The Daily News. TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 1921. BACKWARD CHILDREN.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 January 1921, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 1921. BACKWARD CHILDREN.

The question of devising a system that will solve the problem of educating backward children, or retardates as they are technically called, has been frequently discussed, but so far without producing any practical remedy. The report of the special committee appointed by the Educational Institute to consider this matter, while furnishing some interesting ' and useful statistics, fails to throw any new light on the question, though it reiterates the wellknown fact that retardation is not due to any one cause. Naturally low intelligence is chiefly held responsible for the failure of children to make normal progress at school, but there are many factors contributing to the trouble, and' •until each of these is carefully studied and scientifically combatted, backward and sub-normal children will continue to be a drag on school work, and a severe trial on the tact and patience of the teachers. It is only necessary to scan the results of competitive examinations in order to see how the more highly intelligent children differ in their attainments, so that it is easy to conceive the width of the gap that separates these from their backward schoolmates. The report recognises this by claiming that the grading of children of superior ability is as important a problem as the diagnosis of children of inferior ability. The expenditure on education in the Dominion has risen to a very high figure, though it is still far short of actual needs, and if the backward children are to be given a fair chance of making good there will have to be still further demands on the taxpayers. The cost, of education should not be regarded as mere national expenditure, for it is an investment of the very best kind, inasmuch as the future of the country depends on the development of the intelligence of its children on sane and sound lines. It has to be remembered, also, that the brightest scholars do not always make the most useful citizens, and that the plodders have a way of making good, slowly yet surely. There is, however, that unfortunate class which is only sparsely endowed with intelability aud diffjwltg-

of expanding and stimulating this almost barren soil has yet to be overcome. Heredity, environment, conditions of life, temperament and many other factors contribute to what in some cases is a blank wall of impressionless thinking faculties that fail to respond to ordinary methods of education. It is, therefore, imperative that special means be devised to deal with the worst eases, and that p'art of the training of teachers should consist of practical lessons in the applied science of stimulating intelligence in retardates. The suggestion of the committee to apply intelligence tests in typical schools by qualified persons after the children have been classified by their own teacher does not appear calculated to do more than merely classify, and the head teacher should certainly be qualified to do that wqrk. It is significant, however, that the report was refer’ed back to the committee to ascertain how much retardation was due to insufficient and poor accommodation and incompetent teachers. In the larger schools, where the younger children are taught by, or under the personal supervision of an experienced teacher, the backward children have a chance of intellectual development, but in the small country schools with a sole teacher, and possibly only a probationer to help, the backward children must mostly go to the wall, while the evil is all the greater where the teacher is incompetent and the accommodation insufficient. It would seem that if any real attempt is to be made to solve this difficult problem it must start with the infants, but whether by means of kindergarten or Montesiori methods., or a blending of the best features of both these systems, is for the experts to decide. It is quite possible that the shortage of teachers, and the necessity for employing those who are either unfitted for this special work or lack the qualifications necessary for success, may have intensified the problem, yet the’ blame, if any, rests with the authorities responsible for the whole educational system for not having evolved a scheme for dealing with backward children, and equipping teachers specially to deal with such cases. The matter is one that should no longer be left in abeyance, for the solution of the problem means a great deal to the future of the Dominion, besides having an important bearing on social matters, as well as uplifting the standard of intelligence and morality of the community.