THE EDUCATION SYLLABUB.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 81864, 13 October 1906, Page 2

THE EDUCATION SYLLABUB.

A MINISTERIAL STATEMENT.

t». » i (Per Press Association.) Wellington. October 12. 111 reply to various statements made during the discussion on the Education Estimates in the House yestuiday afternoon, the Minister of Education said ho had listened with a good deal of interest to the remarkß made. He hoped to improve matters in course of lime, but the opposite views expressed showed the impossibility of giving unanimous satisfaction. The comments about the syllabus he thought hardly justifiable at present. Firstly, the new syllabus had only been in operation for two and a half years. It was unreasonable to expect that teachers and inspectors all over the colony would at once fall into line in the operation. of the new syllabus. It was quite clear, ffom the Aemalrks of teachers in some parts of the colony, at any rate, that the syllabus had given 'satisfactory results, both to teachers and scholars. Failure in ill's respect had been due to the inability of someone to grasp the true meaning and intent of the syllabus. He was satisfied that with the advent of new teachers, trained in their colleges, a good many of the difficulties experienced with teachers trained in other methods would disappear, also that the appointment of younger men to the positions of inspectors would enable the spirit of the syllabus to be appreciated and applied. Then the colony would get the very best results. The regulations, he thought, had been in the past too responsive to pressure under unusual circumstances, and whatever troubles had arisen were due to the fact that they had been amended so frequently on account of special cases. Coming into office as lie had dono on the opening of' Parliament, he had not proposed to submit the syllabus to the Education Committee this year. He did not think fl would have been right to throw the syllabus on the floor of the Education Committee without submitting any policy of his own. He had therefore held it over. He intended, however, at the earliest opportunity to go through the syllabus with the officers of the Department early in the new year. The two yearly assemblages of the inspectors would be held, and he hoped to have some amendments for the criticism of tho3e who had the administration and interpretation of the syllabus. At the next meeting f Parliament, die whole of the results of the criticism of the inspectors would be put before the Education Committee, and lie hoped they would be able to got tl.e syllabus into very best shape. As to centralisation, a good deal of this had been forced on the Department. The whole tendency of recent legislation had been in that direction, notably m respect to the administration of the colonial scale of salaries, teachers' superannuation, and increase in the manual and technical work, whilst even now membors were urging the adoption of a uniform scale of books, leading to more centralisation. As to the backblocks, he need only say that he was in hearty sympathy with what had been urged on behalf of the people in the outlying districts. It was very largely a matter of cost, but he was perfectly satisfied that no country in t|je world was prepared to pay such a high rale for a small number of children in the backblocks of New Zealand.