The Press. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1873.

Press, Volume XXI, Issue 2610, 17 December 1873, Page 2

The Press. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1873.

Titl?'statistics quoted by Mr Bowen, m his jgpeech at the laying of the foundation" stone of the Normal school yesterday, were strikingly appropriate. In a few words they spoke volumes. They were a practical demonstration of succes%;£6o complete and forcible in itself to need comment. Mr Bowen might hare" protracted his speech ad infinitum without producing any stronger impression of the triumphant resultc? thepresent educational system. That system was introduced in 1871, and has 'been completed by the Ordinance' of 1873. In 1871 the number of children receiving education at aided schools was 3691; at the present time the number is 7695. In 1871 .the average daily attendance was 2565 • it is now 4915. The number of teachers employed in 1871 was 79 ; now it is 206. "What can be said but in praise of the puineiples of a,system which in the short space of two years has worked such wonderful results as these?

'Biit there ia one thing to be remem- j bered. In proportion to the success j .of:tb'e.' I -Byßtei_ i .Vof Education is the necessity of making ample proviaion for its maintenance. The more -schools multiply, and the more the attendance j_cre_3es, the more urgent is the aeed of ft'large e*q»enditure on the building; of school rooms and the supplying of qualified teachers. This pressure will be t;Very considerable for the next j two or three years, as the indirect 1 influence of the Education Ordinance | ißjlleitYfehroiiSJbout the proyince. A similar Btate'of things has occurred in j "Victoria. During the session of 1872 the Victorian Legislature'passed a neiftrr; ]rMu<»tion F Act, by which education was made free.and-{as soon as practicable) compulsory; and so extraordinary has been the increase of j pupils since the Act came into operation, that though two years ago Victoriawas thought exceptionally well! eudptied with schools, a vote oil £10Q,000 is; proving quite inadequate j for\'fjb_el"additional buildings that are j foundindispensable. ' So, on a com- j paratiie scale, it is 'aud may be ex-1 pelted* to be in Canterbury. The giyen an inimense im-: petus, to/ftie educational requirements of the province, and its whole intellectual progress depends on tbe manner in which at this stage of their development they are provided for. The Provincial Conncii, as a body,! has shown itself very properly sensible of the fact. Its duties as regards the promotion of education have been faithfully ■ discharged. The sums applied for by the Board have been voted year -by year, we suspect not without grumbling, but without opposition. "Nor in the present abundance of money has the Council failed to make large appropriations for educational purpoaea. The estimates for the year comprise A fium 9f no let* than

£42,500 for school-buildings ; though we believe that some part of this is . merely a renewal of the balance unex- __j pende<f3ast year. In addition to the C buildings the Coflmcil "* 'has also "sanctioned, trie necessary a expenditure for the erection of a ( Normal School, the foundation t stone of which was laid yester- r .day. This is a work the importance j ofwhich it would be hard to exaggerate. The want of it has long been ( severely felt. Coming by chance across c the report of the Chairman of the « Board of Education for the year 1869, f we .find him representing that " the "difficulty experienced by committees i " in obtaining duly qualified teachers " for new schools, or for vacancies oc- , " curring in schools already in exist- ( " ence, has increased rather than di- 1 '• minished." This want, continues the | Chairman, will be still more felt as 1 the population increases, and the schools become more numerous, "and " the Board is of opinion that it can " only be met by the establishment of " a normal school." Tlie same representation, as the need grew more serious every year, has been pressed on the Government in terms of increasing urgency, till in 1872 the " Chairman declared that " the time " had arrived when such a school had " become an absolute necessity." That the assertion is net overstrained must be acknowledged by everyone who has the slightest acquaintance with the facts. The figures quoted above, indeed, place it beyond question: for if there was a difficulty in obtaining seventy-nine qualified teachers in 1871, what must be the difficulty now when the number required has increased to upwards of 200? We congratulate the province that this highly important part of its Educational machinery is now about to be supplied. It was a happy thought on the part of the Board, and one of happy omen, that the first steps towards the establishment of an institution out of which so much may be expected to grow should be taken on the day on which we commemorate the foundation of Canterbury.