The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1911. ‘PLAY THE GAME’

New Zealand Tablet, 28 December 1911, Page 2645

The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1911. ‘PLAY THE GAME’

T is unnecessary for us to add anything, either by way of amplification or of comment, to the Rev. Dr. Kennedy’s lucid and weighty statement regarding the grievance which Catholic students and Catholic r secondary schools labor under in respect 2s, to the conditions governing the grant of —*' ‘free places’ and of State scholarships. With the legislative aspect of the matter we have already dealt very fully in these columns. It will be sufficient for the present to say that prior to 1910 the pupils of private schools were absolutely and expressly debarred from even competing for National Scholarships. They might, so far as the letter of the law went, compete for Education Board scholarships in any district in which the Board framed its regulations so as to permit them to do so. But so far as we know, not a single Board ever did make any such provision ; and for all practical purposes the pupils of Catholic schools were absolutely excluded from any participation whatever in the system of State scholarships towards which Catholic tax-payers are compelled to contribute.

Towards the close of 1910 an Education Amendment Act was passed —to come into force on Ist July, 1911—which made National scholarships open for competition ' by pupils ... of any school subject to inspection under the Act'; and which provided that : Board scholarships should ' be open to all children of the prescribed age ' —thus making both classes of State scholarships available for practically all our Catholic primary pupils. There can be little doubt that members of Parliament thought that in adopting this measure they were conferring a benefit on Catholic schools; and it would be ungracious not to acknowledge the friendliness of their intentions. But, unaccompanied as it is by any provision making scholarships and free places tenable at Catholic secondary schools, the concession, if availed of by Catholic pupils, would, as the Rector of St. Patrick's College so effectively shows, prove instead of a blessing a very grave evil. More than 90 per cent.,' says Dr. Kennedy, of the boys who enter this college from our primary schools come with proficiency certificates entitling them to free places in a secondary school, but they are debarred from holding them here. . . . Again, every year 30 boys, on an average, from this college pass the JuniorCivil Service examination, and thereby qualify for a senior free place, which entitles them to free tuition in a secondary school up to the age of nineteen. But they are debarred from holding these free places in s this college from which they qualified for them. It is, therefore, quite evident that if the pupils of our Catholic primary and secondary schools were to avail themselves of the free places and scholarships in the only way in which they are now open to them, that is by attending the State secondary schools, we should'

have to close up our secondary colleges. ... If our children availed themselves of the opportunities offered them by these scholarships, the inevitable result would be disaster for our Catholic secondary schools. "We asked for bread, and they have given us a stone.'

', Under the existing legislation Board scholarships must be taken out ' at a secondary school or its equivalent approved by the Board,' and National scholarships 'at a secondary school or its equivalent approved by the Board and the Minister.' It would, in our humble judgment, probably be wise policy for any Catholic winner of a State scholarship or free place to write to the local Board, naming the Catholic secondary college at which he desires to take it out and formally requesting the Board to 'approve' such college for the purpose. Unless this is done it will always be open to a hostile Minister of Education or hostile members in Parliament to oppose the passing of a remedial measure on the ground that, as the Boards have already power to ' approve ' Catholic secondary colleges, any further legislation is unnecessary. If such application is unsuccessful—as in most cases it probably will be—at least the position is made clear, and the Catholic claim for redress is strengthened. If by any chance the application should be successful, an important precedent will be established; and it is presumably by adopting this course that the two denominational colleges specifically referred to by Dr. Kennedy in the first instance secured recognition. Obviously, however, the simple and only really effective way of release from the oppressive situation in which Catholic secondary colleges are at present placed is by an amendment of the Act, in the direction, say, of making scholarships tenable ' at any secondary school or its equivalent approved by the Minister.' This would mean, of course, that Catholic secondary schools desiring recognition would require to submit— St. Patrick's College already does— State inspection. In the case of the secondary schools, however, the Education Department allows a practically free hand in regard to the programme of work to be followed; and the friendlv annual visit of the secondary Inspector is merely for the purpose of ascertaining that the programme adopted is a practicable .one, and is carried out with a reasonable measure of efficiency. Speaking with some knowledge of the work that is being done in the State institutions, we can assure our Catholic secondary teachers that they may freely welcome the measure of inspection to which the State high schools and district high schools are called upon to submit.

The Catholic claim for fair treatment in the matter of scholarships cannot be rejected on the ground that the Catholic secondary colleges are denominational, because, as Dr. Kennedy shows with such telling effect, the principle has been already recognised in the case of such purely denominational establishments as Christ's College and Wanganui College. Nor can it be refused on the ground of inefficiency, because, in the case of St. Patrick's College, it is subjected to State inspection, and is yearly passing scores of boys through precisely the same examinations—Matriculation and Civil Service—as those for which they are prepared in the Stateendowed establishments. And, as we have before shown in this column, there is ample precedent in various of the Australian States for the legislation now suggested. In Queensland bursaries and scholarships have been thrown open for competition to every child in the country, and Catholic children are able to get the benefit of their State scholarships in the Christian Brothers' College, Nudgee, All Hallows Convent, Brisbane, and other Catholic high schools while Church of England or other Protestant scholarship holders who may desire it are permitted to take out their scholarships at the Church of England College. In Victoria the Jesuit College at Kew, and in West Australia the Christian Brothers' College at Perth are, we believe similarly recognised. In New South Wales and in Victoria the respective Ministers of Education have announced their intention to give effect to a similar proposal, recognising the great secondary schools in the community that are not under the direct control of the

Government. The broad principle underlying the whole question was admirably expressed by Inspector Stuart, of Auckland, at the Inspectors' Conference held in February of last year: 'lf a Catholic child gained a scholarship at a Catholic primary school, and wished to attend a Catholic secondary school, he saw no reason why such scholarship should not be tenable at the higher grade Catholic school. There was a great principle involved m the question. If a member of the community contributed to a public fund for a certain object on no reasonable grounds could he be excluded from the benefits which that fund implied.' That is the principle for which the Catholic body contend; and in his reasoned and weighty appeal to Parliament to 'play the game,' Dr. Kennedy has furnished convincing, and indeed unanswerable evidence of the fairness and justice of our claim.