RURAL HIGH SCHOOLS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3210, 9 June 1909, Page 3

RURAL HIGH SCHOOLS.

CONFERENCE AT GREYTOWN. In the opinion of the InspectorGeneral of Schools (Mr G. Hogben), the courses of instruction at present afforded do not harmonise with the needs of their environment, and he has>uggested to the Education Board that the instruction at these institutions should have more an "agricultural bias." His suggestions were embodied in a letter received by the Wellington Education Board recently, and formed the subject of an important conference, which was held at Greytown on Monday last, when there were present: —Mr Robert Lee (chair, man of the Wellington Education Board). Messrs T. R. Fleming and F. H. Bakewell (the boarjs in-, specters), and Messrs W. H. Jackson, A. N. Burns, and A. B. Charters (headmasters of the Masterton, Carterton and Greytown District High Schools respectively.) Mr Fleming explained that the Department had agreed to pay capitation grant at the rate of £5 10s per pupil, if a syllabus of work, based principally on subjects adapted to the needs of a farming community, and covering a period of not less than 20 week, were introduced in the board's rural district high schools. The subjects suggested in a tentative syllabus which had been drafted by Mr Hogben included English, arithmetic, and book-keeping, geography, and civics and economies, physics, dairying, and physical instruction, for both boys and girls; drawing, to scale and building construction, surveying and mensuration, woodwork, elementary physiology, and the physiology of farm animals, for boys only; hygiene and physiology, dressmaking, cookery and household economy, for girJa orly. The matter would come before the bo„rd at its first meeting, said Mr Fleming; in any case the new syllabus would not become operative until the following year, and the conference was primarily arranged, so Jhafc the headmasters might hear the proposals read ar.d discuss the questions in the meantime. He said there was no doubt that it had to be taced, and that pupils attending at the rural high schools should be given a gentle hint that work of the nature indicated by Mr Hogben that the capitation proposed (£5 10s) would be in addition to the regular grants paid to the district high schools. Mr Jackson was afraid that the proposals would not be favourably received so far as the Masterton people were concerned. It would be impossible to prepare their secondary pupils for the junior Civil Service and matriculation examinations if 20 hours a week were devoted to a programme of wcrk of the nature suggested by the In-spector-General. There were left only four hours for such subjects as Latin and mathematics, which was quite inadequate. Mr Burns thought that it might be possible to so arrange the programme that pupils not desiring to take the agricultural course could be enabled to take Latin and mathematics, which were compulsory subjects in the Junior Civil Service and matriculation examinations. Mr Fleming pointed out that the proportion of candidates who were successful in these examinations was small compared with the number passing through the secondary department annually. He thought that so far as the rural high schools were concerned, very, little benefit accrued from a study of the subjects prescribed in the course for these examinations. Mr Jackson said tnat there was a feeling that the passing of the matriculation examination indicated a standard of culture. Mr Bakewell ridiculted the idea. Matriculation Latin was not Latin in the cultured sense. The knowledge of Latin possessed by the average matriculation candidate was absolutely useless unless the student intended to follow a classical course at the university. After some further discussion, the conference terminated. The question will, in the meantime, be thoroughly gone into in all its barings by the board and its inspectors. —"Dominion."