The Southland Times. INVERCARGILL: TUESDAY, NOV. 18,1873.

Southland Times, Issue 1819, 18 November 1873, Page 2

The Southland Times. INVERCARGILL: TUESDAY, NOV. 18, 1873.

In dealing with the question of education some time back, we assumed that it was not abstractedly the duty of the State to educate its rising members, any more than to feed or clothe them, and that any discussion upon the question must be upon the ground of expediency, upon which ground the policy of a provision by the State for the education of its young mernber3 might be safely argued. The State having accepted (so far as we are concerned) the responsibility, or admitted the policy of State education, and provided the machinery for its accomplishment, the matter we have now to consider is merely one of detail, first as to the character of the education to be furnished, and then as to the means of its accomplishment. We have always argued thafc even if it could be proved abstractedly that it is tho duty of the State to educate its youth, that duty extends no further than the provision of an elementary education. Here, however, there are as great diversities of opinion as upon the abstract question, and it ia > held by many that even what may be termed superior education should be provided by the State, or in other words that the Government should not only subsidise ordinary schools, but should take under its patronage schools for education in the classics and the higher branches of literature. The justice of such a course may be very properly questioned, the advantage to the few being attained at the expense of the many, and indeed the difficulties in the way when the principle of merely elementary instruction by the State is departed from are such as to make it almost impossible to administer any system of higher class education by the State without injustice. A communication in our other columns very properly represents it as a matter of general interest that we should know what we are paying for, the education of the day being virtually monopolised by the Government. The writer appears to have realised the difficulty of carrying out the principle of what he calls " primary ' rnary education," in schools in which the | higher branches are taught as well, the certainty being that in many instances i these branches are attempted at the expense of the elementary, and he proposes as a remedy that the public schools shall be divided into two classes, the one for " primary," and the other for " secondary" instruction. As, however, he proposes to subsidise the secondary schools, he appears not to have seen that such a proposal is unjust, because , the " secondary " schools will be maintained partly at the expense of those who are benefited only by the "primary." This plan is in principle the same as that now carried out by the Government, but has more of a " class " appearance about it than the Government system, still it possesses as a recommendation the probability of being more successful than has been the case under the system as at present conducted. Superior schools, endowed by the State, generally turn out more or less of failures, except in the instances in which denominational influences may be brought to operate, and these denominational influences it is not desirable to encourage. Upon the whole we think it most in accordance with the principles of justice and expediency that ihe education to be given by the State should be confined to elementary, and that if it were bo confined, a very great deal of the difficulty which surrounds the subject of education in general would vanish. After this declaration, it appears almost out of place to attempt any review of the existing machinery, with the idea of ascertaining to whafc extent it is adapted to accomplish the object supposed to be had in view — that is assuming that object to be anything in advance ot the imparting of an elementary education.

State patronage as applied to public schools for imparting higher class eduea- i tion is so far as New Zealand is con- : cerued lamentably a failure, and there is < reason to believe not merely that the < failure has been in respect of the higher i branches, but tbat education in the ele- i rnentary stage has been also sacrificed, i The ill-success or non-success of the High , School in Dunedin has been made, patent . by the late investigation, in consequence , of the long-continued complaints of the Institution, and we are able in respect of , it, from personal knowledge, to cite instances of its proved inefficiency. Not only have the higher branches not been ; taught, but education in English has been neglected, and the time spent by the boys in that establishment has been worse ; than wasted. We are very reluctant to refer to the inefficient state of the Grammar School here, because of the excep. j tional circumstances in which the school j i has been placed since the death of the j I late Bector, but the letter of Mr CuthI BEKTSoN, in to-day's issue, as well as the j reference made to the state of educational matters in the communication before referred to, compel, us to a dvert to ■ the subject. Mr CuthbeestON says the failure Of the school ia a matter of public notoriety, and that its inefficiency is the subject of common conversation ; and he proposes to submit his allegations to the test of an investigation by competent impartial examination. These ': allegations, being made in all seriousness by a gentleman of intelligence and position, demand reference and some kind of examination. Mr Cutubertsomaccounts for the matter very simply and naturally, without impugning either the character or ability of the teachers at present employed, by the crowding of the school, rendering classification impossible, and virtually throwing away the teaching power. There is no doubt but that this is the true explanation, but in any case it gives rise to the question, " How can such a state of matters arse under a State system, the supposed advantage of which is to secure efficiency ?" The putting of such a question will do more thau any amount of argument to prove that the moment the State advances beyond its legitimate functions, namely, the providing of an elementary education merely, it commences to involve itself in a labyrinth of difficulty irotn which it will not be ensy to extricate itself. Mr Cuthbertson proposes elementary side-schools, and there is no doubt but that if these were erected they would meet the case so far as relates to the overcrowding ; but if the side-schools, being Government schools, are to be merely elementary, why should not the Grammar or central school ba elementary also ? or why should the State be placed in the invidious position of appearing to supply an article of a certain class to one portion of the com munity, and one of a better class to another, each of the recipients being equally public contributors ? Until the uniformity of the Government scheme is recognised, difficulties of the kind now experienced in the Jnvercargill Grammar School will be continuully recurring, and the occasion furnished for strife and jealousy. The explanation of the railway controversy in respect of the Grammar School, is its fancied superiority over the district schools, and an instinctive unwillingness on the part ol country residents to allow themselves to be placed in a position of disadvantage. As the matter now stands, the public has a right to complain that it obtains neither one thing nor another in the matter of education ; those who have trusted to the establishment of the Grammar School to furnish the long-looked-for desideratum being equally disappointed with those who relied upon the same establishment for the rudimentary work, and both from a like cause, the overcrowding and consequent inability of the teachers to overtake their duties. The way to private enterprise is, as has been pointed out, barred by the action of the Government, and it appears really " that we should be better without any Government interference except in the rural districts."