MANIFESTO BY THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXV, Issue 2866, 25 November 1890, Page 2

MANIFESTO BY THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE.

The following is a copy of the circular issued by the Waikato branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute, referred to by Mr Bryce, in his speech at Tβ Awamntu, a report of which appears in this issue :— In a letter to one of the electors of this distrsct, who is nlso an active member of The Wiukato Branch of the New Zealand JuJncational Institute, Mr John Bryce, M.rl.K. for Wai pa, has stated that he does not think children's education in the elementary schools should be paid for throußh the btatu before they have reached the ago ot eovßii year?, and after they have reached the a«e i>f thirteen, or have passed the fourth stanAsMr Bryce is a politician of influence, and one whose opinions would probably have considerable weight with many electors, tho Waikato Branch of the Institute wish to lay the following considerations before tfiose who take any interest in educa-

tional matters :— . . In a country where all have equal privileges, it ia plainly necessary to give children as much education as will enable them to become intelligent citizens, and to oxorcwe their political rights in a thoughtful and prudent manner. To cut olf education at tlio fourth standard would be to deprive children of the be.st part of their school lite, the spring time of knowledge, as before that time their school training is little, if anything, more than preparatory. Such a course would be the height of unwisdom—refraining through a foolish economy from going to the expense of seeding, after paying for the preparatory cultivation. A majority of the pupils in the fourth, fifth and sixth standards are found to bolong to parents that are making great sacrifices to obtain for their children a better education than many of them have had themselves; while the statement made by tho opponents of the present system, that those standards are mainly for the children of well-to-do parents, is not borne out by statistics, as an examination of any school roll will show. Such being the facts of the case, a great hardship would bo inflicted if these people were required to pay fees in addition to the amount they contribute under the present urra-ngement ; tlvs proposed retrenchment would be inappreciably felt individually, while tho upper standards of education would be discontinued in the majority of schools. ~ Raising thn school age. to seven would injuriously atfoct tho education of country settlers. These children are often kept at home to do little odd j.ib.-j about the farms, besides having their attendance at sclioo made irregular by distance and bad weather; consequently, if they do not begin early, their chance of acquiring the rudiments of a good education, becomes slender indeed. Another injurious cffoct of risin" the school ago to sovon would be that little schools would be closed, and many, in a flourishing condition at present, would bo reduced to half-time ; thinly-inhabited districts would therefore bo deprived of the opportunity of having the children educated at all. It is hard enough for the struggling people in back districts to have to contend with the numberless difficulties ot their surrounding, without having the additional pain of seein" their children growing up in soimbarbarons ignorance. Those plucky people, who aro in reality tho vanguard of the colony, ought rather to receive every possible facility for tho proper education o their children. These same children wil shortly bo the mainstay of the country, and on that account should not be neglected. In the near future the rural copulation will luvo to consider questions of vast importance, in which they will be much more concerned thm the people of tho towns. They will therefore require a deep and gound intelligence, and a capability of duly weighing and consvderii>g matters of vitul interest to tho country. It is therefore unmistakably tho duty of the people, but above all of the country settlers, to see tnat these children are not deprived ot the means of a sound education. In still further support of theso arguments, it may bo mentioned that under tho English i\ew Codo, now coming into force, a grant is made to schools for every child above throe years of nge who has not passed tho seventh standard. Education that does not ro beyond the requirements of the fourth standard is necessarily defective. It loaves a child utterly unprepared for any position in life, other than that of the commonest drudgory. Poor people, and those who, although not poor, lit e far frwm a centre of population, would have no hope of seeing their children advance in the world ; consequently, those who would lnve tho pood fortune to bo wealthy enough would send their children to private schools or expensive State-aided secondary schools, would have a monopoly of the more desirable positions ot life, and invidious class distinctions would become more bitterly intensified than they aro at, present. Such a state of affairs is antagonistic lo the broad and advancing spirit of tho age, and decidedly a i-elrojjado movement. The blow contemplated in lossenmg the educational facilities of the people is aimud at their liberties. Of old, the right to possea and bear arms wis the distinctive privilege of a free citizen. Rducution, disciplined thought, is the mighty weapon with which men wist assort and guard their liberties in tho future. Tho people have got hold of that weapon as ynt only clumsily: evidently there are those who wish to deprive them of it ere they become awaro of tho Ueennnss of it-< edge, and the trustinejs of its temper, and Micro is Just cause to look with suspicion on any arguments usod to induce the people of this country tu consent to tho irreparable injury to the rising generation, by the curtailment of that which chiefly dntinmviahes the civilised man from the savage—a cultivated intelligence. f . . _