OUR FAULTY EDUCATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 306, 28 December 1931, Page 6

OUR FAULTY EDUCATION.

OVER-REGARD FOR EXAMINATIONS

(To the Editor.)

lam gl a d to see an authority of sUc i, experience as the headmistress of the Waikat Diocesan Girls' School has dared to "come int the open and speak plainlv words on education system that many of us burned°l* say, but, in face of massed authority in rarikM opposition, dare not give utterance to "o secondary and university education," saw Miss Edwards, "is far behind that of 'the OM Country," and in regard to our primary educa tion she says "our poor little 'proficient would meet with no recognition outside New Zealand." And this after some fifty-live Year! of strenuous efforts and an expenditure which at the present time amounts to some £4,000000 per annum! As to our primary school system as one who for many years has come into contact with its results, I can truly say thpv are deplorable. It is the exception to come across a letter written by a pupil .who; hu passed even the proficiency examination which is not badly written, full of mistakes in spelling and composition, and ungrammatical As to the knowledge of these proficiencystandard pupils in geography, history and literature, it k pitiable. Perhaps I can best illustrate the state of muddle and confusion their minds are in by saying they resemble one of Jack Hilton's' "Musical Medleys" over the wireless, wherein a potpourri of a hh from each composer is mingled in a hopeless jumble of meaningless noises, which convey bo resemblance to the original. It is easy to 6ee wherein the faults of this system lie—tie children are not "educated," they are "instructed." Just as meat is forced into » sausage machine, so are "facts" concernst historical incidents, largely unconnected and so-called "knowledge" forced and crammed into their minds, especially prior to examinations. The pupil who can "produce the "oodi" (to quote our American friends) at examinations, notwithstanding that three weeks after his mind may be (and probably will be) » complete blank on these particular subjects is the one held up as an example to the cW Everything taught seems to be purposely made as mechanical, uniform, dull and uninteresting as possible. Can you find any child over school age voluntarily reaching a work of literary or historical value? No! He much prefers "Peg's Paper," "Tit-bits'' or the "Violet llagazine." lam not blaming the teachers. Tliey dare not, if they would, teach otherwise than as the system insists. The responsibility really lies with the heads of the profession, who for years have strenuously resisted any criticism of, or alteration in, the almost deified system they are responsible for producing, Ngaio. A. H. GIBSON.