The New Zealand TABLET THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1907. CONFERENCE OF SCHOOL INSPECTORS

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 8, 21 February 1907, Page 21

The New Zealand TABLET THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1907. CONFERENCE OF SCHOOL INSPECTORS

-■*■■> THOUGH Catholics cannot, .in , districts where a Catholic school- is - accessible-- ..to them, conscientiously "avail themselves of ' our - so-called ' national , system of. education,'., there are many reasons why they should take an, active and intelligent interest in the sayings and doings of- those'-.who^determi'ne' on

what -lines that system- shalL-be run.""' To begin- with, most of our schools now work to "the'syKlabus issued 'by the Education Department, and many of them are- yearly examined and reported oh by the. In- , spec'tors "of '.'that Department. In remote country districts it has been. impracticable 'to 'erect *V Ca£h-' olic school a .considerable number -..of our children are still toeing educated under the -public school system. And „ in the third place, now .that , Reaching _staff 'of the Colony has been, placed on a more. se.Ltled\and. remunera r tive footing an ever increasing number of our Catholic young men and-, women are /entering the profession rand qualifyingl for service in the public schools.- > We feel: therefore that we need ■ make- no further apology for . directing] the atten/tion" of our readers tothe' proceedings of -the Conference of School Inspectors; .just, "caneluded at Wellington and to one or two rathe*:' important decisions arrived at by .-that gathering.

• Before. dealing with the.a ctual recommendations of the Conference it may be worth while to shortly notice , some of \the resolutions which.. w.cre no\ adopted but wMch yet received, an appreciable measure- of 4 support. In -the. first place , the" Conference ..have not made any" alteration in the syllabus and tlie general feeling of the

teachers^, will -be, ' For. this .relief, much^ thanks.' . A proposal to make &■ number of suggested amen'Sments ,wa,s seriously considered, but" fortunately -toie temptation was resisted". The,. J-eac^iers' respite, will, I 1 after.-- all, -lie a brief .oiie,- for . the InspectoirCJeneral is .to iiay &n otti-

cial visit to England this year aud further tinkeringwith the syU'ajbus is certain to £oll<s\v. The Conference also — wisely as 1 we' think— refrained' from altering "the conditions regulating the "distribution of^tlic national scholarships. . At present, the junior national scholarships are open^bnly to tiie chij-dreu of . parents, whose income is not more than £250 per annum, and the proposal to do away with the income' restriction would, if

.adopted, have (been a distinctly retrograde step. An attempt was again made to change the method of appointing the Inspectors, and a motion providing for the apPQiajtment of, all Inspectors by-^the JDduoation Depart- , ment instead of by the local Boards received a considerable measure of support. *" Although the proposal was rejected for the present the general feeling in the Conference was that the existing method of appointing the Inspectorate is illogical 1 , and- •inebnsis'tent - with *-a ' national system of education. ' and if the - InspectorCfeneral lias his way the time is not far distant- when a " change in the direction indicated will 'be' effected:

Of the positive recommendations agireed on by the Conference the most important are (a) the abolition of

the pupil teacher system, (b) the raising of the standard which children will be required to pass before they can toe allowed to leave school ; and (c) the provision, in the new regulations issued by the Conference, enaJblrin-g Inspectors to hold a central examination for all sixth standard pupils living within _a convenient radiiis. Taking the last first, we would point out that while the central examination arrangement might be a great.convenience to the Inspectors it would be very palpably unfair to the children concerned. What .the provision means is this : that instead of examining, for example, - the Arthur Street,- High Street, and- Union Street Schools separately the Inspectors will have the! power to examine all the isixth standard pupils from these three schools at one time and to hold this- examination in some central school to be selected by themselves. Everyone knows that even under the most favorable- circumstances children are nervous and excited at examination; time, and if the examination is to be held** amidsurroundings that arc entirely unfamiliar to them that nervousness will of course be greatly increased^ All provisions regarding the examination of public schools are, by the Education Act, made applicable to the- ■examination of private schools, so 'that under the" new regulation it will be within the power"" of the Inspectors to hold the examination of all the sixth standard pupils from the. Catholic schools at North-East Valley, Dunedin, and South Dunedin, at. one central building, say* the Normal School or St. -Joseph's. It is of course optional with the Inspectors whether they avail themselves of the power conferred in this regulation,_and it is quite possible that the clause in. question may not bo actually enforced. -Speaking for Otago, we have every ground for the fullest confidence in tihe reasonableness and considerateness "of the Inspectorate ; but lookIng alt the jn>a;tte!r from the pom-to t viaw of • thle cJhlldren we cannot honestly consider the new regulation an improvement.

• A detailed discussion of the arguments for and against the abolition of the pupil teacher, system would be of little interest to iihe ■ general reader, arid, as _the recommendation on this point was carried with accla- _ mation and will certainly be given effect to, it' would ' besides' be an 1 entire waste of , time. We will only'" observe in passing that as would-be teachers, under the new system, will be required to undergo a five— years' course of training, the number of teachers' avaiia'ble*- islikely to become more limited than ever,. With regard to the proposal to .raise the standard of exemption from attendance at school, we »do not hesitate to- give* otir voice against the "decision arrived at by the Conference.

Hitherto the standard of \ exemption^ has been the- fifth.

The resolution adopted by the Conference has tire- effect -of a recommendation to the Education Department that children under 14 years' of age shall be- compelled to attend school till they have' passed the sixth standard. Abstractly amTideally, it is of'course desirable thUtthe

child should he kept as long at'school as possible, bhrt , in this workaday world, under the imperative ■ necessity 1

of keeping body and soul together, parents, like the- rest of us, have to be content with something very far short

of the ideal. The recommendation has some prospect of being put into: operation, seeing that flh& proposal originally emanated from< the Inspector-General, but if it is given- effect to, the* hardship inflicted: on poor parents with large 1 families Will be so grave that an agitation will be quickly set on foot for its. repeal^ Throughout the whole course of^ the Conference, there was one, and only one, reference to the moral aspect of 'education. Mr. D. J. Cooper, M/A.', senior inspector in New South Wales, addressed the Conference, and remarked, inter alia, that 'to promote the moral and spiritual welfare of the youth of the Colony was the goal wMch aill appeared, to aspire to.' If only it were ! We believe that in no country in the wo-ld / is^tfoere a more gifted, a more_ earnest, or %unore painstaking Inspectorate than we have in New Zealand, .and the spectacle of so many able men devoting all theirenergies to an education that merely feeds the intellects and starves the soul is a sigfrt to make angels weep. The youth of the Colony -require something more than, the three Rs to help them over the moral and spiritual difficulties of life. They are looking to their" instructors for bread ; anfd in spite of the ..earnestness, ability, and culture of those over them, they are getting only a stone. • : ■