PUBLIC EDUCATION.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXV, Issue 2875, 16 December 1890, Page 2

PUBLIC EDUCATION.

to the unrroit. Siu, —In April last I wrote to the Hon. John Bryee, as one of his constituents, asking him certain questions in regard to Education, and lit) replied promptly. Now, being a member of the New Zealand Institute, I deemed it best, before allowing his letter to be made public use of, to ask him if I was at liberty to do so. He replied by wire that I could make what uso I thought proper, but that he deprecated a newspaper controversy. Having received his permission to make public use of his letter, I brought it before the Waikato Branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute. The result was the issue of the circular, a copy of which appeared in your paper of the 23th November. This circular was favourably commented upon in a leader in the Auckland Evening Star, nearly the whole of it being coped. The Lyttleton Times also spoke well of it, besides other papers. The followingis a copy of Mr Bryce's letter Wangauui,' April l'Jth 18' JO.—Dear Sir,—l have to acknowledge the receipt of you letter of the loth inst., on the subject of public education in this colony, and I have much pleasure in sending you two papers containing a great deal of the information you require, and which will 1 am sure be of much interest to you in other respects. These papers are Ann. to the Journals of the H. of 11., 15 16 18,S8, and E J 1890. Flease keep them until I wsit the Waikato again when I may have to ask you for them as I have tio other copy at present. As to the uses to which reserves ought to be applied yon will see that it is difficult, or impossible, to givo l general answer owing to the varied terms of the different eudowmnents which would have to bo respected to a considerable extent. With respect to primary education I think fees should be charged after the attainment of a certain standard (say the fourth) and after the age of IS; seven years, in my opinion, is young enough f"r children to enter school, apt children should be pro videi for by means of scholarship or otherwise, Please excuse the brevity of my ex pressions in these matters, as there really is no middle oourse between the briefest mention and a length unsuitable to u letter. 1 shall be pleased to hear from you at any time, and if you require further papers 1 could most likely readily procure them for you during the session when I am in Wellington. Trusting you are well, I am, dear sir, yours faithfully, John Bkyck.—Juhn Parr, Esq., Hamilton. In your sub-leader of Tuesday last and also Mr Bryee at Te Awamutu say that the Waikato branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute! intentionally suppressed a poition ot the letter that Mr Bryee sent t" me last April in order to make it appear tha*; he was an enemy to our primary sv-'tem of education. I may say that' wo suppressed nothing relative to primary education'; wo considered that scholarships

to apt scholars were quite outside thfl question of primary education, ; 's were flie questions "f "econd-iiy and university education. We huliova we culd had we sn ftsired, have made a strong oise against Mr Brvee in to the manner in which he dealt with the endowments for the secondary schools and universities, but we were not dealing with either scholarships, secondary or university education in our circular. He did not deem it necessary to say anything in regard to using these endownments for tho primary schools: Ynu will note in his letter, he says that these endowments would have to bo respected to a considerable extent. Now, these endowments would have been worth little or nothing, but for tho thousands of settlers, artisans, aud labourers, who have made this colony thoir home, and those aro the people that should in tho name of all that is fair and honest, be deriving benefit from these endowments, and not the rich and well to do. I say it is tho masses that give value to those endownnieiits and without them they would not new be producing some £70,000 annually. Think you that the democracy are going to allow our present system of primary education to bo tampered with, because forsooth a scholarship is to be givon to one out two thousand children of their class as at present. Many of these scholarships aro monopolized by the ohildren of parents in good circumstances, because they can allord to send their children to school more regularly and also to have them coached for the examination, and are m a position to maintain them in a town, whoreas people in poor ciroumßtancoa could not in niost eases ao so. £30 per annum is not sufficient to support a child away from homo and pay for its tuition. I think tho people will not bo so foolish as to give up that of which they are now in possession for the very remote chance" of one of their children gaining a scholarship. The democracy get nothing bub what they pay for, our educational system is not tree as i>: so commonly stated to the poorer class of our colonists but it is free to the rich and well-to-do classes to a very considerable extent, as I will ahnw. It costs some £2H per annum to educate each child in the Auckland College and Grammur School, while the parents pay only £10 10s, leaving some £15 to be paid out of the endowments, which in justice belongs to the. whole of tho people. The labour candidates. I am glad to say, wero all sound :md decided on tlifj great and momentous question of keeping our primary system of education intact, and I trust our country settlers will take the same stand. A good education for their children is about ail they receive for tho large sums of money they annually contribute to the colonial exchequer. There aro plenty of other sources where retrenchment can and ought to be made. Primary education ought and will be the last, while Mr Bryce is only definite on primary education retrenchment. Mr Bryce states that only about 20 per cent, of children take advantage of tho fifth and sixth standards (this is enormously more thnn t.ake scholarHhips). I feel sorry that such is the case, it shows the poverty (if the ;»eo| !u, for most of them I am convinced are fully alive to tbo advantage and absolute necessity of a sound education for their chi'dren, and, as stated in tho circular of the Institute, many parents make sacrifices to give this greatest of blessings. From inv experience it is not altogether tho cost of our primary education that many persons object, to, but it is becnusotheybelievothat.it is raisin? up a generation that will object to a class of manual labour that is considered menial. I am not afraid that such will be the case, as experience tjaches tho opposite. It ia only a quest ion of comparison that n.akes any useful and necewary labour objectionable. Au educated man does not enjov working with a lot of ignorant boors but a cultivated intelligence will elevate anv right occupation ; it is the people with whom we associate in anv calling tint make- it respectable or otherwise. The object of our avstem is to raise the sys'em to a higher lovel, in fact to raise tho people to the highest level possible. The people must be traiued to be citizens. If tiie v/ealthv classes were wiso they would do everything in th j ir power to get the masses educated. The masses have all politicil power in their hands. They must he educated in order to know how to use it; use it thev will, and wisely if thev are educated ; unwisely and to the danger of the State if uneducated. The people must be educated or disfranchised. They cannot, be di-friinchised. I may say in conclusion, that I had no motive in wilting to Mr 1 Irvce except the, of tho people. Mt Bryce's sentiments are onlv the axpros sioil of"a c!ass ill the colony, and aKo :i small p-.riion of the. Pre*;,, and if through any action I have been the menus of arousing public attention to t'>is most important, of questions, 1. am sai,i»fced my work lets not been in vain. Tho committee that drew up the circular consisted of six member* only two of which were teachers, so it is hardly fair to .say t.iat it was drawn up by pecuniarily interested persons.--Y'ours. etc,, ■John Pakh.