STATE EDUCATION.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3043, 16 January 1892, Page 1 (Supplement)

STATE EDUCATION.

SpEAKIN'n nt Tprnuidi oil tho occasion of f bo nnniiiil dislrihiuion of prizes nt He Dinner. lligl, Kebnnl the Hon. \V. Rollp«t«n -aid :—Tt is marly five jvnrs since I had the privilegr. of occupying the same position which 1 stand in to-day in the unavoidable absence of our friend and member, M- Rhodes. I then took eooi.--ion, n.a I shall to-dav, to say a feu- word* as to what wo mean bv ;i Xaii mnl System of Education, mid [ felt then that it. was not altogether uncalled for to speak on tbo defensive in relation to that system. As timo has gone on events have sineshown that I was justified in takinir tint line. Difficulties are being raised, mid miseonc ptions have arisen in sever.l directions, which, if they do not notuallv imperil, at least throw u shade of uncertainty on the future of the system Thcs•• difficulties and misconecptinnt* lio principally in three directions ; first, in respect, of the public finance; secondly, there arp misconceptions in the minds nf tho masses of the paoplo as to the full extent to which the State should use the public funds, aud objections of a class character arc raised to what is called higher education; and thirdly, ihn charchos .are prendng thoir claims in , re-pect of what is known as the Religions Difficulty. Speaking first of thofiuan. i.l que-tion, I need hardly rcmin • yon that what -wo undeistand by a National System is tint tho State takes ui. thmatter of Education as a State Department, in the snm-3 way ns it makes th. urmy, the oavy, the police, tho pn-t "ffico, and tho telegraph, departments n' State. Its doing so makes it incumbent on it to satisfy the requirements of thn community in that department. Private enterprise is paralysed by tho establishment of a Ptato monopoly, anil a wron is done if tho Attblio requirements are no fully satisfied, flow far is Parliatn -ni doing its duty at the present timo in respect of ndiicatiou ? The report of the Minister of Education presented las: session say : —" Apart from the prospect of now settletnont, much remains to be done to put existing' schools upon a satisfactory footintr. There are 73 ovc crowded schools, 7t schools meeting in rooms that are not public properly, aud 329 school- to which musters' rosidon are not attached." The sum voted for public school buildinirs last year wa£35,000. This year tho sum voted whs £25,000 out of the ordinary revenue and £7000 out of loan, or a diminutivn of tho building grant by £2500. An element of uncertainty was moreover introduced by making a portion of the grant dependent upon borrowed money, which v supposed to be coming to an end. South Canterbury, which last voir received £1800, and was uuabln with that sum to keep pace with tho requirements of the district, has this ye-r had its grant reduced to £1200. As has been pointed oul by the board, " tho grant was scarcely sufficient, to keep tho cxistinir buildings in repiir, to say nothing about building or making additions. The board was utterly unable to provide for the increase in tho number of children aad also to keep the buildings together." rh°so facts seem to indie ite that thp administration of the department required to be can-fully watched, for indeed it is on tho duo development of our education system more than on anything else that the future well-heinar of the country depends. This is apart from the necessity which exiscs for advauce in the direction of technical education. Then again there are dangers from those who misconceive what is meant by Democracy—who would limit the responsibility of the State to the six standards, or even to less than that. Do they know what they would do? They would throw tho government into the hands of the very class whoso privileges they were seeking- to curtail, for what we uean by Democracy is that the ruling power shall be—not brute force, or mere power of numbers, not birth, not wealth, not labour, but—the cultivated intelligence of men rising by merit from all classes of the community. It is this that must come to the top, atid it is tho development of this which our national system is designed to prosecute. If you limit higher education to thoic who can best afford to pay for it, depend upon it the government will fall into the hands of those whoso wealth enables them to obtain it. The opportunity of rising to tits highest position of power and influence must be open to all. Then only will our system bo really national ; then only will our system' bo really democratic. And here Ido not wish to be misunderstood as to what I mean by cultivated intelligence. Brain power, it is true, by itself alono will conquer ignorance whenever it comes into conflict with it, but it is only cultivated intelligence that in the long run will rule men. Our schools do cot exist for the development of intellect and tho acquisition of knowledge alone. It is impossible for cultivated meu —it is moro impossible for cultivated women—to teach without imbuing their pupils with higher qualit: a * than mere mental power. The Jove of country, the love of home, the lovo of nature, the love cf their fellow men. the sense of duty, are all factors in this cultivated intelligence. In history, which of you would read tho story of tho mother giving her son his shield, and telling him in four short words to bring it back or be borno back upon it, without forming a conception of Patriotism ? Has not tho present a new life given to it in the study of tho history of the past ? Has not daily life a 'now and higher interest given to it by tho study of Nature ? Again, it is impossible but that habits of accuracy, akin to truth in its highest phases, should ba inculcated in every brauch of study that is properly prosecuted—a sense of duty, leading to tho recognition of a •' power not ourselves," is, insensibly it may be, but not less really, implanted in tho pursuit of our school work. The child that shirks its work, that pretends to know what it has not taken tho trouble to learn, is brought to it? bearings and taught to despise shams. Patience, honesty, the determination to overcome difficulties, have all their place in the national school life. How near this national teaching approaches the teaching which the different religious bodies claim as their special function, is a question which I cannot now discuss. Much depends on the earnestness of tho teacher. This I feel when I read attacks upon our national system as ''Godless" ; but those who use the pbrase forget that the Great Presence can make itself felt everywhere —in different ways and different degrees —in our schools as well as in our churches, and that in the exercise of their distinctive functions, schools and churches can, if they will, promote thoir common object, the establishment of " Nobler modes of life, "With sweeter manners, purer laws." However this may bo I am well assured that our schools are centres of national life to which we should cling with tho utmost tenacity. Good governme.it, the general well-being of the community, will not, some would have us believe, bo promoted by tho effort to put one class in power to the exclusion of the other. Education will roll out the unseemly creases which disfigure the intricate warp and woof of socie'y. Good government will not be promoted by a selfish policy | of limiting the functions of the State to teaching the six standard. l '. It will V promoted, it will grow with the growth of a feeling of common brotherhood between all classes, and it is in our national schools that this feeling can be most effectually cultivated.