FREE TRAINING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 151, 29 June 1931, Page 3

FREE TRAINING.

SECONDARY SCHOOL PLACES, TREND IN NEW ZEALAND. DANGER OF CURTAILMENT. (From Our Own Correspondent.) WHANGAREI, this day. "Secondary education is what every pupil who can possibly get it, should have," said Mr. A. B. Charters at the High School jubilee function on Saturday. "It used to be said: 'The boy is only going on a farm. What advantage can a high school education be to him?' The farmer of to-morrow, as of to-day, will have to work on a scientific basis. Many farmers are puzzled when they read half a dozen different articles in expert journals, apparently contradicting each other. A young fellow with a secondary school education is able to read the hidden meaning and see that the articles only differ in minor details. "An uneducated democracy ie subject to mob psychology," continued the speaker. "With an educated democracy a nation has nothing to fear, but with an uneducated democracy there is everything to fear. "Certain developments recently are causing a good deal of concern to those interested in secondary school'education. No politica.l party has taken the matter up, but interests are working towards the curtailment of secondary education. The idea is, we fear, to reduce the number of free places, so that the majority of pupils continuing will have to pay. This is exactly opposite to what is being done in England, where the number of free places has been increased. We do not confine ourselves to teaching mathematics, classics and languages, but also train the eye and hand in arts and crafts, such as woodwork, agriculture, cooking, etc. "I wish to. condemn heartily any insidious attempts to cut off the young people of this country from an equal opportunity to obtain free secondary school training; that is, if the supposition mentioned is a correct one. , "My opinion is that any such policy would be undemocratic."