OBITER DICTA.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17401, 11 March 1922, Page 10

OBITER DICTA.

(By K.) ' Music in the schoolsP By nil means; but some of us hod imagined that singing was already a part of what the Scots call "th« curriculum." Whether, under the guidance of a Mr Panscope, there mny be developed an organisation which, will improve the health of the children, safeguard them against leading lives of crime or politics, and otherwise benefit them, I must leave to wiser people than myself, Just as Mr Ell used to leave the larger issues to others while ihe attended to the lesser details 0 f ufe —s'-ot telephones and beauty spots an J prefer to consider the odds and ends of the subjects with which the others, the brniny people, busy themselves. In this case, the detail which nobody will regard if it is not regarded here is the unmusical dhild. In older days the strap was Authority's method of recognising tone-deafness. Authority has learned better since then, but whether it has learned what to do with th<> unmusical child, and the unmusical teacher, remains to be seen. I wislh. I couH be clearer in my mind as to the ercact results expected by Mr Panscope's committee. And it is \to be hoped that the music will not be a net addition to the curriculum, but will be substituted for aritlunetio, that mere instrument of torture. This might, of course, prevent the next generation from seeing a new and greater MoCombs refuting the reactionaries by long division. But you cannot have omelettes without breaking egga.

There is a very pleasing side to this agitation for the introduction of mudio into t)ho schools. For it means, of oourse, that tli© education system in this country is nearly perfect—that the necessaries have all been provided, and luxuries may now be attended to. Not for New Zealand is there need for any study of the British Departmental Committee's report, "The Teaching of English in England," a copy of which comes to me from Whitcombe's. The eminent men who oumposed tikis Committee actually hold that English is the sole possible vehicle of a general humonistio education. It takes its stand on the ground (I quote a good summary, because I CBnnot quote the whole 400 pa&es here;, that to be a good engineer or a good scavenger or a good grocer you must first be a good man. And to be a good man you must first know what you are and what you are doing. The Committee's firm, unalterable, and unanimous belief is that an intelligent knowledge of our language as it is <md may bo used is a thing indispensable in our national system of education. "As it is and may be used." Before (hastily replying that English is English, and that is all about it, you should reflect that in the hands of ShakespeaTe it is one thing, and in the hands of our excellent Mayor or our Liberal writers, something quite other. Since nobody proposes tfliat the study of English, is our first need in this country, I assume that we. have already reached the goal to which Mr Fisher's Committee is directing poor old England. That music is now the only tiling wanting in our system of education is a fact of which Mr Parr must think with pride in the intervals between his bouts witlh rats, ( health officers, and school teachers.