FUTURE PLANNING

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 110, 11 May 1943, Page 4

FUTURE PLANNING

EDUCATION'S PLACE

PROGRESS MADE IN WARTIME

(0.C.) CHRISTCHURCH, this day.

"Our education system at the outbreak of war could, I believe, bear comparison with the systems of most countries. It was better than those of many," said the president of the New Zealand Educational Institute, Mr. D. Forsyth, in his address at the opening of the diamond jubilee meeting of the institute in Chris tchurch this morning.

He continued: ••'That statement is no idle and egotistical insular boast. •In the ultimate and most exacting test of an education system, and of the product of that system—total warfare —our lads in the army, in the navy, and in the air force have measured up to the highest standards demanded of them by their commanders and by our leaders. They have won the highest praise of Mr. Churchill himself. In our factories and our industries, too, they have shown an initiative and an adaptability, and an inventiveness that will, when the full story of their efforts is told, prove a tale almost as stirring as many of those of the battlefield. Our schools have 'deliv* ered the goods. .

"We are proud of our record of service, both in the field and in the home front," said Mr. Forsyth, referring to the activities of the institute. "Over 50 per cent of our men are in the services. In spite of all the difficulties, I honestly believe that education has not only not gone back, but that it has actually made definite progress in many directions. This is surely a wartime record that all concerned, from the Government down, may justly feel proud of." Serious Weaknesses in System Mr. Forsyth said that although progress had been made, there were serious weaknesses in the education system. There was not "equal opportunity for all," though much had been done in that direction in recent years. Classes were still too large, buildings and equipment in many cases were insufficient, and the system was still probably much too deeply rooted in the academic traditionalism and the conservatism of the past. "One of our first tasks in plans for reconstruction after the war is to convince the public now that education must take an important place in any post-war planning, and that the financial and practical needs of education should not be overlooked. To do this we have to convince the general public that the present system is not perfect, that it has weaknesses to be overcome, and that its needs in material things are great," continued Mr. Forsytn. "I believe that the Church has a job to do in developing the moral side of the nation, just as the schools have in developing the intellectual side; that somehow, somewhere, there must be co-operation and coordination of effort. But I believe, just as strongly, that the problem will not be solved by misdirected, though well-meaning, effort, such as we have often had in the past, to throw the whole responsibility on the schools; or to throw the blame for moral slackness, where noticed, solely on the teachers. "Moral training and character building is, and always has been, the fundamental aim of our, teaching, but God forbid, that the Christian teaching should ever be reduced, in the minds of our New Zealand children, solely to the level of a school 'subject' with a similar place in the time-table as geography or arithmetic. The home, the Church, as well as school must have a place in, and a responsibility for, the education system of to-morrow; but the problem of defining the limits of the responsibility of each has yet to be solved. Only by a vast tolerance, patience and understanding, and by a new vision on the part of all concerned, will a solution be found. That is one of the major problems of the future, a problem reaching to the very roots of our lif e _the homes of the people.

"We Must Not Fail Again"

"It will perhaps be a difficult task to convince many that there is anything wanting in a system, such as our present system," that can turn out such men as pur fighting forces. But it must be done," continued Mr. Forsyth "In 1914-1918 we produced such men . . . but we did not produce a type that could win the peace that followed. We must not fail again . . . we dare not. It will be necessary to show that such a system must have the best teachers possible . . and that three years is not long enough to train teachers adequately for such a task, the task of moulding young minds and bodies, and souls as we would wish them moulded . . . the most difficult task any group of people can be asked to perform."Think of our infants, with their intense eagerness to commence the learning processes; think of the rapidity with which they conquer their environment . . . their delight in experience, in exploration, in experiment and in performance. Can we honestly assert that at the age of 13 plus, after eight years of 'education,' that keenness and freshness are always still there, still

as eager and enthusiastic as at five years? Are there not still too many 'don'ts,' too many repressions, too much hedging in our system?

"Our pupils commence life as joyous fresh young lives with a ' soul

. . . too often, I fear, they leave it as pedagogic laboratory specimens with a record card and an I.Q. Dare we continue to shut these young lives up for five hours a day, five days a week, 40 weeks a year in a class-room that all too often, eyen to-day, has not the nominal requirements for a modern factory; that all too often even to-day, lacks much of the most essential equipment for modern, teaching," said Mr. Forsyth. "Dare we continue to do this to the extent of cramming sometimes 50 to 59 pupils in such a class-room, under the charge of one, often nervewracked and harassed, teacher? Is there one mother in the country who could honestly approve of even the most experienced and skilled woman being responsible for over 30 infants, or of any one teacher being asked to handle over 40? "Are Parents Disinterested?" . "Where does the retardation that we are all so often worried about commence?" asked Mr. Forsyth. "Am I wrong in asserting that it starts all too often in over-crowded and under-staffed infant rooms, and that the 'tails' so created drag on and up through the classes, reluctant and unhappy for the rest of their school lives? How much delinquency, and near delinquency, finds its origin in the same source? And the last person in the world to be blamed for it all is the teacher.

"Why do our parents protest? Are they disinterested and careless of the welfare of their children? I doubt it. But they don't know. How often do the average parents come to the average school per year—on Parents' Day, on break-up day, and very occasionally when they decided to 'give teacher a bit of my mind'? It will be the task of the future planners to bring the parents and the schools closer together so that each may know and understand the problems of the other, and work together in the interests of the growing child," concluded Mr. Forsyth. "We have a great task before us. Let us face Tit '.with courage, determination and confidence."

Other speakers were the Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser, the Minister of Education,- Mr. Mason, and the Director of Education, Dr. Beeby. Proceedings were opened by the Mayor of Christchurch, Mr. E. H. Andrews.