THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY SATURDAY, JULY 19, 1913. AGRICULTURAL HIGH SCHOOL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 19 July 1913, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY SATURDAY, JULY 19, 1913. AGRICULTURAL HIGH SCHOOL.

The movement that has been made in the Masterton district in the direction of establishing on Agricultural High School will, it is hoped, be productive of tangible results in the near future. Mr G. R. Sykee, M."P., has interviewed the Minister of Education, and has been informed that something may be expected this session in the direction og extending the scope for agricultural instruction in rural districts. The establishment of an Agricultural College in the 'North Island hag ibeen definitely decided upon by the Prime Minister, but the question of locality has been deferred until the Board of Agriculture is set up. In the meantime, there is a growing feeling throughout the Dominion that an Agricultural College will not serve all the requirements in the way of instruction. There will require to be intermediary schools, at which youths of the ages of fourteen to sixteen can be trained on scientific lines. These schools would act as feeders to the College, and would be connecting link between the primary schools and the farm on the one hand, and between the schools and the College on the other. Scholarships would be awarded by agricultural societies and others, which would enable the brightest lads to pursue their studies and become competent to instruct in all branches of agriculture. In this connection it may be mentioned that Mr G. D. Braik, Director of Education to the Wanganui Education Board, recently visited Australia and made close inquiry into the working of the agricultural schools and colleges in the adjoining States. In a comprehensive report presented to the Board on Wednesday last, Mr Braik says : It may be said that the Agricultural Colleges will supply all that is required, but a moment's consideration will show that they cannot. It is the boys leaving school that we need to get hold of, and we cannot send boys of 14 or so to an 1 Agricultural College. If we do not

get hold of those boys at the right age, we run the risk of losing them altogether. Many far mere would 'be quite willing t.o leave their boys at an agricultural school till they reach the ago of lo or 17, who would not dream of sending them to an Agricultural (Joilege. Mr Braik is of opinion that the requirements of rural districts can best bo met in the establishment of junior agricultural schools, where agricul-.. ture would not be taken as a mere iside issuOj but as the main •subject, with the other subjects entirely subsidiary to it. This proposal is similar to that which has been advocated in the columns of the Age for months past. Dealing with the working of these junior agricultural schools, Mr Braik says:— English literature, including history and ethics, practioal mathematics, workshop practice, and laboratory work —these should certainly be taken; but the rest, comprising the great bulk of the instruction, should be left, within certain limits, to the instructor, who will see that .'his work is responsive to the needs of t-iu district. To make sure that the practical work done is in keeping with local needs, there should be a Junior Agricultural School Committee set up in each " group of districts where a school is established. It is not the boys alone who would be provided for at -these schools. Courses in household science am economy, poultry-raising, orcharding and dairying could be provided for the girls. ' We would suggest that Mr Braik be asked to give evidence before "the Education Committee of the" House of Representatives, so that he -may assist in designing some definite scheme which rriigjit be j brought into early operation.