The Secondary Schools Bill.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 252, 23 November 1903, Page 4

The Secondary Schools Bill.

(Wellington Evening P«st.)

It is questionable whether the Secondary Scb/iols BUI, which w«s passed through the House on Tuesday, will satisfy, the expectations which were raised by the (Premier's promises, or, what is of still greater importance, whether it will be a real contribution towards increasing the efficiency of our educational system. Like many more Bills which have been promoted during recent years, ■it was introduced with a geeat flourish of trumpets, as if it provided a panacea for all our educational ills. It is a step in that direction, and that is something, but we have many more steps to take before we can say that we are witfcin measurable distance of the goal attaanod toy other countries. The Bill aims at the extension of secondary education, and the reorganisation of our present endowed secondary schools. The first condition of a comprehensive scheme of national education is a true classification, which should provrde a scientific basis for the or- «™.« of our primary, secorithat -„„ pupilZn afte 'thTpat a secondary school until he has obtained a certificate of competency £ the subjects of Standard V. or a «.#T S^ Dd r 1 o( the P"°lic school sjlabus." The minimum we think 19 low ; but it is a beginning, and this established, it will be an eaty matter to raise the standard later on. There is a proviso, however, that pupils who have not obtained such a certificate of competency may be admitted to a lower department of a secondary school, but they must be taught either in a separate buiWing or in a separate classroom and, further, it must be shown to the satisfaction of the Minister that no part of the actual cost of their instruction is met out of the endowments of the school. That is to say, primary work mev be done at a secondary school, hut such primary work must be self-support-ing.

From tho point of view of a welldefined system of education such a proviso is vicious. We recognise the practical difficulty that stands in the way, but Uhe State cannot afford to differentiate between its children. Neither can it allow its children to be subjected to an education that does not educate. The whole question of private schools should bt faced, for the effect of this proviso will bo an increase in the number of private schools. The sooner these schools are brought under the effective supervision ofthe Department tho better. The second main provision of the Bill is that free places shall be provided by endowed secondary schools, and, failing this, that scholarships shall be offered of a total annual value e*jmal %o one-fifth of the net annual income derived from endowments. This provision requires very rareful consideration. There are some secondary schools that hare not been able to see their «axto accept this condition, and that mainly on the giround.of finance. The efficiency of secondary education depends upon the number and efflciencv of the tearhimr staff. Anything that will tend t,, under-staffing the schools must ineviUbly react upon the standard maintained and the quality of the education imparted. Borne of our secondary schools are suffering from this delect alreadv ; and should that provision be enforced without an adequate compensation being made the very end which the Hill contemplates will be debated. It may be said that clause 5 meets this contingency. Rut clause "> only provides for grants to l, e made where free places have be-a granted, whereas clause 4, which attaches scholarships in lieu of free places, assumes the form of penalty for-refusing to giant free places. The weakness of the Bill is in its omissions. Th»re is not a word said as to the pupils for whom free places are to be provided, how manv have to be selected annually, by whom the selection is to be made, and by what standard. H'e have only deul't with some aspects of the Bill' The measure is too important to fie rushed through the House at the tail end of the session, when the mombers are weary and anxious to return to their homes. The Premier would do well to withdraw the Bill, and bring it down at the beginning ofthe next session of Parliament.