N.Z. SHOULD TAKE NOTE OF BRITISH SCHOOLS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 86, 23 August 1950, Page 7

N.Z. SHOULD TAKE NOTE OF BRITISH SCHOOLS

New Zealand with its own controversies about the new education will be interested in the opinion of the British Ministry of Education, reviewing work done in 1949, that British children educationally fall short of the pre-war standard. This is the general conclusion of the Ministry of Education in a review of work done in 1949. Comparing accamplishments of today’s school children with those of 12 years ago, the Ministry finds the former:— Can’t Do Sums Can’t do sums as well; know less about science because there are too few teachers; and have an inferior grounding in English. But there are compensating advantages which have followed changes in the style of instruction. Children are more alert, take more interest in life around them, use their hands better, are more creative in their pursuits. Extracts from reports by school inspectors, say:— “The ability of children to calculate certainly deteriorated during the war. “Attainment in English ... is not yet as high as it was before the war. There is a serious loss in the quality of some of the English teaching.” Typical of the brighter aspects:— “On the spiritual side, the usual morning assembly marks a good beginning of the day’s work; it is not unusual to find . that this corporate act of worship is conducted by the children. “Poetry is ceasing to be learned by heart once a week and, very occasionally, children even write their own.” “There is a shift of emphasis from the teacher to the children learning.” “A great improvement in the teaching of housecraft and needlecraft.” The report says there is much greater demand for instruction in modern languages—Spanish, especially—in the grammar schools. Shed Insularity

This is because parents who saw service abroad during the war “have shed something of their insularity, and are now inclined to support the modern language teacher instead of regarding his'efforts, as many did previously, with profound scepticism.” Saddest part of the whole story is the shortage of teachers. There were still last year 1782 classes With more than 50 pupils. General average in primary schools is more than 30 per teacher.