CATHOLIC EDUCATION.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15486, 13 January 1916, Page 5

CATHOLIC EDUCATION.

GRIEVANCES VENTILATED

ADDRESS BY FATHER GRAHAM,

At the fifth half-yearly meeting of the Canterbury Diocesan Council of the New Zealand Catholic Federation, held yesterday, tho Very Rev. Dean Hyland presiding, the Rector of St. Bede's College (the Rev. Father Graham) delivered an address, in which he dealt with some grievances concerning education. which particularly concerned the Roman Catholic community in New Zealand. The position of Roman Catholics was not well understood by the majority of the people of New Zealand, said Father Graham, and very imperfectly understood by a great many of their own co-religionists. They had almost got used to the disabilities—so long had they endured them—which were inflicted upon them because of their religion.- The fundamental principle underlying the Catholic attitude towards education was that it was impossible to separate reljgion and education. ' There was an obligation placed upon parents to provide for the spiritual, as well as the material, needs of their children, hence when parents delegated the rights of educating their children to teachers, they must see that those teachers were fit to carry out the duty. If Catholic parents neglected their children in this matter, they would have to account one day for their sins of omission and commission. Hence. Catholics held that it was not the duty of the State to say to them that they must send their children to be educated in schools—suitable enough from the State's point of view—but which the Catholics knew were not in accordance with their conscience. They admitted that it was the State's duty to establish and maintain schools, but they denied that the State had the right to establish and support out of public money schools suitable to the religious convictions of some of the community and utterly unsuitable to others, even though the others were a minorityßy the Act of 1877, which established the present much-vaunted free, secular, _ and compulsory system of education in New Zealand, Catholics were excluded from their rightful share of the taxation, on religious grounds alone. Since that year the Catholics had built schools, equipped and maintained them, and by so doing, though contributing to tho general taxation, was saving the State £62,000 r)er year. AH protests had so far been unavailing to remedy what they considered an injustice: in fact, injustices had been increased in the introduction of regulations regarding the holding of scholarships and free places in secondarv and colleges. Prior to 1910 Catholic pupils were no't allowed to/ compete for scholarships. By the Education Act Amendment of that vear State scholarships (not' free places) were thrown open for competition among pupils attending private as well as public schools. By some strange oversight, no provision was inserted allowing scholarships so pained to be taken out at approved Catholic secondary schools. The Act

liad really been amended for the purpose of benefiting Catholic schools, but the legal interpretation put upon the clause had deprived them of the advantage which the Legislature bad intended. • The law was altered in the last Education Act Amendment to provide that scholarships could be taken out in schools approved bv the Minis-

ter—a very unstable position. At a recent meeting of the Board of Education, a resolution had been unanimously passed, to the effect that no scholarships Should be tenable at private schools, so apparently an attempt was to be made to take'this concession away—an attempt' that should be resisted vigorously. Tho concession with regard to "leaving' certificates" was also to be withdrawn now, which was penalising the Catholic religion with a vengeance. There is no Catho-

lie University College at present at which Catholics might attend, and to deprive a Catholic student of advantages simply because his studies had been prosecuted. at a Catholic college was very hard, to sa.y the'least of it. A similar injustice was to be marked in the "free place" system, especially designed to benefit the poor man's children. The Government would not allow free places to be taken out in Catholic secondary schools, and this was a very severe handicap. Dr. Ke.nnedy. in his evidence before the Education Commission, had stated that 90 per cent, of the boys at St. Patrick's College, were holders of proficiency certificates, and would be entitled to free education there if the Jaw was amended. • As it was, the boy whose parents desired him to go on to higher schools was obliged to find fees. Roman Catholics could not accept the secular system offered, and they asked for simpler justice. As they shared the burdens they should j share the advantages. They did not question the right of the Government inspection, or that the Government should see that a certain standard of secular education should be attained, but if Catholics did the work of the Government they should receive their share of the money contributed, equally with others, for the work so done. The whole explanation of the difficulty was that 38 years ago the Government, to settle religious differences, had decided to bring in a free, secular and compulsory system, but so far from its.being a neutral system it was | founded on religious bigotry. That the system was a failure was evidenced by the fact that tli© Catholic bodv had refused the advantages offered, and had elected to spend thousands of pounds annually in providing a system that was acceptable to them. Other bodies were taking the same attitude, as was evidenced in the recent agitation for the introduction of religious teaching to the present schools. The Catliolics must insist upon the justice of their claims, nnd he believed that in the end—though the fight might be a severe one—they would triumph.