OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 April 1919, Page 6

OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM.

SOME OF ITS DEFECTS, (By Alfred Colenfan.) I have recently devoted some little time to a consideration of our New Zealand educational system, more especially to the syllabus of work in force in the primary schools, and in endeavoring also to test its adequacy as the foundation upon which is built the mental equipment of our country's future citizens. Doubtless many other, persons have also pursued this inquiry, but as to the nature of the impressions and, convictions resulting therefrom, I know nothing. Speaking for myself, I must say that not only did a careful consideration of our educational system create in my mind a strong impression as to its utter inadequacy, but also gave rise to serious misgivings as to the mischievous results likely to arise, to the injury of the State by its further retention. In considering the matter of educational reform two fundamental questions rise up into view, and I venture to think that if these two questions are carefully considered, and the logical answers to them adopted and followed in remoulding our system, we shall, as a result, evolve a new and rational soheme which will prove beneficial to the individual students, and thus, ultimately, to the State. The two questions are: (1) What is meant by education ?' and (2) what is the purpose of education? The two questions may be answered aeptrately, though it would be difficult to discuss either of tiiem absolutely independently of the other. I

A concise, yet ample, reply to the first question would be that by the word "education is meant "mental training", a drawing out of the dormant faculties of the intellect into a lively and intelligent state of appreciation. I am aware that this ia not a text-book of definition, but it will serve and fulfil all of the essentials required to be answered by the question. I shall show, later on, how our present syllabus utterly fails to provide for the education of our children, the future citizens of the State.

Turning now to the second question, a proper answer would be "that the purpose of education is to cultivate the mind < with that sort of mental equipment which will enable it to reason clearly and logically." However much more may be said on this second question, and a very great i deal more can be said, the residuum of all the lepliea invariably takes form sirni- , lar in effect to the definition here given. The meaning of the answer given to this , question is clear, and its importance cannot well be exaggerated. , In New Zealand the political franchise , is very wide, and the destinies of the , State "are in the hands of the whole of , the peopl>. high and low, rich and poor, learnid and ignorant. It is of the greatest importance, therefore, that those who will have the future decision as to the , government of our country, that is, the . children of the present day, should be ( properly educated in the true sense of the word. More especially is this necessary in view of the complex questions which will arise for determination, in the futnre more frequently than in the past. The whole of our present political,/econ- , omic and social systems are even now ' in the melting-pot, and the readjustment of these systems upon logical, fair and ■ equitable bases will be well nigh impossible of accomplishment without the imposition of unnecessary hardships and disasters unless the citizens to be have had a proper mental training, based upon lines rendering them competent to think cleairly and to reason accurately. In addition, they should be taught certain positive axiomatic rules and facts which, in after life, would be found useful in the way of auxiliary general knowledge upon which to base their deductions. As the great majority of children have only some eight or nine years spent upon their school-training, it follows that the general knowledge imparted should be reduced to the essentials. Common knowledge and human experience tell us that reading, writing and arithmetic are absolutely necessary to all children, for the Teason that modern human activities, whatever shape or form they may take, demand a knowledge and use of these subjects. With the exception of arithmetic, these subjects do little towards developing the mind, except in the direction of training the memory. The other subjects of the primary syllabus might, with advantage, be considerably curtailed, both as to range and extent, and the residuuin taught in a very much better and more useful way. Take the subject of history, for example. This is, in many respects, the most important subject, but its immense potential value is totally ignored, and its priceless lessons to mankind in a large measure wasted, on account both of the actual range of events dealt with and in the manner in which it is taught. In other words, it is taught from the point of view that the object of the lessons is to enable the student to assimilate a variety of concrete and positive facts, which themselves, as often as not, are of no practical use when known. Of bourse, the proper way in which to teach history is to consider and examine with the student the outstanding events and facts which have occurred or existed in past ages, with a view to enabling the student, firstly, to comprehend them; secondly, to consider their effect upon the peoples and institutions of those ages, or, conversely, the facts and conditions that gave rise to such events; and, lastly, by reasoning and analogy, to deduce thsrefrom what state of affairs-in the future would again give rise to similar events, or to what causes may reasonably be ascribed existing conditions. When all is said and done though the accompanying mechanism of society is to-day vastly different from that of only a hundred years ago, yet human nature has not changed, nor have the motives and impulses from whicli human activities spring, during the past three thousand years. Again, even under' the present stilted system.of teaching, full value is not extracted from the variety of useful data available. .By way of illustration, I will quote an instance that came under my notice lately. One of the Manawatu newspapers recently published a leading article dealing with the present jury system, which it condemned in unmeasured terms, advocating, at the same time, trial by a judge, or judges, trained in the law, accustomed to weigh and sift evidence, expert in testing and estimating the reliability of witnesses, and uninfluenced by local or personal feelings, would be more likely to do strict justice than a jury of laymen, ignorant of the law, susceptible to emotional appeal, unaccustomed to weighing conflicting evidence, and, perhaps, imbued with personal feelings for or against the parties. The. paper also urged that a great saving of time and money to a numerous body of the public would be thereby effected. At first sight the arguments advanced by , the paper appear pa he sound and reasonable, and tliey would undoubtedly command a large share of public support if this question were submitted to a referendum of the people. Now the vita' question arises; Are the people competent to judge of the matter? Decidedly not, because they h#Y£ B«V«C tftUfht 4P»M£!U)Ig

facts and events occurring in our past history which gave rise to our jury system, and which in succeeding centuries confirmed its advantages and justified its retention. Yet all of these facts are available in the past records of our race. Some of them, indeed, are actually mentioned in our school his-, torv books, not. however, with a view to illustrating the development and useful application of ail important principle of our constitution, but only as dry facts to be memorised as the incidents of some reign or period. Consider again this jury question, for instance. The child should be taught, firstly, what a jury is, naiiTelv, an impartial body, drawn from all ranks of society, of an accused person's countrymen, appointed to pronounce judgment upon him. Secondly, that in the past the English jury system was preserved from Anglo-Saxon times, through the Norjian conquest, and has repeatedly proved a bulwark of liberty to the people. against the oppression and evil influence of corrupt judges, ministers and kings. A few historical examples where, in past times, a jury has stood between a British subject and a corrupt monarch or Minister of State, could be examined, as. for instance, the trial of the seven bishops, and also Tiushell's case concerning the trial of William Penn. It should also lie clearly explained that for a period of our history the jury system was.■.actually suspended, and trial by judges only, at least for offences against | the State, took its place. These trials took place in the notorious Court of State chamber and in the Court of High Commission, and the cruelty, venality, and in justice shown and committed there aroused such popular resentment and fury that these Courts were afterwards abolished, in 3641, and trial by jury was reverted to.

Then, from these facts and events relating to the history of the jury system should be deduced the reasons for it? retention. Fop example, though In our day the people have nothing to fear in the way of corrupt influence on the judges, by the king or Ministers of State, yet other agencies nowadays operate what wpre once the king's powers! and bureaucratic rule is becoming year by year more firmly established and more and more absolute in its nature. The question thus arises? Would it not be possible in the futilre, under a bureaucratic form of Government, for those in political power to again directly influence judges (creatures of their own appointing) in the discharge of their duties? This system even to-day obtains in Germany and many other foreign countries, and it is beyond question that, for political, State, and often social reasons, the chancelleries of tho.se countries have frequently directly influenced the decisions of their venal, subservient, and dependent judges Supposing in a future decade a highly anarchical Government were in power, and a.ppointed its own judges, can anyone suppose that, in a case where the interests of a person on trial ran counter to those of the Government or to the class of persons who supported it, such nersons would have a fair and impartial trinl and unprejudiced verdict at the hands of such a judge? One thing, and one thinsr onlv, would save such person, and that, would be the twelve good men and true, the common jury of his countrvmen.

Events akin to those suggested may j

yet come to pass in this land, and at or before that time the question of tha abolition of trial by jury may be decided by the people or their' representatives. I ask, what knowledge of the; evolution of and justification for the retention of the jury system have our people, or their representatives, got in order to enable them to safely decide the question Plenty of historical data exists, but our system of niching history ignores it all- in il;, .o we are carefully taught that the Jmltle of Hastings was fought in 10GU and that King Alfred burnt tjie scones that he was supposed to be cooking. It is impossible to mention all of the defects in our teaching' system and in our syllalms, but the outstanding, evil is that the subjects taught are not the best available for the purposes of mental training. For instance, why are not logic and mental science taught in the secondary schools, and Euclid in the primary schools? Our system does not develop initiative or the analytical mind. The result is shown in the university, where practically none of our students proceed to research work in any of the faculties of law, science, medicine, or arts. They are content with degrees which merely certify the possession of a certain quantity of bare knowledge. This will have a disastrous result on the progress of the race unless the systew is recast from primary schools to university. ' .Again, would it not be most useful to teach the elements of political economy to the higher classes in the primary schools, and a more advanced course in the secondary schools? By these means the citizen of the future would obtain a clearer conception of the natural laws that govern the relationships between States and between the State and the individual, and would escape the influence of many a vicious and unsound doetrine in later life-

At present the matter of educational reform apparently concerns no one. The education boards and their inspectors are concerned wholly with, administrative duties, the Education Department sleeps soundly upon the original Act, which has long outlived it* usefulness, and the Council of Education neriodicallv delivers oracular statements and then rebuses into its usual comatose condition. The Minister of Education is reported to take an interest in his work, and it is to lie hoped thht lie will shortly actively demonstrate that rumor is not always a lying jade He will certainIv find a field, fallow at the,hands of his predecessors in office, ready for the plough and the sowing.