OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 236, 10 February 1911, Page 2

OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM

SPEECH BY THE MINISTER. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Auckland, Yesterday. An important speech was made by the Minister of Education at the opening of | the (ircy Lynn School tni,s afternoon. The Minister, after referring lo tile progress of education under the national, free, secular, and compulsory system, said he had always avoided anything in the nature of political partisanship in the administration of the department, and many of his political opponents publicly testified to this fact. It was true there luid been agitations in favor of introducing Bible lessons, lint at election times the great mass of the people had been unmistakably in favor of maintaining the existing system, which had served the country so well. The present Government stood by the present system. Personally he stood unequivoeably for the maintenance of the existing system, and rather than be a party to any fundamental change he would prefer being excluded altogether from the public life of the Dominion. The will of the people must prevail, and tile democracy of the country would look critically at any proposal tending to take us back to the dangerous and unsatisfactory bypaths of denominationalism .rom which we escaped after much tribulation in 1877.