EDUCATION COMMISSION.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 142, 14 June 1912, Page 2

EDUCATION COMMISSION.

& DIIKEDOT PROFESSOR'S ! ?EBIAm r §£HQQ.L WEAKNESSES. ; LACK OF THOKOUG-ffiraSS. i - , (By Association.) ; ©UNEPfii, this day. : The Education Commission decided tg ■ ask the 'Minister for a month's extension , of time. ! Professor White (principal of the Training College) objected strongly to , the introduction of a large number of , subject? into the primary school course, as the. result was, a lack of thorough? ne,ss and too many once?a-week subjects. These latter "had not much true , educative value. Under the present i syllabus, the fundamentals were being I lost sight of- Co-ordination of subjects had proved a failure, while concentration of eabject? had Tjeen an absolute failure. Several subjects were 'begun too early in the primary school life- Formal writing should be eliminated from the infant classes, and the same applied to history. There was room for cutting down syllaibus work and schemes work. I Far more time was required for the study of written composition. There should be no / written composition in Standard 11. He would delimit the amount of subjects taught, and would omit as an independent subject nature study, because as it was taught it was illusive and deceptive. They were attempting, to train children tdo early in this, as in science. Whilst only one or two sciences were formerly taught, the tendency now was to teach all "ologies in a kind of way. Science in the elementary should be regulated by the course prescribed for secondary schools, pr only taught after children had passed Standard VL Handcraft should be separated from manual and technical education. An attempt to co-ordinate-certain forms, of manual wqrk with drawing had interfered considerably with instruction in drawing, to the. great disadvantage of the latter, which ought to form, tha basis of industrial training. "Certain forms of manual work ought to bs postponed till iboys and girls went to secondary schools." There was a Want of continuity about manual instruction. Agriculture should find no place in the primary course, and should be strictly confined to high schools and the passing of pupils into the highest agricultural colleges, like IJncoln. If there vras money to spare it ought to ts devoted to increasing the salaries of teachers of small schvfols. He favoured compulsory continuation classes, -but instruction therein mig'lt be restricted to one class of study in lieu of a course, Physical training should he. made compulsory.