERT THAN OTHERS. A MATTER OF CONCENTRATION. ARE NEW ZEALAND BRAINS BEST. Auckland teachers hold widely different opinions in regard to the capacity and attainment of New Zealand children as compared to the capacity and attainment of children in the Old Country and in America and Canada. There appears to be . however, general agreement that the Chinese children who attend the schools of the Dominion are heads and shoulders above the other pupils so far as their progress is concerned. In one school a test in mental arithmetic was given, when it.was found that the Chinese in the Fourth Standard were equal to the majority of the" pupils in the Sixth Standard. In other directions also it is reported that tihe Chinese obtain better results than New Zealand children.

"The Chinese have not a better mentality thau our children possess; their capacity is not greater; the explanation is that-they are using the capacity that they have, and taius achieve a higher attainment/' This Avas the view expressed by a well-known education authority who has been studying the subject for some years. He agreed with other educationists that one pf the outstanding weaknesses of our education system was the lack of concentration on the part of the pupils. The foreigners, however, realised that if they were to do any good in, the country they must '"go one better" than the New Zealand children. These Chinese boys and girls formed little cliques, all having the one object, namely, to learn as much as possible.