The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 1913. EDUCATIONAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10, 12 January 1914, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 1913. EDUCATIONAL.

After clue consideration and lengthy debate the Educational Institute Conference which sat in Auckland last week reduced the many remits from its various branches to a set of resolutions recomeranding (1) The inauguration of a Council of Education, which, under the control of Parliament, shall have the direction of educational policy and administration, assisted by local bodies; (,2) the placing of inspectorial and teaching staffs under the control of some central authority, such as the council referred to ; (3) an adequate scale of salaries for teachers and inspectors; (1) provision for a sufficient supply of trained teachers; (5) substitution of some better basis than attendance lor the

computation of salaries. The present Government has given its pro!in iso to introduce next session comprehensive legislation dealing with New Zealand’s educational system, and the. member who moved the adoption of the suggestions noted above, explained that he would prefer that the Government’s proposed Bill should repeal all previous acts. One point is not made very clear, and that is as to the constitution of the proposed Council. There were some inter-

os ting addresses delivered 1» y those 'ivi;o wore in attendance at the Conference, one of the host being that I by Mr T. I). Wells, M.A., on “Kduj cation in its relation to .Modern So--1 Problems.” Mr Wells-said that the! jprincipal evils that effected modern /communities, he thought, were vice and crime, destitution and the exploitation of the weak by the strong. (Fortunately these evils were, not so j pronounced in this new land as in the icountries of the Old World, hut their Iheginnings were in evidence. During !If) 1.2 there wore Jl-I.fJSO summary conjvictions in the Police Courts of this :Dominion, and "id-1 in the Supreme Courts. r l'he speaker submitted that jthe principal causes ot these social diseases were defective hereditary, 'defective environment, and defective education. While heredity countled for much it was environment that provided the opportunity in the development of mankind. An adennate playing space round every school was a most necessary adjunct. The absence of kindergarten departments in the large city and suburban schools was a defect. More attention should he paid to the physical well-being of the children. There should he facilities "for open air teaching, special schools in the large centres for the subnormal, free medical .and tree dental attention for children of poor

parents, girls of the two upper standards should get more instruction in' the household arts and the hygiene of the home. in. conclusion, the, speaker said that he might be told) that to establish kindergarten departments, to increase the staffing, toj provide for teaching in the open-air,; and to establish continuation schools,j would mean extra cost in an already j costly system. He recognised they fact, and replied that the country' must be prepared to foot the bill, it was better economy to fence off the top of the precipice than it was to build and maintain a hospital at the base. He also contended that the State must be prepared to foot the bill of providing more adequate salaries for the men and women who devoted their lives to service in the educational held. “Commonsenso in Education” was the subject of another address given at the ■Conference, in which the Principal of the Auckland Training. College reviewed Now Zealand’s system from the physical point of view, and the picture he has drawn is most disheartening to all those who take a real interest in the education of the children of the Dominion. He said quite truly that commonsense demanded that me acquisition of a good physique should

he the very first essential of any system of education, instead of which it brings up the rear, only receiving tardy recognition because it is found that without a certain amount of health, studies are interfered with. Many schoolrooms were overcrowded, and tired and listless children required to be- spurred on to renewed effort, in an attempt to ward off . the drowsiness brought on by breathing vitiated air. “Granted that common sense should hold sway in our schools, then a complete revolution in attitude towards education will follow. ’ Instead of it being confined to the' accumulation of facts, mostly of value, attention -will he mainly directed to turning out- healthy, happ. children. The standard of work now reached will not suffer, because the children, being in better health and under better conditions, win he abb to keep up with their lessons wit! less effort than is now required. Better health will mean more happiness, more . enjoyment of life, loss of life’s shadows and more of its sunshine and this will react on parents, so that the whole world will he the brighter.”