TIMARU HIGH SCHOOL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1441, 15 December 1885, Page 2

TIMARU HIGH SCHOOL.

The annual distribution of prises in connection with the aboye school took took,place last Friday, There was a large attendance of pupils, their friends, and (he general public. The school was decorated with flowers, and in the smaller rooms there was a magnificent display of the work done by the scholars.

The Yen. Archdeacon Harper presided, and briefly referred to the progress made by the school. Mr A. L. Halkett-Dawson, the Rector, then read his annual report. He said that the school closed this year with 12S pupils as against 312 last year, and 90 in 1883. The effort made to recognise what he termed the industrial element in education had been very successful, and he hoped that, though no trade could be taught, a good moral effect would be produced. Referring to fresh air for schools he said : —“ In order to see if the air is or is not detrimental to health, take a 10| ounce bottle with half an ounce of clear lime water, and place it in a room whose air you want to experiment with. After an interval cork and shake the bottle ; if the air gives no precipitate, it is safe to breathe it; if there is a precipitate, lassitude, headache, and weariness are sure to ensue. Under such circumstances, teachers should clear the room and flush it with fresh air, by opening windows and doors. The better work done after reassembling would soon make up for the short interval. I should like to see tho general adoption of thia lime-water test for the detection of carbon-dioxide in the air of churches, theatres, assemblies and schools.”* The Hon. W. Solleston bn being called upon was greeted with loud applause. After having expressed his thanks to the Board for having invited him to present the prizes, he referred to his connection with educational matters 20 years ago. “ The only public school then existing in Timaru was held in a room 24ft x 12ft, originally a woolshed, not weatherproof, with insufficient playground and appliances, and the number of children on the books was 48. Ten years later I was present at the opening of the school buildings costing some £SOOO, with an attendance of 500. To-day it ia my privilege to attend the annual festival of a school which is doing good work in the promotion of what is called secondary or higher education. It may, I think, be assumed that the majority of the people of this colony is firmly bent on the maintenance of the primary portion of our national system, though there are differences of opinion as to what is called the religious difficulty and as to various matters of detail. Under this system already in New Zealand the primary subjects of instruction are taught and will continue to be taught; but as to whether the secondary schools and university should be part *f the

national system, and be maintained out of public funds there is considerable controversy, There are not wanting those who would raise a cry against the State having atiy functions beyond providing for the acquirements embraced in the knowledge of the three R’s, and who would have us believe that all beyond this helps to the creation of a privileged cl ass at the expense of the general public. For my own part I do not sympathise with this feeling, and I am proud to think that New Zealand has determined not to be behind America, Germany, Switzerland and the rest of the civilised world is h®r estimate ot what is her duty in this matter. The Republic of Letters knows no class distinction. A free State pressing forward in the race of self improvement does not dole out so much of instruction as it thinks is a sufficient equipment for the lees fortunate in the race for wealth: It offers equally to all its members facilities to mount from the lowest to the highest step or. the ladder of knowledge. What does Democracy mean to us 1 It lias been well defined to be ‘an 'equal chance to all—a fair field for the best men, let them start from where they will, to get to the front—a clearance-out of sham governors and of unjust privilege in every department of human affairs.’ Of all our Democratic institutions those which are the most levelling are, as has been well pointed by Professor Sale, the University Colleges and High Schools of the country. They open a road by which the sons of men of small means have access to social distinction, and to the highest positions in the country. As a matter of fact, a large proportion of those who have distinguished themselves in the High School and University examinations are yonths who have worked their way onwards from the primary schools. It is most satisfactory to know that at present, considering her population, New Zealand has ns many students receiving University Education as any country in the world. It is especially satisfactory to Miose who, like myself, look forward to the day when New Zealand will be legislated for mainly by New Zealanders born in the country ; when patriotism will assert itself against all inducements held out to sacrifice the future for the present and doubtful advantages, and when a standard of worth will be established other than' wealth -the outcome of cultivated intellect and high personal character. Knowledge and virtue, as Mr Gladstone reminded ns the other day, have alone an intrinsic right to govern. It is said we cannot afford the expense of our system of High School and University education. I reply we cannot afford to do without it. It has been well said ‘The competition of (he world has become the competition of intellect.’ Sir Lyon Playfair, in his recent address as President of the British Association, speaking of the relations of science to the public weal, says ‘ A nation in its industrial progress when the competition of the world is keen, cannot stand still ; three conditions alone are possible for it—it may go forward, • retrograde, or perish. Its extinction as a great nation follows its neglect of higher education, for as described in the proverbs of Solomon ; They that hate instruction love death. Speaking of the colonies, he adds, ‘ The colonies being young countries, value their raw materials as the chief source of wealth. When they become older they will discover it is not in these, but in the culture of scientific intellect that their future prosperity depends. . . . Higher education is the

condition of higher prosperity and the nation which neglects to develop the intellectual factor of production must degenerate, for it cannot 'stand still. Thus much I have said on the general question of higher education forming part of any truly national system. On the question of the position of High Schools in New Zealand in relation to the University and to the primary schools, and the manner in which they are fulfilling their functions, I speak, with some hesitancy. If they are not as successful in their own sphere as the primary schools are in the range of sub-jects-with which they .deal, it is partly because public opinion oscillates between the necessity for that liberal and general training which has for its object the drawing out and strengthening of a man’s faculties as a thinking being, and that, special scientific instruction (to which Sir Lyon Playfair refers in the speech from which I have quoted) which deals with the objects upon which his attention and observation will be engaged in the practical work of life, be it a‘profession or a trade. The real goal to be aimed at in higher education, both in the High Schools and Universities, is, I take it, the blending of the study of science in due proportion with the study of what is called ‘humane letters,’ t > the exclusion cf neither, hut giving opportunities for different developments to different classes of mind, The University with its professorial clasies is able to group its pupils according to their several proclivities, and in its programme for degrees has given scientific study a not undue prominence without setting aside the “ humanitiesbut in the High Schoole a struggle is liable to arise under the existing diversity of management, which is not unlikely to work fprejudicially to the interests of higher education. The desire for what is practical and immediately renumerative in a money-making country is not unlikely to win in a conflict with the desire for that mental training and culture which is of slow growth and of difficult attainment. The danger we shall then have to fear is the cramming the memory with heterogeneous ill-assorted facts —a, cramming which tends to the dissipation and enfeebling of the powers of the mind. In a word, we shall have too much reading and too little thinking. If we attempt to turn out our youths walking encyclopedias of useful knowledge instead of men with cultivated intellects and strengthened powers of reason, our High Schools will become the haunts of showey shallowness and pretentious pedantry, I am speaking of a bock ahead, I do not know of any instance of that of which I have spoken, but I do not . think the safeguards against such a state of things are sufficient. The present Minister of Education, in his valuable statement »f the work of his Department, says with regret:—‘The Government has no direct control over them (the High Schools); it cannot prescribe their course of study, nor can it interfere with their internal management, nor can it even pro- . vide that their course of tuition shall stand in a proper relation to that of the primary schools or of the University. I concur in this regret, and am of opinion

that without loss of individuality, or of local interest, the High Schools should h<‘ brought into more direct and systematic relation to the Education Department and the national system of education.” The hon. gentlemen wound up with some sound advice to the pupils, and at the conclusion was loudly applauded. The prizes, which were numerous and valuable, were next given away by Mr Rolleston, after which speeches were delivered by the Rev. T. Jasper Bir.yth, Rev. T. A; Hamilton, Rev. W. Gillies, Mr John Jackson, nhd Mr John Talbot, and after the usual votes of thanks the proceedings terminated.