EDUCATIONAL REFORM.
REPRESENTATIVE PUBLIC MEETING. '* A public meeting w held at the BoWlerS 1 Club last night for the purpose'of endesvotira to induce the authorities to undertake tie improvement o,' educational facilities In' No* Wi land. There was a representative attendant i of about 80 citizens. Mr. E. W. D. Bobsrtsof , was voted to the chair, and read a number OJ apologies for absence. Mr. Noah read the notice convening tbi meeting, and spoke of the .'sal purpose, whWt was not a destructive criticism of the Depart. ment of Education and the Government, but an i effort to aroma public opinion In the nutter ol demanding educational reforms. He xetencat briefly to some movements In the same dlreetta that were taking place in other countries. ,' Mrs. Bowling, headmistress of the Wast Eni School, gave a brief address, in which she deal • with the alms of the New Zealand Teachers.' Institute, Which were really to awaken the' pub, I lie to the great need for improved condition) > and facilities for educational purposes. J3h( . said much brain-power bad bean lost as a re- ' suit of the War, and the bora and gbli of the ! present School generation would have to 111 the gaps left. Only With adequate education ' would the country be able to face the after* war problems. The great weakness of the I ent age was the wastage of power and Intelt Icct, and the education given was not adequate . to equip the country for the new problems 1 that would arise after the war. She made • , lengthy reference to the Improvements effected . In the Ehgllsh system since the war to meet the hew demands. ' Mr. S. O. Smith, in dealing with the New ■ Zealand education system, referred to the com- , pulsory clauses of the Education Act, and urge< the extension of the age limit beyond fourteen years, by which children passing the primary school should be obliged to attend a secondary or technical school, or continuation classes, Ho dealt with the neglect, of the bsckblockg districts, and said that least attention was given in the places where most was needed. . Be objected to the system which asked—at any rate by Inference—that settlers should proi vide land for school sites, and in some case) supplement the building funds and also thl 1 teacher's salary. He hoped that In the verj i near future better provision would be mad* for the backblocks. He mentioned the pubr ltshed reply by the Director of Education to recent criticisms, but failed to find anything 14 It to suggest that immediate reform was contemplated. Dealing with the matter of limiting | the size ot> classes, he said the principle hoc. , been affirmed In. connection with secondary education, and he did not see why it should • not be applied to the primary department. Oflti cere of the Department had refused, point blank applications for grants for school purposes, ant he believed if the officers persisted in such ai attitude, and continued to look at the matter only from the point of view of the cost to the ' State, the sooner they got officers of a different ■ kind the better. He knew there was much conj ■ But of opinion amongst experts on the raatSS tar, and that was somewhat bewildering to those: ' who looked for improvement in the system. ?<j. congratulated the West End School Committee. upon its action in convening the meeting, and upon the •evident interest in the subject. . The chairman said the very representative attendanee was an indication that a strong, > public opinion was being aroused as to whether • the present attitude of the Government regard-' . Ing educational reform as a post-war measure should be allowed to continue. He was quite In i agreement with the policy that regarded the , warning of the war as the first necessity, but ■ ho bellevod the reforms being asked for by! the Educational Institute and tho public would. i assist to that end. It must be seen to that the fruits of the fighting were not lost, other-., wise it would be no use continuing. After the ' war the question of rebuilding the world would , arise, and If we were less prepared than Germany tor that Struggle then we should be i defeated. Germany had been ahead of Britain' In the matter of education prior to tho war, and ) we had made no real attempt to compete with; the European system. If we were prepared to face the after-war problems In an unprepared: State We should deserve to go under. In the.] new English system it was not a question off going cap In hand to the Minister for money. <j Be had the money voted, and said that eachs district should spend so much on education, i and the question was not one of politics and': votes at all England had been awakened by adversity to the necessity for a higher stand- , srd of efficiency in the matter of education if She was to defeat the enemy in the economic war. He considered tho meeting was a'Strong indication that the public of this district was not satisfied to leave the question of the sys-' tem of education In New Zealand until after the war. He Instanced changes effected In some parts of the Empire, and In conclusion, in making a pies for the better staffing of schools,. 1 said that the national character was largely ■ the result of the teaching received in primary; [ and secondary schools. i Mr, Percy White followed, and concluded that . 1 from the Character of the meeting immediate i results were demanded In response to the agl- , tatlon that was going on all over the Dominion. 1 The New Zealand system was fine in theory, ' but the unfortunate position was that, when ;i , money was required for Its development It wet'] neSStiarv to go with cap in hand to the Mln-;;. later and beg for it. That was a i weakness In the system. . When new schools} i were wanted settlers had to put their hands in.| their pockets to supplement the vote for edu-1 ' oatlon. The first thing was to get a bigger vote,-S ' and he thought tho country could well afford to 5 • Increase its present grant for the purpose three- ; fold. The system should co-ordinate with the;] ' needs of the child in after life. These natters ' Should be forcibly *brotigbt wider the notice of < members ef Parliament, and some good might j result,' , ~ > Mr. W. H. Moyes, after espresslns: pleasured that the public was now taking 4n interest In. the education 6f the children, referred to the little Inducement offered men to enter the teaching profession. He Instanced that, of Bev- s onty-slx boys who had passed through the local high school, attaining the matriculation stand-. , ard, only three were taking up the teaching, profession. That was largely, if not wholly,* > on account of the poor remuneration offered, . and something would hate to be done' to make.; the profession more remunerative. ' Mr. J. Morton (senior Inspector) also erI pressed pleasure at the signs of public Interest. . hvthe matter. He said tho obieeß Of the i institute were to urge the necessity for reform, 1 and not to indulge in destructive criticism. He ! admitted, however, that the whole question of reform hinged on the amount of money that . could be got from the Minister of.Finance for educational purposes. Tho reforms must 1 oonw from the people, and if they were pre-; ; i pared to find the money ho was <fulte sure; the Department would make the- required > 1 changes. It was unfair to blame departmental, i officials, for the matter was not In their control. He touched on the various questions raised by previous speakers, and said that the, reduction of the slbe of classes depended on the production of more teachers, and M . again depended largely on the- question of the : . remuneration offered. The references to Ger- . t many leading iti education were a little mis- . leading. She did not lead In primary educa- . Hon, but she was pre-eminent in her work dm--1 ing the adolescent period. Other speakers dealt | ■ with various aspects of the question, and oven- - i tuallv tho following motion, moved by Mr. J. ' Garcia, and seconded by Mr. A. C. Downes, was carried unanimously: I "That this meeting of representatives of the - public of New Plymouth urges upon the Government, and particularly upon the Minister ' of Jlnsnce, the necessity of increasing tho 1 education vote, so as to provide adequate sums of money to enable the Department of Education to carry out the much-neaded reforms as 1 outlined In the Educational Institute's circular. Mr. H. J. Okey, M.P., who was Invited to speak, congratulated tho district on the evidence of interest in educational matters, and ! referred to the difficulty of getting money • voted for Teforms. He said If the grants asked for for educational matters last session had been made it would have meant half a million ' • of money. (Cries of "Vote It," and 'lt's worth i the price.") Continuing, Mr. Okey drow attention to the difficulty of getting teachers to go to small schools in the backblocta, and I suggested some system of district centralisation. That, however, he said, Involved the making of proper road communication, and so the ' difficulties increased. On the motion of Mr. J. Clarke, tho following committee was set up to further the decision of the meeting: Messrs W. Nnsh (con- • venor), J. Sanders, I. Clarke, H. Cocker, A. Ci Downes, 8. G Smith, and E. C. Bates. > A vote of thanks to the chtlr concluded the '
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Taranaki Daily News, 28 June 1918, Page 5
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1,595EDUCATIONAL REFORM. Taranaki Daily News, 28 June 1918, Page 5
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