The Auckland Star WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1934. BRAINS AND ISOLATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 267, 10 November 1934, Page 8

The Auckland Star WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1934. BRAINS AND ISOLATION.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the torong that needs resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can dg..

It is a proverbial saying that many a true word is s]ioken in jest. It might also be said that many a jest is spoken in earnest. The New Zealand official who told a returned Rhodes Scholar that the years he had spent at Oxford would not count against him said something in all seriousness (or else there would be no point in the story) that many a wit would like to have thought of. "You come from Oxford? Oh, well, we'll waive that disability!" It is just because this was said seriously that it is so germane to the contentions put forward by Dr. A. J. Harrop on his departure from New Zealand after a tour of University inspection.

Because of his position and his experience, Dr. Harrop's conclusions are particularly valuable. He is a New Zealand University graduate, he took a post-graduate course at Cambridge, he has done research work in Britain and abroad, and for some years he has acted as agent for the New Zealand University in England. He is thus well acquainted, especially after this "refresher" visit, with our University world and that of the Old Country. It is disturbing, therefore, to find I that ho reports that in the opinion of professors who have arrived here during the last year or two higher education does not occupy the plane it used to, or the plane it should. On the other hand; these newcomers are impressed with the average capacity of students. That, one can say with some degree of certainty, is the impression~of most visitors to New Zealand. The average intelligence is high; the question is what use is being made of it. Dr. Harrop thinks the standard of the University entrance examination should be raised, and now that matriculation has less importance than it had as a leaving-school certificate, it should be easier to do this. In this respect the University should be entirely master in its own house. The maintenance of a low standard means that a number of students go to the University who are not. really fitted to benefit by its facilities. They cost the country money and take up the time of an over-worked and underpaid staff. Dr. Harrop thinks New Zealand is spending too much money proportionately on the lower grades of education. They are the popular grades, and it is easier to obtain money for them than for the University Colleges. It must not be forgotten, however, that the Avhole standard of education is ultimately set by the University, for it trains the teacher; or perhaps it would be more accurate to say it should train him, for there seems to be a belief in some quarters that training college curriculum is sufficient for the service's needs.

Dr. Harrop also notes, Avith regret, the paucity of opportunity offered locally to the best brains of the country. Our best students, he says, "still consistently go abroad," and those who are abroad already do not return. Allowance must be made for the limitation of opportunity in so small a community, but this does not wholly account for the exodus and for the numbers of exceptionally capable men and women who find employment overseas. For example, attempts have been made to openthe Civil Service door wider to graduates, but without success. In University circles the position is perhaps not so bad as Dr. Harrop's remarks might suggest, for in the past few years quite a number of New Zealand graduates have been appointed to University posts. Of the three professors appointed in Wellington this week two are New Zealanders. It would be quite wrong, however, to lay down a rule "New Zealand for New Zealanders." We need a certain amount of fresh blood infused into the educational system. It might, for instance, be a very good thing for New Zealand to seek the next Director of Education away from this country altogether. From the point of view of intellectual development our isolation is a serious disadvantage, and we can counter it only by importing teachers from abroad and by encouraging our own staffs to travel.