IDEAL OF SERVICE

Southland Times, 16 October 1942, Page 4

IDEAL OF SERVICE

Purpose Of Education “Many people have wrong ideas about the purpose of education. . They think the purpose of education is to fit boys to fight for a living in the world. The main purpose of education is to fit children to live in and serve the community, and unless we have an education system that does that it is falling down on the job,” said Mr W. H. Gregory at a meeting of the Southland High Schools Board yesterday when the teaching of French in schools was again briefly discussed. The chairman, Mr W. Bell, said it was difficult for people to realize that education was worth while for its own sake. They thought the only purpose of sending boys and girls to school was to enable them to earn their living. Referring to the teaching of French in the schools, Mr Bell said it was not a question of the board wishing to eliminate entirely the teaching of French, but only where it was not necessary. Mr H. Ritchie said that the school curriculum had not changed in 40 years, but the world had changed greatly in that time. What was suitable for their fathers was not suitable for boys today. “When we hear so many head masters and rectors criticizing the present curriculum it shows there must be something wrong,” Mr Ritchie added. “One complaint I have is that boys and girls after three or four years at high school often have a poor command of English. Some of them do not seem to know the rules of grammar.” A letter on the subject of teaching French in schools from the Education Department stated: “The department does not make French a compulsory subject for pupils attending secondary schools, the only such compulsory subjects being English, arithmetic, history, some form of science and physical education. Apart from these subjects the schools are free to frame their own programmes of work, but naturally do so to a very large extent in relation to the requirements of external examinations. As you are probably aware, a system of accrediting is at present under consideration by the University of New Zealand, and when this is put into operation there will in ail probability be some modification of the existing university entrance requirements.”