THE COLONIST.

Colonist, Issue 17, 18 December 1857, Page 2

THE COLONIST.

NELSON, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1857

"As truth is truth. And, told by halves, may, from a simple thing By misconstruction to a. mobster grow, 111 tell Hie whole truth." ■ . , Shekidan Knowles. In' again reverting to " The First Annual" of our " Board of Education" we are compelled, in spite of our excessive good nature, to treat it as a j wooden affair* It reminds us of a Memphiari Sarcophagous bereft of its mummery, but descriptive externally of the curiously bandaged immortal mortality once within. Like that vacant ligneous case, it is redolent with the embalment of bygone science, or inexplicable art: it is perfumed by the spice of faded Conservatism. But why say we so? Simply because it represents the Academical Constitution, provided for us chiefly by Tory philosophers, as a model of beauty and majesty, capable of only remote improvement. Each one of its admiring creators has pronounced it " very good ;" and, not improbably, even now smiles on it as a microcosmical emblem of himself. But while each, and particularly the presiding spirit, sends it forth with laudations behind it, singing " I noster, I decus, &c," We can only parody their praise, saying— Go, get along our beau ideal, In whom no excellence is real. To dub thee, useful ornament, Would be to give fu'l laughter vent 1 Now this may seem, to some folks, like jesting with sacred things; but we do not belong to the idolatry, of the select few. In the revolutions of mutable ages, our paragon of institutions, under the fostering mope of Minerva's owl, may need emendations; —so we are allowed to understand, inasmuch as "we must be 'content to advance slowly." Such is the announcement of the Oracle. Enough: with dutiful tars, we say, "aye, aye;" and, as we have no steam, we must resign ourselves until we can get into "the trades." Truly instruction will move " slowly" enough if present arrangements are to suffice. After fifteen or sixteen years of educational neglect we are to be indoctrinated by twaddle of this kind, by olden saws about slow and sure progress, and all that! We spurn,—the people spurn the light that travels like a Carrier's lantern through a snow drift. Mighty, 'we are told, Herculean have been the toils of the Council, and of others in making educational .provisions. If the sapient wights referred to are of that opinion, few others of moderate information or experience can think so. If they felt what they did to be an onerous task, all we can say is—God help them! One thing is palpable, they, we mean our entire state corps of educational pioneers, have gone on as mere do-nothings, as poor in their legislative efforts at intellectual progress, as they have been lame and tame. People want to get rid of their loitering in the ways of instruction. What is wanted is a fair start, a full start, yes a start altogether In the tfeglected Hvalry of school endeavour.' No more snails in the road of Education! —Our youth must get on differently or 'the mass must sink down in general want of knowledge as did their progenitors! If we seem to be waxing too impatient, we can only say look here, —look at this prosing " First Annual Report ;" look at its figures; and then learn whether the present system of school support and management be equal to our necessities. First of all take " The Tabular view" as it is given, and then consider what is not given, "but lies forgotten in the shades. On the books, then, is an account of twenty-one schools, nineteen of boys, and two of girls—only two of girls in the field of the Inspector's duty. There are on the said books 830 in the whole of the Day schools. Of that number only 242 regularly attend, or that is the average amount of scholars attending daily during the whole of the period specified by the Report. Mark that. Were these children educated on a more voluntary principle, at so much per each one of their ovm families, and at five shillings per head for each attending child, taking the Governmental scale of charges, they would not collectively pay the expense of inspection alone, leaving put of consideration the cost of all the houses, and the stipend^ of twenty-one teachers. How is it that little more than one-fourth part of the 880 are in average attendance? How is it that in populous Nelson itself there are only usually at school 24£ boys and girls? and in the suburbs3o|boysandgirls? These places are either full of old maids and bachelors, or else the state system must be dreadfully unpopular. Here is a precious scheme of education leaving well-paid officers nothing to do; But, it may be inquired, is there riot some cause, some ovfir-riding occasion for this deplorable state of things ? We think there is» We think it will be found that unsuitable instruction; non-separa-tion of boys and girls, inconvenient schools, and arbitrary and coercive measures, enforced in aii unbusiness-like and un-English manner, —promotive of parental apathy and disgust,—are at the bottom of the mischief. Of this, perhaps, more anon. The writer of this lives some seven miles from the District School, a building nearly large enough for a common hen-roost. He is obliged to educate his youngsters at home. But this has not saved him from a summons to pay £l 155.; and now again he has to pay other two pounds. Were it fair or just to do this, not a word would be said. This oppression, like most others, is that of notorious, Btupid injustice, contemptible legislative and official bungling. But he is only one of many objectbra to a bad, a vicious and pitiful piece of legislation. In the District where we reside there are

above one hundred children paying to the said ischool, and yet, according to the Report, only ten attend regularly to receive instruction. Should this be a specimen of the state of tilings generally, as we fear H is, then we would say, that " slow/ amendments educationally, or in the enactments of.the Council will not remedy existing evils; a prompt, complete and an effectual reform is imperatively demanded. This leads us to notice some omissions of importance in the Inspector's tabulated statement. We complain, justly we believe, that the following columns are wanting for something like a satisfactory Table of School Statistics .— 1. A columnar exhibition of all district payments by householders; 2. Of all children for whom fees are required ; 3. Of expenses on Masters dwellings, &c.; 4. Of expenses on school houses ; 5. Of moneys paid to District Treasurers and for what purpose; 6. Of salaries of Teachers; 7. Of stipends of Inspector, &c.; 8. Of expense of general business and management. To these items might be added a column for night scholars as distinguished from day pupils; a statement of the number of day scholars attending night schools. It would be well also to classify the sexes,' ages, books in use, and proportions in the different classes of each school, with a succinct nu merical view of scholastic improvement in the schools severally and as a whole. If inspection is to be liberally paid for it should be, worthily executed, and should render its public' ,accouni quarterly. " There is it seems an increase on the books, but we are not told whether it extend to the average of actual scholars; indeed the total of the average is unsummed, as if a statement on that point might be:better let alone. Such wilful omissions are not creditable. One hundred and fourteen persons are booked for the Night Schools, without any reference to average, or the attendance of any of them in day schools, or their ages, or proficiency ; a most careless s,ort of information from an intelligent Officer. We surely ought to have a Drill Sergeant, to march the round of the schools, for the benefit of the Commanding Officers, as well as to give general notions of order and precision. Whom it concerns to publish statements similar to those subjected to our running comments, we venture not to augur; but it does appear desirable to have less irregularity and delay in the preparation and transmission of papers, from the pen of ! the Secretar}' to the public, than the period of five months, or from May to November. Our official coach can possibly quicken into a trot. Mr. Inspector, on the "slow" principle we,presume, talks of comparing the numbers attending schools with the existing population—"eventually ;" refreshing it is, very refreshing, to hear this. When it is to be done he does not determine. Sometime, however, yet lingers in futurity; so there is hope for us. Yet, we ask, where is the difficulty of a more comprehensive and satisfactory . account in the very, next revelation ? Has not Mr. Inspector enough of data in the general I statistics of the Settlement, and in the amount of school taxes and assessments ? At all events, he ' will have, from nearly the present month; Then why not render a statement in his very next piece of officialty, clearing up some of these obscurities. Is there no census of numbers, &c, in schools voluntarily supported, including nominal numbers —if they can have such an anomaly—regular paying attendance, increase or decrease, probable expense, &c. Now, does a business reference to these matters lie beyond the province of a good Inspector? We trow, it does not. If his office is to possess utility in these times, which, if wisely instituted and regulated, we do not deny,—it must hfi^viih regard to a supervision of every tiling bearing upon his important trust. He should not only be pretty well qualified for his vocation, but he should fulfil it with all his heart and soul. In the last paragraph of the Inspector's report we see an allusion to a " detailed account of each school, shewing its wants, accommodation, amount' of education given, and general progress." This is well; and is of a very redeeming character, we hope. But "the Board" to whose penetration this, most probably really important intelligence was imparted, have not seen fit to append it to the Report. So it is by no means unlikely that all our prating should be aimed at that conclave, and not so exclusively at-their far more meritorious Chief Agent and his subordinates. We shall try to ferret out the secret, and if it be so, it will be our delight to award, in our best mode, praise to whom it is due. Of the Board spoken of we desire to speak a parting word. We would recommend to them, in all lowliness, to hold their future consultations in the tub of Diogenes. Its bung-hole will give pleuty of life and light; and should they ! persist in corking up and hermetically sealing their secrets as they have done, the good people may more easily dispose of them, duly bunged and confined, and send them " home." Unless they can impart a bit or two of additional tidings respecting their doings, pro bonopublico, as we say, J the sooner they become resolved into a private or or obsolete institution the better. Certainly they must have common sense sufficiently amongst ! them to tell the public a little more of what belongs to every body!