THE EDUCATION FRENZY.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 126, 30 May 1887, Page 4

THE EDUCATION FRENZY.

It may serve as a wholesome tonic to the frenzy for increased stringency in examinations and higher standards of proficiency if we give some attention to tho teachings of history. When we think of the years that have gone to swell the eternity of the past, and the work done in them, or ponder over the achievements of those who have laboured in the wide field of discovery, of invention, of philanthropy, and compute the worth of their work to mankind, we are appalled at the thought that there was no system of education in those days. Moreover, when wo consider the works of _ the builders and contrivers of things, whose monuments still defy the wearing hand of time, or whose contrivances we use ; or listen to the sweet singers who, being sons of the soil, saw within the veil, and showed the heart of things to their fellows in homely, forcible speech, then dismay possesses us, for were not the working units who reared the structure of our civilisation illiterate 1 Had they the privilege of attending lectures on abstruso nothings 1 Were their minds' filled with tales' of 'Greek barbarism, or was their work the product of the spirit within them, the flicker of the divine fire lighting on to destruction of present things and the building up:of new? : J Whatever our feelings may be; their ivorh remains, and the fact is apparent ti'iat our civilisation is not the product of education, but our system of education the outcome of that civilisation. . j^ow, in our hurry, we will no longer be content with the moiety of Nature's woiudei1-workers, but would manufacture them wholesale by the magic of our education system. In this we shall fail. Not one more than Nature allows will be forthcoming, because men are not yet gods to create and

make alive. . , . . Is not the baWiing of educational nostrums in the teofi: of the wind an indication of partial failure 1 One set '.bawls out for science teaching, another outbawls the first demanding teetotal teachings, while the screaias of ; a third add to the uproar by dbjmal

howlings for the teaching of Euolid and the dead languages, the body is exercised on the horizontal bar. There are fads innumerable ; so utterly innumerable that were at possible to carry one-thousandth part ot them into action a race of idiots would quickly result. They fail because they aim at the impossible. No amount of manuring, pruning, watering, or care will change the nature of a crab-apple; neither will any quantity of science, moral teaching wit^it practice, or dismal howlings of dead languages change the human crab. Grafting a good scion will effect tne first, and an infusion of blood whose corpuscles breed industry, self-denial, patience, and truth, will effect tho second, and that only. Our system of education aims at the impossible. What is accomplished by good luck is that some of the units who possess the vim are assisted to present advancement and public usefulness by being taught to read, and so light their way by the torch of those who, being master spirits, have given their thoughts to their fellows. The rest are not the less observant, less ready-witted, less self-reliant than when, to a great extent, Nature was their teacher—the mountains, brooks, stones, flowers, and trees, the pages and letters of their book, and the sweet influence of tho Mother taught them their work in the world. Whence has the fallacy arisen 1 How have tho people been so deceived ? Perhaps, somewhat in this manner. The successful men—useful men,of coursehave been educated men. But the people give the credit of success to the wrong part of the man. The education of successful men is the product of their success ; their success and their education went hand in-hand, the first arose from their industry and truthfulness, their self-denial and courage, Avhile their education was not begotten of science or Euclid, but a gradual expansion of intellect, from contact with things, and with men, and the thoughts of men. By our system of literary education, but above all by our system of examinations on literary subjects after approved methods of stuffing, we are killing all originality, maiming all genius, and doing incalculable mischief to the State.

It is the duty of everj man to see, that his children can read and write and figure, and, if possible, draw. ( Or we may say it is the duty of the Stato, and to this all compulsory -school instruction at the expense of the State should, tend, and there- as a law of universal application it should end. But if in the meantime any of the true inelal can bo detected by experts, and private means forbid, these should becomo the present care of the State, to which they may become priceless treasures. Tho attempt to make all children— quick and dull—conform to an exaggerated educational standard fixed arbitrarily -by some individual who may himself be a onesided man, abnormally developed in certain mental faculties but other' wise ill-fitted to grapple with the practical work of this working world, is contrary to nature, and will inevitably produce disappointing results.