The Waikato times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. TUESDAY, JAN. 29, 1889.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2582, 29 January 1889, Page 2

The Waikato times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

TUESDAY, JAN. 29, 1889.

Kinial :imi <:xart]i:sta:r. n> all ini-n, _ Of .vhatsocver state or persuasion, religious or political-

The Board of Education senior and junior scholarship awards have been 'declared. We sire bound to say that tin; results arc, by no moans, s.i'ist'actory to cither the country candidates or the country teachers. With reference to the senior scholarships, wo will make only a brief observation. With one exception they were all won by boys of the Auckland College and Grammai .School. The one exception was a «irl from the Thames High School, 'i'h (j A uckland College and Grammar School gained four out of the tive scholastic prizes. This singularity appears to have made, itself apparent to the members of the Board, for wo lind Mr Cooper complaining of the result as unsatisfactory. lie saii.l the funds of the Board were being expended solely for the benefit of those who were fortunate enough to be. undergoino; education at the Auckland College and Grammar

School, ih , Goldie observed that the examination papers hud been prepared by Messrs Bourne and Adams, the masters of that institution. We arc, therefore, left to infer that in drawing out the programme those masters took every care that their own work should produce the best results. It certainly has produced the best results, whether the inference is a right one or not. But, it is with the junior .'scholarships we are more directly concerned. Every one of tho ton scholarships was won liy pupils atlendiny the city schools, "including Iho suburban .-eliouls of Uiiohuiig'ii and Epsom as such, who gained one award each. We do not wish to rob the successful candidates of tho merit duo to them, nor find fault with the competitions in themselves, which were fair and honestly contested. Tho •removal results, hoyever, mnko it. abundantly clear to us that, tho system of oli'ering those scholarships is one-sided, and places tho country candidates and teachers at a great disadvantage, one in fact tluit, under present circumstances, is insurmountable. The scholarships an> very few in numlier, and this very limitation operates entirely in favour of the pupils attending the ! ui-bim acUoolti". Ike cliaaeea of.

siic-i-ess tiiif iiltoijtithei , out of proportion to llio piizos lo h(> won, ;ukl lire in favour of tlio city candidatoH as l!io rural coiimotifors bv sin-en to oiift. Apart iVoiu tlio vastly HiipiM-ior ranks of tlio city .schools from whiitii to furnish coni-pi-riiors. lli!>!•(■• is thi< other groat ailviintiijro cu tlii'ir sido that thoy can dovot': tlio wholo of their time throughput tin; year to ulo.se study and preparation, ft is not so with ro'.intry candidates. Those last are (In; children of Ijiisv snt.tlers, more or less in pursuits, and whose. p;irents find it necessary to utilise their labour at certain times of the year and keep them from school and their studies. In no case can the children of country settlers concentrate their undivided attention on the careful study and preparation for the competitive examinations as can the city candidates. All of them have work about the homestead to do, some assistance to give to the daily routine of the family, both morning and evening, which distract their minds from scholastic labours and area tax on their physical and mental organisations. Decidedly, the country pupils are at a serious disadvantage in the competitive nice for scholarships. To the country teachers the result must be particularly hard and discouraging. After sill their patient care and devotion in the special preparation of their most promising pupils, the hopeful anticipations they have bestowed to youthful aspirations and ambition, they see the rewards of their labours are nil, every prize taken by the better placed city competitors, and disappointment shading the early hopes of their own pupils, the parents and themselves. "It cannot be wondered sit that country teachers in future will be unwilling to encourage their best scholars to come forward and face almost certain failure; they will not be ready to throwso much tir.ie and trouble to the winds. It seems to us there is but one just way of distributing scholarships. There should be an increase of these educational rewards of merit in order to meet the large increase in ihe juvenile population now attending the national schools. These scholarships should be subdivided into two classes, one for competition amongst candidates drawn from the city schools alone, and the other class entirely conlined io children educated in the country schools. There would then be no possibility of clever, ambitious boys in the country being so entirely .shut out from chances of winning honours as they are under the present system. There would be a number of prizes within their certain reach, and the rewards of merit would be equitably divided between urban and rural schools. The country class of scholarships should also carry with them the option of obtaining free technical education in an Agricultural College, thus rendering them peculiarly applicable to the youth of the country districts.