TOWARD CITIZENSHIP

Taupo Times, Volume I, Issue 42, 29 October 1952, Page 4

TOWARD CITIZENSHIP

TN our issue of last week we gave considerable space to an explanatory statement by the Headmastei of the Taupo District. High School (Mr J. R. Osborne), on the importance of secondary education in the progress of girls and boys towards adult citizenship. We did so for a very good reason. The end of the current school year is appr'oaching. In a matter of a few weeks the schools will close for the annual summer vacation. Before the new school year begins decisions will be taken in many homes as to the directiori the children entering the adolescent period of their lives should be guided. Toward the end of the primary school stage latent tendencies have sprouted, individual personalities have taken a recognised pattern, character has. assumed the rough lineaments of the man or woman who will eventually emerge from the chrysallis. The importance of secondary education lies mainly in the fact that during the interval covered, by the programme laid down, that which is good and promising, , piay be cultivated; that which is less satisfactory may be tempered, its impulses corrected and diverted. Quite obvicusly this calls for qualities of discernment, and the influence of adult wisdom and personality, which is the aim of our education system to provide per medium of competent teaching staffs. The ideal teacher is bcrn, not made, but like geniuses who leave their mark on their generation and history, they are compartively rare. By careful selection and training, however, it is possible to staff our schools with men and women of excellent ealibre. Teaching is a very fme profession. It is often a stepping stone to even higher things. For these reasons alone it should attract many tc its ranks. Unfortunateiy it^does ri't appear to have done so. There is a vory serious shortage of qualified men and women As Mr Osborne has pointed out, this shortage has affected the staffing of the secondary department , of the

Taupo District High School. Positions have been advertised, but applicants have not been forthcoming*, That is not good for the school, for the teaching staff, for the children, Furthermore it is nof good for the Taupo community. If the best use is to be made oi the secondary department it must be adequately and effieiently staff ed. Why then the difficulty in Taupo ? The simple answer appears to be that there is no guarantee that housing will be available. It looks as if the problem should be tackled, in the beginning at all events, from that angle. It looks, also, as if the Government will do nothing unless the Auckland Education Board does something. But the Board is not likely to bestir itself unless the School Committee, backed by the Home and School Association does something, This problem should be presented to the appropriate authorities as one of Gxtreme urgency, demanding special provisions that will enable the difficulties to be overcome. Houses for lease are practically unobtainable and suitable board and lodging for single men or women, at charges within their means, also a problem, Something should be done about it.