“THE COUNTRY CHILD.”

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3487, 15 May 1920, Page 7

“THE COUNTRY CHILD.”

HIS SPORTING CHANCE

Rcpl‘ixllcd HOlll “National E(‘.ucatioll Ist April, 1920.

The Prince of Wales, by claiming for “every child born into the laud a fair sporting cfi3l’nce,"' has come. crated an old phmse to :1 new use, If by .a, “-fair sporting chance?’ we meafi :1 fair and equal start in the race of life, then the country child is not get’. ling his chance He is \'Cl'_Y seriously handicapped in several ways. ‘ ‘V . THE “SHACK” SCHOOL." In the first place, The country suf-~ ers much more than the more popn~ lous p:.ll't.< from the evil of tho, “.<l1:1el{” school. In the liowns, whore Be2lrdnlelnbel~smost, do scintillute, rliis evil can be seen and p‘oplllal' cl-a~ mour leads to nnlenclment; but in the remote districts no one can see and no once unres. In is true that in this I'e.»-pew; -.1 good deal of ll1lp1‘OV‘G11’]()r1t has been made of lzl’re‘7"e"ifi§. There is, llowevoxj. still too much. of the feeling I'llai' any sort of hovel is good ellougli fez‘ the ('(Jllllll'_\f (llstricr. far away from the llglll filial"-slline.< on M the Board office. l H.]£AI.TH AND is"l‘Rlr}_\’(}'l‘H'.

Secomlly, the (:Oullll‘_y child is not got‘li.ng his fair silal‘o of .:.lttontion in

the matter of :n(-{lieu} inspection 21ml ])l2ysic2xl il}si'l'uctiull. 'No:ll'l_\,' one-t.h'u-d uf the cllileli'n>ll are enrolled in SCIIOOI-S of less than one hundred. pupils, mul HlO.<.<.‘. schools have not yet (‘OIl1(‘ within the scope of medical inspection, and have only to a slight extent proi'xted by the :Ittention.< of: the physical in_-N, stl'uctol'.~a. This is :1. double-weig‘llt-ed’ ‘la‘illd. of 11:111(]icap ngaixxst. the country child, for by the very nature of the case medical '.=.tl‘on’rioll a.n(l advice are 11a‘rdor to obtniii‘ in districts I'omot,C from the céntros. CON S()LIDA'I‘ION .

In. the tlxird place, the country child suffers from the fact" that he is taught

in one of several classes under one teacher, whereas t.lle‘L‘best teaching calm be given only whe're‘thel‘e is a. single ‘reaclier to :1 single class; and that should be no larger than the total number the country teacher llfl.S to deal with in sovefiil classes—often as many as eight. This cannot be altogether renle<lied, but :1. grout deal could be done if educatiomil business was done in. an e(.luc.zlT.ional way. ’l.‘herc- zue I'll{.lll_Y cases \\'-Here several small schools could be "consolidated into one, wllere }_ml»il.s ’E'olll‘d be properly classified and given that‘par‘.. of their “fuil‘ sporting Chance_” under proper C(Vil1(:":~1t'i()11:-1'1 eondit.io‘ll§. In other cases the senior pupils could be 661leeted in an raclaptution of what. have been called “central tops"'——~a system that holds out considerable promise for disl'rie’rs where the younger children could not suitably be carried to a “consoli(lated”' school. THE UI\*CERTIFI.C.‘A’I.‘EI) ’I‘EACHER.

Foul'Hlly, and, for the pl'Csont, finally, the country child does not. :11-

\vzly.~' gvt J. "‘f:li:r :~'pol'ling‘ ch:lrlc<."' in the matter of his teacher. There me not enough I'cac.hcl-s in the (~onnt‘r_y.

I'I‘l1r:‘- Cl>ll]lTl')' neerls at least two thousand more C(‘l"flfi<.‘:ll’(_‘ll leucllers_. and [there is no imlicution yet. that it initemls to set :1l')out; gcttirig them. It is The people themselves that must krnake the demand; then it would be gruntetl. And it the country peo-lr;-le—tlle parerns off’ the country pu-pils——-wlro liuve most at stake. Nearly :1 tlrird of the pupils are in the small schools; nearly 2». l:hil'Ll of the teucliers are. uneerl'ificate(l——-flint is, uuqu:llil'ied for their work. and nearly all these unqualified tezrclrers are employed in the small scliools in the country. Even if the very best tcaclrers were selected for the country schools -the pupils l there would still be at a. disa.dva.lltage from the very nature of t.he conditions under which they live their ‘school life. But the best teachers are not found in the country schools: they |follow the larger salaries into the larger srzlrools where they work under the best of conditions, and the more fortunate town pupil gets all the benefit. His country cousin, besides having to go to the dingy, stuflfy, unwholesome “shack” school is compelled to battle with adversity in the shape of teach-ing-powor divided aniong several classes-—oftcn many classes —— the , te:lclling~power itself often a, kind that has no qualification for the work, and ithat, ought not to be engaged in it. lSnulll chance the country child has of ‘his “fair sporting chance” under such corxditions. THE DOUBLE LOSS. It is-here that the greatest amount of “brain-waste” is going on. These country children are the sons and ckmgmers of the most. vigorous and enterprising members of the community, the very children who may be expected ff) give the best return for “money iilvestedl” in edllC3liiolls ind: yet they are being robbed of theirl ch:l.nce and the country is being do-fl privufl of the bcrieftitt. it -might gnini hv freafincr them )c or. ‘ \V’"Hl:'l‘ Is To BE DONE‘? l \\v"lm[-, remedy is to b 0 a.pplie(l.‘3l 'l‘llore sure S(‘\‘(‘.l‘{ll, eficlx v::,luablc up! to u reertnixl point. In the first place; -the country must secure more te:.s.chcr.=. a

and ’tl':l'ln them better for their work

Only the best young men and women are good enough for teachers, and if they are to "be got they must ‘be paid. And when they have been secured "rheir teaching-power must. be used in the most economical way. One way of securing tlfis is "1710 inethod of oonsolirlation of schools. For reasons which do not appear on the snl'faee, this has not been given a trial in this country, but common sense and the multiplication of I110t0I"-C211'S will eventually triumph and great benefits will result’. Furthermore, 9. -due proportion of the best teachers must be induced to stay in the country. "Salary will havelsomething "to do with that, but the people themselves will have more to do with it thr.ln the salary. The people of :1 disatx-ict must learn to welcome :1 teacher as :t friend, Ito look on the school as the most j.mpm~tant. local institution, and

to assist if in every I'C’ilSon2lbl\’3 way. The pooplv of 21 (listl'ir:t must severely Sll]')]_)l‘(‘.\.‘>‘ the l.)lllllpti(Jll.\‘ll(‘..‘~'.'\‘, not now of'ton mot \\'il'h. of a certain type of ccmlmit.leom:m who {lppO:ll's to think ‘rlmt he o.\'isT.'~' for the purpose of exercising‘ :1 little l)rier". authorify; the people of :1 district sllo'ulLl anlong lhom assure to :1 young lady who may be senf "to them from the Trailling Collcgo at least :1 decent and comfortable home; the people of a district, by I‘ea'l’ising that education for their chilrlren. will yield :1 much better I‘etul'n them superphosphate for their fields, will see reason to support their school and assist in every reasonable way the teacher in his efforts to secure for the young people of the district their “fair sporting clumcc.”