"THE COUNTRY CHILD."

Taranaki Daily News, 1 July 1920, Page 9

"THE COUNTRY CHILD."

, HIS SPORTING CHANCE. ; The Prince of Wales, by claiming for very child born into the land a fair orting chance," has consecrated an old irase to a new use. If by "a fair iorting chance" we mean a fair and ;ual start in the race for life, then the mntry child is not getting his chance, eis very seriously handicapped in sev• • al ways. THE "SHACK" SCHOOL. In the first place, the country suffers luch more than the more populous pares •om the evil of the "shack" school. In le towns, where Board members most » scintillate, this evil can be seen and opular clamour leads to amendments; ut in the remote districts no one can se and no one cares. It is true'that l this respect a good deal of improvelent has been made of late years. There i, however, still too much of the feeling hat any sort of hovel is good enough or the country district far away from he light that shines pn the Board office. HEALTH AND STRENGTH. Secondly, the country child is not geting his fair share of attention in the natter of medical inspection and physial instruction. Nearly one-third of the hildren are enrolled in schools of. less han one hundred pupils, and these ichools have not yet come within the ■ icope of medical inspection, and have inly to a slight extent profited by the ittentions of the physical instructors, rhis is a double-weighted . kind ->f lahdioap against the country child, for ' jy the very nature of the case medical ittention and advice are harder to ob;ain in districts remote from the centres. CONSOLIDATION. In the third place, the country child suffers from the fact that he is taught n one of several classes under one teaeh;r, whereas the best teaching can be given only where there is a single teacher to a single class; and that slouid be no larger, than the total number the country teacher has to deal with in several classes —often as many, as eight. This cannot be altogether remedied, bur i great deal could be done if educational business was done in an educational way There are many cases where several small schools could be consolidated into one, where pupils could be properly classified and given that part of the "fair spoHing chance" under proper educational conditions. In other cases tiie senior pupils could be collected in an adaptation of what have been calle-l "central tops"—a system that holds out considerable promise for districts where the younger children could not suitably be carried to a "consolidated" school. THE UNCERTIFICATED TEACHER. Fourthly, and, for the present, finally, the country child does not always get a "fair sporting chance" in the matter of hia teacher. There are not enough teachers in the country. The country needs at least two thousand more certificated teachers, and there is no indication yet that it intends to see about getting them. It is the people themselves that must make the demand; then it would be granted. And it is the country people—the parents of the country pupils—who have most at stake. Nearly a third of the pupils are in the small scliools; nearly a third of the teachers are uncertificated—that is, unqualified for their work; and nearly all these unqualified teachers are employed in the small schools in the country. Even if the very best teachers were selected for tho country schools the pupils there would still be at a disadvantage from the very nature of the conditions under which they live their school life. But the best teachers are not found in the country schools: they follow the larger salaries into the larger schools where they work under the best of conditions, ani the more fortunate town pupil gets all the benefit. His country cousin, besides having to go to the dingy, stuffy, unwholesome "shack" school, is compelled to battle with adversity in the shape s>f teaching-power divided among several classes —often many classes —the teach-ing-power itsejf often of a kind that has no qualification for the work, and that ought not to be engaged in it. Small chance the country child has of his "fair sporting chance" under such conditions. ■ THE DOUBLE LOSS. It is here that the. greatest amount of "brain-waste" is going on. These conn- j try children are the sons and daughters of the most vigorous and enterpriaiiss) members of the community, the vert'j children who may be expected to g'uV i the |}sst return for "money invested" in j education; and yet they are being robbed of their chance and the country is being deprived of the benefit it might gain by treating them better. WHAT IS TO BE DONE.? What remedy is to be applied? There are several, each valuable up to a certain point. In the first place, the country must secure more teachers and train them better for their work. Only the best young men and women are good enough for teachers, and if they are to be got they must be paid. And when they have been secured their teachingpower must be used in the most economical way. One way of securing this is the method of consolidation of schools. For reasons which do not appear on the surface, this has not been given a trial in this country, but common sense and the multiplication of motor-cars will eventually triumph and great benefits will result. Furthermore, a due proportion of the best teachers must be induced to stay in the country. Salary .will have something to do with that, but the people themselves will have more to do with it than salary. The people of a district mu3t learn to welcome a teacher as a friend, to look on the school as the most important local institution, and to assist it in every reasonable way. The people of a district must severely suppress the bumptiousness, not now often met with, of a certain type of committeeman who appears to think that he exists for the purpose of exercising a little brief authority; the people of a district should among them assure to a young lady who may be sent to them from the Training College at least a decent and comfortable home; the people of a district, by realising that education for their children will yield a much better return than superphosphate for their fields, will see reason' to support their school and assist in every reasonable way the teacher in his efforts to secure for the young people of the district their "Sail snorting chance."