PRIMARY SCHOOL WORK

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 307, 24 December 1912, Page 9

PRIMARY SCHOOL WORK

AND MR. TIBBS' CHITICISM.' THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ] ARGUMENT. j DOES THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL FIT IN? MR. T. I". WELLS' VIEWS. In view of the criticism levelled at our primary «ehoo! system by the head master of the Grammar School (Mr. Tibbs! last week, some remarks made to a pressman thin morning by Mr. 1. I Weil--, a prominent educationalist of Auckland, aud a member of the recent Education Commisoiun, will be interesting. "If Mr. Tibb, meant that there are boys who get the liare pass and then go to the l.rammar School. 1 am quite prei pared i_ oelicve that such boys in many [ cases do nut do good work at that j school," said Mr. Welle, adding: "l i ! know that boys go there from my own | school \jho. hid 1 the power to influenc? I liieir future course, would certainly not Igo to the Grammar School, for I recogj ni.-e they are not the material from I which sat'eiaetory work can be ex- ' pected. They would be far better at j the Technical (_'olk-ge. and to the I Grammar School probably means dis- ' appointment to themselves in the long run. and a waste of the Dominion's I money. I "If, however. Mr. Tibbs is referring to I the aver.-i.;,- product of the primary I schools to-day, I do not agree w.th him at all. i can endorse every word that j Mr. Mulgan uttered when he stated that I rbe Standard VI. hoy of to-day is better | trained and better equipped than was j the Standard VI. boy of 12 or 15 years ago. "When I was through the Dominion i recently on the Education Commission,*' I went on Mr. Wells. "1 had the opportunity of hearing the op-nioni- , of the leading educational:*..s : throughout ihe Dominion en this point. I think that every inspiuor who gave ; evidence expressed views similar to those expressed by Mr. Mulgan. Cer ! taini v. while Mr. Heine, of Wellington. n'.ad«- criticism,- ver\ much in l.ne with jtb >~e uttered by Mr. Tibbs. the rector Io: the Dunedin High School was equally i emphatic that rh» primary schoolboy of to-day is quite equal to the boy that was turned out from the primary school , 12 or 15 years aio." " ll is sometimes urged by critics of I tlie present system that it i„ a mistake to introduce manual work into the primary school cour-e — that it takes too much time from what is generally termed the fundamental subjects. I'eTsonally, 1 |am very much iv favour of the manual I work: for this reason. 1 find it is giving lj buys a distinct tendency to trades after ; lea-, ing scti-oii) raither than to office work. . I lii the old d.ys there was quite a rush J at the end of the year for positions in I offices, 'ihat i, ii"t the case now. At J the close of the present year I could t j h-M-e placed between thirty and forty boys .in office- in town '•.,-* they been available. As a mattei ■ f fact, there were : not two wanting positions in offices. ■ They now- learn lv u-e tools and get a s I liking for manual work, and I think the i, result is altogether for the benefit of tbe II country. "1 really think." said Mr. Wells. • "*hat some little of Mr. Tibbs's rriti- ■ j cism result* from the fact that previi j ously he goi simply the cream of the , I public schools, but now that boys can t enter the Grammar School on a bare -1 proficiency certificate he gets a consider- ?' able proportion of theskim milkas well as r i the cream. It may be questioned whether » the Grammar School system really fits i! in as it might be made to fit in to the > • primary s,-!iool system. On the quos- _\ tion ot home work for in-stance. on which .! Mr. Tibbs touched. I think that nearly .! all our primary schools set a moderate . j amount of honje work, and teachers gvn-

prally recognise the value of a certain j quantity of such work. But boys go to ■ Grammar School, and find there a very intense system of home work. It is questionable whether the home work done at the Grammar School is not used to excess. To strengthen the conviction that the teaching at the Grammar School does not altogether tit in with that at , the primary school, it may be pointed out that boys who gn to the Technical Co'lpS' l evening classes for two hours a i night Mur times a week _tre successful in passing tliv senior free place and j junior Civil Service examinations within I two years, t think the explanation is l that the classes there are all taught by • primary school teachers employed in : our town schools through the day. md j who are in touch with the Tvovs and the t work they have been doing. Consequently they are able to carry on the work of the primary schools to the best I advantage. No doubt some pupils obtain certiacatcs of proficiency who have j not a very high range of attainment!". ! but just in the same way there are some . boys and girls from the Grammar School | who scrape through t-heiir junior Civil 1 Service and matriculation examination, | but whom Mr. Tibbs would not like to , see classed as average specimens of the I product turned out by his school. I "• On the whole." concluded Mr. Wells, 1"I am sure the education given in the ; primary school's to-day is less bookish, j better calculated to train the reasoning I faculties. a.nd better calculated to Turn out boys and girls w-ell equipped I for the battle of life than under the : former svs-tem. I '