TRAINING OF GIRLS.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 14227, 15 December 1911, Page 10

TRAINING OF GIRLS.

- ;;■•..,. -c,—; •, ■, . A HEADMISTRESS'S VIEWS. DOMESTIC SCIENCE "RUN MAP." (1 BESS ASSOCIATION TELEOBJUt.) DUNEDIN, DecemDer 14. At the break-up of the Otago Girls' High School, Miiss Marchant, -who ier retiring after sixteen years' service, gave some of. her views'on the teaching of . domestic science, and the relation of ' free secondary education to the education of girls. Generally, she thought : the standard of admission was too low. . Another grave defect ivas that girls left so quickly. At Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland, and iJunedin there were more girle of High JSchool ago in private schools than at free high schools. This meant, that the majority of parents did not want free education for their girls. Though fees had been abolished, that was not enough. Girls' parents needed money. Girls whose ability was undoubted ought to bo given £15 a year to enable them to attend school. Some girk with ability went away to earn about 5s a week. In fifty weeks they would earn £12 10s. In preference to the present system, then, she would like to see a scholarship of _ £15 given to these girls, and fees maintained in school for those who could afford to. pay. With respect to university education, she thought that the appeal to.reason and intellect that was dominating tho S3'stem in the primary schools had run mad over domestic ecienco. Business people had an idea that if they could teach girls chemistry and cooking, the physics of this and the temperature of something else, they would make good cooks of them. They would make no such thing.. If was not a smattering of science that was wanted to turn people into cooks. Some of the most unintellectual people she had seen made the best cooks and the best housewives. For herself, instead of beginning at tho top with all this scientific training, she would brgin at the bottom. She would have a little house like a home such as girls would live in in after life, and no fanciful kitchen with gas stoves fitted up quite unlike anything the girls woidd have in the course of their lives. Sho would send the fifth standard to the home to work for three months day after day. and sho would teaoh them how to do the work quickly, expeditionsly, and Next year ehe would send the sixth standard to the same place. Beginning with the girls of' these-standards in that way, they wouM reach three-fourths of, the womanhood of New. Zealand. (Applause.)