The Bruce Herald. " Nemo me impune lacessit." TOKOMAIRIRO, DSCEMBER 9, 1808.

Bruce Herald, Volume v, Issue 241, 9 December 1868, Page 4

The Bruce Herald. " Nemo me impune lacessit." TOKOMAIRIRO, DSCEMBER 9, 1808.

The General Assembly, bason the motion cf Mr D. Bell, resolved that a Commission should be appointed 10 enquire into the working* of the various educntionnl systems in New Zealand. This we hail with pleasure, and if gentlemen acquainted with edncatiuß and scholastics economy he appointed, much good will result: for. as an old proverb saitli " Iron sbarpeneth iron," so rbe various Provinces and educational Boards will have their defects pointed out and their pood features made mani fest. And although comparisons are said to '• be odious." or as an aucient lady has it. " odorous," yet it can only be by one system being- compared with another, that lasting- progress* will lie made. We are not afraid of the commission, and cannot see anything but good in its appointment, and hope that the Provinces and their Ex— enliven will give every aid in their power in furthering the task of inquiry. Connected with this Commission question, a colonial system of education is mooted. If l>3 r a colonial sys'em is meant a system with a central authority . overruling sind overriding provincial control, and paying' te.'iclferj! our, of a common purse, we. would ■M once unhesitatingly say, it is uncalled for, and impracticable ; uncalled for, because a central nuthoritity or a central administration has not yet or ever will popularly and economically manage- education, and"' also hftcause some of the Provinces have by Educational Keserves provided for the future, while others, careless and indifferent, have altogether neglected the claims of education in their hot career of extravagance. But ihxt there- may be a colonial system without a central administration is within the hounds of possibility. On many previous occasions we have puintcul out the many glaring- deficiencies in our present Education Board. As yet there is no improvement, smd the schoolmasters, with a self-abnegation worthy of sainted martyrs, have leen content to let rhings remain as they are. The "active part in local poli lies" resolution apparently made the timid amongst themiifraid, anil probably rhe more bold were powerless for wapr of unanimity. As it is, Otugo has an Education Board ruling supreme in education affairs and school economy, composed of gentlemen whose, knowledge of either or lio-h of these, subjects is very harmless, Hoy, whose theories and practice, on the bitter especially, are false and ruinous. Yet the shot. ld-be conservatois of sound educational theories and the progressive clement in school economy have been wonderfully silent, content to draw their salaries and let be for let be. Perhaps they are wise «nd me adopting th« only course to make and perfect the Otago educational system. Jf so, their method is so diverse from that adopted by the'r brethren in older countries that it is a question for tlim'r consideration whether it might not he wise to give the schoolmasters' assoeiationsin the United Kingdom some brotherly advice in iho adoption of a like course. Now that the Commission is anpointed, however, we fancy all those interesred in education, ami who have ideas thereon original or borrowed, should at once set al.out promulgating- them, so that the Commissioner's report iii ay lead to something and not fill 'the was'e paper basket of the House of Representatives. One of the subjects that must, come un is compulsory education. In England the necessity for a compulsory 'system is being daily more felt, while i»i" the Australian colonies it is much discussed. . In the neighboring colony of Tasmania, to its credit, he it said, "a compnkorysvf tern-lias been adopted, and sill children between the. n^es of seven iind twelve must attend school, unless exempted liy t.liH local committees. If the system were once inauguia'ed tho people would, through time, never question its arbitrariness, no more than the punishment of a parent for ne<rlecrin<r the bodily nourishment, of his child is debated. The sac-redness of the paTeiilfrl control and the freedom of Englishmen mayb e arguments very telling on a political platform, but when calmly and philosopically examined are found, untenable.' As an able Italian has said' What! if a father should threaten to mutilate, or in any way to injure the body of his child, society would interfere, called on and invited by all; and shall the soul at' that, child be of less uorth than the body ? Shall not society interfere to protect him from the mutilations of his faculties, from ignorance, from the perversions of his moral sense, from superstition ? * * * " Nay, exnet the foundation of a system of gratuitous education obligatory upon all." Yes, in all countries where the. people have power education obligatory upon all v must be enforced." The commissioners will also have to discuss the question of scholarships. In Otago scholarships to the High School have at last been sanctioned, but the number of competitors is wofnlly meagre, especially from the country districts. Altogether from the main schools •.here are some thirty, and the middle ; j school of Dunedin, fifteen ; Dunedin altp^ gether sending about twenty-three. Th||| does not speak well for Otago and '&M much vaunted superiority^ over other F|j||| vincHS, and we hope., another year fwk treble the number of cpmnetitbrs. It^^fp be a question whetherlhere may n^jJJKt one or two colonial scb^lhrships coifipS&Jtl for by all the youths of; Ke'w Zealand;*:^ respective of the schools they attend, arid <>iving the parents the power to fix in what sihooT the successful candidate should be trained, « money bonus being given l>y the Govtrnmenr. But flir more important than srliol:«rsljips» is the question of an Examining Board for schoolmasters, foraer what akin to the Privy Council examination in England. If this : we'fe established, and different .grades of teachers, with a corresponding alteration in- salary iixed,

education would be advanced. Tn Victoria there are two classes, the highesrhaVmg(he opportunity of obtaining- honors. Associated with this colonial competition among- the schoolmasters, is the question of one or two inspectors being appointed by che Colonial Government to examine among- the various schools in New Zealand, and report thereon in the same way ns the inspectors appointed by the Privy Council do. Such a periodical examination would no doubt be as lustily opposed by some os it was in England, but the good results that would follow therefrom would have the same effect as it has had ia England, namely, in the acknowledgement of its practical wisdom. There are many more important subjects which the commissioners will have to report on, and we trust the constitution of the Educational Boards will not be overlooked, so that it cannot be longer said thuttlie Thesmothetes of education are ignorant of its very elements. In the meiintime we hope the subjects to which we have alluded, and other kindred evils, will be discussed by all Mends of educational advancement, arid something practical be obtained from the labors of the commissioners. ~"