THE SCHOOL INSPECTORS' REPORTS. THE PROPOSED FISH MARKET.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 11097, 16 October 1901, Page 6

THE SCHOOL INSPECTORS' REPORTS.

THE PROPOSED FISH MARKET.

The most satisfactory of the I edhodl inspectors , Deports, as submitted to Parliament-, is the general tendency to regard education in the wider sense it has acquired of recent years. "Education/ , ' 1 said Bacon, "is that, which develops a I "largeness of capacity, swiftness of appre."hension, and penetration of judgment ,, ; and the'truth, of the. definition is generally admitted by those with any claim to au■tbority on the subject.. Education is no longer regarded as mere instruction or "cram," and aaetihtods whklf not so very long ago would. have been looked at . askance as revolutionary • - are now being -widely adojatexl, ,To ,fin& a school inspector boldly declaring in his > report tlhat "the standard -pass is "nearly 'worthless as." a gauge of pronci"ertcy," ii f to recognise thsfC thfe leaven of reform is working with considerable effect.' It is interesting in this connection to note the results of an experiment initiated in, January of last year, wbgn new regulations for the inspection and examination of schools came into iorce. These reguZatioos gave teachers a, large amount of freedom in tlbe classification of their, pupils* The examinations for passes, previously ' conducted by visiting inspectors, wers—exoept in standard "VX—placed whtolly in the hands «£ the head teachers, promotion being made to depend on the average results of periodical examinations held by the teachers. That is to say, the promotion oi a ipnjril. now depends, not on. the result of one examination held by a stranger, but on the average results of several examinations held by the pupil's own teacher, who understands—or ought to, iinderstand—tlbe. child's temperament'and capabilities, and who ia in the "best position to judge the yalue of the year , * work. It ia gratifying, to learn that 'the results have on the whole justified the experiment. It is "true that many of i&e teacher? bare not fully realised tbte value 61 the freedom conferred upon them, or realising it have not ventured fully upon,Jta exercise; but in the.great majority of cases the classification has been done by the teachers without the assistance of the inspectors, and in a manner that seems to have met with the approval of the latter. '

After all, the value of our educational methods depends very largely upon the individual qualities of the teachers themselves. Good teachers do not "cram" their pupils, bat bad ones do, and to improve the system it is necessary first of all to see that those responsible for the working of it are properly trained. For this reason -we would support the establishment of training colleges for young teachers, which the Auckland Education, Board's chief inspector declares to be "one of our most urgent needs." The matter is one well worthy of serious consideration by the Education Department. We agree also that the time has come when the public school syllabus should be thoroughly revised and made more elastic in ite provisions, so as to give more scope to the individuality of the .teacher, and reduce the tendency to strain the memory rather than cultivate the nried of the pupil. Some inspectors consider that too much lime is devoted to arithmetic; that history as now presented is of little use to the children, and that the study of grammar is too formal, and should be made to bear more directly upon the children's studies in reading and composition. We sympathise with the suggestion that history and geography should be introduced in the form i of reading books,; ;i d si ill more with the proposal to reduce the memorising of dates to a minimum. We note that the teaching of science, which Spencer has called 'the Cinderella of education, ,, has met with success where introduced under proper direction, but in

many cases this branch, of study .lifts ,j languished through the inantfcient truin- f ing of the teacher* or 'the v ro»t vi proper - appliances. There is, in short, rtill pltnty ( of room for improvement in our educv.bual , system, bat there is, reason to liope that those who have the moulding of it, are ' alive to its defects, and are sincere in ' their desire to improve the sy3ten». The point to be kept always in mind is that education is not merely an elaborate covrse of Jtteotal gymnastics, but rather a sjstem for "educing" the innate faculties of each, individual child. It is to tie attscwnent of this object that all educational reforms, to be really effective, must be 'JUvrie to tend.

We fully sympathise with the desire of the City Council to place" the fish supply of the city ou a better footing, but ttey should take care that tb*y do not saddle the city with another white elephant. We believe that it will be an advantage from a Public Health point of view to Have tho fish all auctioned in some central bnilding under inspection by the officers of the City Council, so thsst all unwholesome fish can be promptly condemned and destroyed, and if this can be effectively secured at a moderate expense it will be well worth doing. We are not very sanguine, however, that it will have the effect of materially cheapening fish, to the consumer. The ordinary householder is not in a position to buy his fish at auction, and if lie were disposed to do so it is very probable that those in the trade would see that he did not get it : at too cheap a rate. On the other hand it is very doubtful indeed whether any good would be done by the Council establishing stalls for the retail sale of fish.' Whether it is sold over "the counter in a city shop or from a hawker's caxt> fish is at no time cheap in Cbrietchurch, and. we do not believe the price would be any lower if it were displayed on a corporation stall. The truth is that the supply of the better class of fish, for I which alone there is much demand, is both irregular and limited, and it is this fact which keeps up the price. Our chief hope for, seeing a better state of things brought about lies in the successful development of the trawling industry. The Council, we fear, cannot give us cheaper fish, but they may be able to secure its sale under cleanly conditions, and insist on the prompt destruction of all. unwholesome fish. It is, in fact, their imperative duty to do this, but to secure such a result it is by no means .necessary to launch into any large expense. . ■ .