HIGH SCHOOL.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1891, 10 November 1874, Page 3

HIGH SCHOOL.

To the Editor of the Thamks Advertiser. Sib,—Such an institution, if established here, and as a matter of course endowed liberally with a certain portion of the lands or funds of the province or the colony, whichever it might be, would no doubt have a very " high" sound, as we might be certain, at all events, that this would not be the least portion of its immediate usefulness to this community. I trust it will not be out of place for rao to give my opinion as to the effect that " sound" and its cause will have upon the schools now established on the Thames. I hat such a school will be necessary here eventually cannot be disputed; but the question of its being established at the present' time is a subject worthy of the most serious consideration of those whose interest it is to consider the whole subject relating to it. 'o get at this matter, practically, as to the necessity of having a High School: First-is it uccessary because there is not sufficient accommodation for the pupils now attending those schools in the district? becond—are some of the pupils attendiug those schools so far advanced in their studies that the teachers are not able to give them that instruction which they require? Thirdly—are there attending those schools a number of boys who are, in accordance with the principles of the Education .Act, debarred from receiving any further instruction in those schools ? At present, and will bo so for some time to come, those questions can be truly answered in the negative. With reference to the first question, it may bo that any one school for a time is too thronged with children; if so, as long as there is sufficient accommodation in other schools quite as convenient, why incur unnecessary expense for the purpose of pleasing, I might say, the fancy of some individuals who, for a lime, may wish to send their children but to one certain school? As the last paragraph is, to some extent, a digression from (though not irrelevant to) my subject, I will proceed no further in this direction, but as 1 have given my reasons why I think a High School is not necessary here at the present time, I will now state the "effect" it would have upon our common schools if it was establishedFirst, it would be the cause of taking from the common schools the greater number, if not all, of the respectable boys attending those schools. Secondly, when the more respectable pupils would leave the. common schools, the character of those schools w0u1.4 become sq dctoriq*

•ated that you would get no respectable ■eachcr to take charge of any of them. Thirdly, a school without a respectable Master or respectable pupils would be, of jourse, equal only to a ragged school, which character, I contend, would destroy the only vitality in our common schools. These are chiefly the reasons why, at the present time, the erection of a High r" chool, I consider, would An more harm than good. Since writing the above I have heard persons advocating the establishment of what they call " a superior school." It's true you may erect a superior building for a school-house thau any we have in' uso at the present time, but the question is,' will we get to take charge of it a teacher superior to any we have in the other or inferior. schools ? I am of opinion that we will not. Then where lies the superiority expected to be found in that certain -school ? Simply in its being a select school. Well, sir, the reasons I have given against the establishment of a High School hold equally as good in this case, whilst the injustice done to the public by requiring them to support the latter would be. greater than thul of supporting the former.—l am, &c, M. O'Haibe.