DRASTIC CHANGES IN EDUCATION

New Zealand Listener, Volume 10, Issue 237, 7 January 1944, Page 4

DRASTIC CHANGES IN EDUCATION

Whole Of English System To Be Recast

INEQUALITY OF OPPOR FOR EVERY 100 CHILDREN WITH ABILITY THE FOLLOWING RECEIVE HIGHER EDUCATION

TUNITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN PROCEEDING TO HIGHER EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY

2+ oli SIZE OF CLASSES IN ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS 1938

HAT the cables called "the most comprehensive measure in the history of English education’ was introduced in the House of Commons last month. In the meantime other events have overshadowed it; but the Bill comes up for discussion this month, and to enable our readers to grasp what is involved we summarise the two documents in which the proposals of the British Government have already been outlined. The graphs are from "News Review."

IRST there was a White Paper presented to Parliament by R. A. Butler, President of the» Board of Education, last July. Mr. Butler made it clear then that the proposed changes include: 1. A complete recasting of the statutory system of public education, involving the disappearance of the terms "elementary" and "higher" education and their replacement by terms defining the different stages in a mational system as "primary," "secondary," and "further" education. The completion of the reorganisation of the present elementary schools, so that well designed and equipped primary schools are available, with classes of reasonable size, for all children up to the age of 11, and secondary schools, with varied facilities for advanced work, for all children over that age. There will be three main types of secondary schools, to be known as Grammar, Modern, and Technical. The present secondary schools will be called Grammar schools and will continue to provide an education mainly of an academic character; the Modern schools will offer a general education for life and cover. a wide range embracing the literary and the practical; and the Technical schools will cater for the student with a practical bent. Different types may be contained in one building or on one site. Secondary education at all schools maintained by authorities will be free. The special place examination will be abolished and children at the age of about 11 will be classified by such means as their school records, supplemented, if necessary, by intelligence tests, due regard being had to parents’ wishes and the careers they have in mind. No child’s future career will depend on a competitive examination at the age of 11. At the age of 13 or even later there will be facilities to transfer to a different type of education if the original choice proves to have been unsuitable. Administrative action will be taken to see that standards of accommodation and amenities generally of the Modern and Technical schools are raised to the level of the Grammar schools. The question of public boarding-schools is under consideration by the Fleming Committee. There is no reason why the benefits of a boarding-school education should be limited to those able to pay for it,

$. ‘ The raising of the school-leaving age to =, exemptions, and to 16 at a later ate. 4. Religious Education An amendment of the existing law so as (a) To emphasise the position of religious in- — as an essential element of education; an (b) To enable schools provided by the religious denominations and other voluntary bodies to play their full part in the new developments. Every primary and secondary school will be required to begin the day with a corporate act of worship, and religious instruction will be given in the school. Parents will have the opportunity of securing for their children either on the school premises or elsewhere, according to the nature of the school, religious instruction in the tenets of a particular denomination. The existing right of parents to withdraw their children from religious observance or instruction will be retained. Voluntary Schools: The Dual System Educational progress has been greatly hindered by the inability of the churches to meet the whole cost of the improvements to their school buildings which tising standards have demanded. The reforms now proposed make more imperative demands, .and demands sstill further beyond the capacity of the churches to meet under the existing law. At the same time the extent and

value of the churches’ contribution in the past cannot in fairness be disregarded. It is proposed therefore, to give the managers of all voluntary schools, whether primary or secondary, the choice of two alternatives, both providing for increased aid from public funds with a proportionate increase in public control. Alternative A: If the managers cannot meet half the cost of necessary improvements the local authority will become responsible financially for them and for repairs and alterations in the future. At the same time the local authority will also become responsible for appointing and dismissing teachers, though they must consult the managers in the case of the head teacher. Two-thirds of the managers (instead of one-third as at present) will be appointed by the local authority. These schools will be called "Controlled Schools.’ Alternative B: If the managers undertake to meet half the cost of necessary improvements and external repairs the remaining half will be met by a direct grant from the Exchequer. Responsibility for other r rs, including those to the playground and playing-fields, will be placed on the local authority. The managers will retain their present power of appointing and dismissing teachers and of giving denominational religious instruction. ese schools will be called ‘‘Aided Schools." 5. Part-time Education All boys and girls between the ages of 15 and 18 will be required to attend an appropriate centre part-time unless they are in fulltime attendance at school or otherwise under suitable part-time instruction. 6. The expansion of facilities for technical and adult education. Hitherto the development of technical, commercial, and art education has been inadequate, and its distribution uneven. It will be the duty of every education authority to provide adequate facilities, both full-time and part-time, and they will be required to submit schemes for further education, which, when approved by the Board, will have to be put into effect by such stages as the Board may determine. Residential colleges are foreshadowed among a variety of other developments in adult education. _7. Extension of the School Medical Service. The setting up of a comprehensive national health service will eventually ensure that all forms of treatment which children require will be available to them. Until this scheme is in operation it will be the duty of the education authorities to provide for the medical inspection of all children and young persons attending grant-aided schools and to see that those in need of treatment (other than domiciliary treatment) shall receive it without charge. (Continued on next page)

{ DUAL CONTROL: STATE ano CHURCH

(Continued from previous page) 8. The compulsory provision of nursery schools, mainly for children under five, wherever the Board considers them necessary, attendance being voluntary. . The Reform of the Present Methods of Recruiting and Training Teachers. 10. An Adjustment of the Present System of Local Educational Administration: It is a’ necessary consequence of the proposed reforms that in future there should be one type of Local Education Authority only, instead of two types as now. In future, therefore, the local education authorities will be the councils of the counties and county boroughs only. 11. Inspection of Independent Schools: The State claims no monopoly in education. But it is only fair to the children that it should have the responsibility of maintaining reasonable standards and to the majority of reputable private schools that those which cannot reach such standards should be cleared away. Independent schools will therefore be required to be open to the Board’s inspection, and the Board will keep a register of them. 12. The Remodelling of the Curriculum of Secondary Schools. Brief, extracts from the reet of the Norwood Committee, which deals ully with this subject (including the question of school examinations) are given below: Norwood Committee’s Proposals Drastic changes in school examinations and a new method of awarding scholarships to the universities are among the recommendations made in the report of the Norwood Committee. The report also reviews the curriculum of the present secondary schools. The Norwood committee, under the chairmanship of Sir Cyril Norwood, president of St. John’s College, Oxford, was appointed in October, 1941, by R. A; Butler, President of the Board of Education. Its members included Miss M. G. Clarke, head mistress of the Manchester High School for Girls, and Dr. J. E. Myers, Principal of the Manchester College of Technology. Scholarships The committee recommends a new system of university awards. Open scholarships should continue and their value should be made up by the State to the full amount necessary for a university education. The existing machinery for awarding a limited number of State scholarships on the results of the Higher Certificate should be abolished; instead awards up to the whole amount necessary for a university education should be made (after consideration of parents’ income and other resources) to all pupils recommended as capable of deriving full profit for whom there are places in universities. The selection of pupils would be made in the following way:An annual examination in approved subjects should be conducted by University Examining Bodies, who, on the result, would recommend: (a) candidates of high intellectual distinction; and (b) candidates of good intellectual attainment whose claims might be considered if their school records showed outstanding merit.

This would allow boys and girls who are not natural students but who are reasonably intellectual, interested in theoretical or practical ideas, and of strong personality and character and able to take the lead and be an asset to any common life to be considered. Subjects in the Curriculum Separate chapters in the report are devoted to the various subjects of the curriculum. The supréme importance of English is stressed, and the committee states that while this may be taught by a specialist it should also be the concern of every master irrespective of his particular subject. Special importance is attached to the revival of the "Form Master" in all schools. Art and handicrafts should receive the broadest interpretation in schools and should be a powerful means of raising taste in environment, housing, town planning, furniture, interior decoration, etc. Foreign languages should not be excluded from any type of secondary school at the "lower school" stage and their value at later stages is stressed. Particular mention is made of Spanish and Russian, which are not widely taught in the schools at present. In considering the inclusion of special subjects such as education for citiZenship and public affairs, the report stresses that the child should be considered as a potential and not as an actual citizen, and states that nothing but harm would result from attempts to interest pupils prematurely in matters which imply the experience of an adult. Such subjects might be specially taught to sixth form pupils, but for the others much could be done by comment and digression and by appropriate illustration through ordinary school subjects.

{ SHORTAGE OF TEACHERS

EFFECT OF RESTRICTIVE POLICY ON NUMBERS OF TEACHERS

-- I ADDITIONAL TEACHERS NEEDED TO CARRY OUT EDUCATIONAL REFORMS earns