The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1866.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume I, Issue 251, 27 December 1866, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1866.

At the meeting for the distribution of prizes to the children taught in the tbwn schools, attention was directed by the Superintendent and the secretary to the committtee to the crowded state of the schools. It appears that for more than 500 children there are only eight teachers, and that two or three of these are only assistants. Possibly the schools have become crowded only of late, iu consequence of thc increase iu the population, and that the Central Board are hardly aware of the existence of the evil. The evil is one of no ordinary magnitude, for we caunot conceive of a greater misfortune to. the town than the huddling of masses of children together under preteuce of teachiug them and of discovering that no results are attained. This is au imitation of that great vice of the English system which sprang up iu consequence of the Bell and Lancaster delusion. Those benevolent men found that no provision was made for the instruction of the working classes, and they introduced the monitorial system, by wliich one teacher was said to be euabled to teach several hundred children. The public believed in this wretched system for many yeara, till the Committee of Council on Education, some twenty-five years ago, established a system of inspection. Then the sham was thoroughly ex posed. The inspectors proved iu their admirable reports that the children were collected together, but not taught, and recommended that no teacher of a public school should be made responsible ior the instruction of more than forty children. This led to the introduction of the pupilteacher system and the training of a superior class of masters, so that now the schools for the working classes under government, inspection in England give a really superior education. Having seen most of the large schools in- the principal towns of England when conducted uuder the Bell and Lancaster systems, we have a lively recollection of the humbug that was palmed off on the British public under' the name of popular education,

and have uo wish to see the delusion revived in any of the colonies.

' As the Nelson public consent to some selfsacrifice in order to secure the advantages of education to the masses of the people, it would be unfortunate- -that these wellintentioned efforts should be neutralised by any inefficiency in connection witli the system of instruction. To crowd children together in great numbers may keep them out of the streets, but it by no means secures the instruction of their minds. No person who has tried the experiment of teaching a single child will run away with the idea that one teacher can convey the multifarious branches of au ordinary education to an unlimited number of minds. When a teacher is overtasked he is driven to the necessity of paying exclusive attention to a few of the more precocious of his pupils, whilst the slow aud dull ones are sure to be overlooked. A clever boy or girl will get on under almost auy circumstances and in spite of the worst kind of management, whilst those who receive no home education, and require sedulous attention to make them learn anything at school, make little progress ; and thus the great object is not gained for which the public submit to a disagreeable taxation, and an expensive class of educational machinery is brought into exercise. We would urge the Central Board to remedy without delay the evils said to arise from the overcrowded state of the public schools. If the rooms are not numerous enough others should be provided. If one teacher is required to teach too many, he or she, as the case may be, should be provided with competent assistants. By this meaus the teachers would be enabled to devote more time than at present to the instruction of the older "pupils, their energies would not be dissipated by an ineffectual struggle with a number of incompatible objects, and they would be encouraged by the prospect of atftuniDg results that would be as satisfactory to themselves as advantageous to the children. Besides, a strong staff of active assistants uuder government inspection, and stimulated to excel, would grow into teachers, and thus supply the deficiencies caused by wear, tear, and change.

The argument iu favor of additional rooms and teachers derives cogency from the fact complained of by the Superintendent, that the children leaves the schools at a too early age. All who were present at the Provincial Hall, on Saturday last, must have felt grieved at the smalluess of the children. This proves that the work of education has to be accomplished within a limited space of time, and that to be successful, every advantage must be secured, and every moment of time industriously employed by both children and teachers. The Superintendent threw the onus on the parents, and said they did injustice to the children, the teachers, and the Government, by taking away their children at so early an age. At first sight this charge may appear reasonable, but ip all probability a further examination may lead to the conclusion that the poverty and not the will of the parents, prompts them to take their children from school before they have received a fair education. It is somewhat humiliating to mix up the bread and butter question with that of education, but they are more intimately associated than a mere sentimentalist would be willing to acknowledge. Persons whose pockets are well lined, and whose minds are "all serene" in reference to the good things of this life, are not the best judges of the difficulties poor people have to struggle with, who want at the same time to educate their children and receive some advantage from their labor. It is a matter of surprise to many how some of the humbler classes manage to feed and clothe their children, with prices ruling as they have of late. We believe the parental instincts of the majority of parents urge them to keep their children at school as long as the most visionary theorist would wish to see them, but the stern necessity that impels them to keep the wolf from the door, outweighs the more delicate considerations pf a purely educational kind. Good wages aud cheap provisions are wonderful auxiliaries in the cause of education. We hope there is a prospect of attaining these, aud if there is a greater degree of

efficiency communicated to the -means, and appliances of instruction in our public schools, we may. hope to see a mitigation if not a removal of the evils which have recently been a subject of complaint.