The Press Monday, November 25, 1929. University Scholarships.
In hi.* addrc--. reported on Sanirdav. jto what i- on*"' 4 more the University Senate, the Chancellor. Profe-sn r .1. I .Macmillnn Brown, hand-omely complimented the < on ern merit on restoring 'he , statutory grant, for which thr last i ilini-tcr for Education, Mr Wriirht. in , an ill-judsrinir moment, had sub-titutcd ■an annua! vote. " Gencrou- " ami " enlightened " are of coupe words «»£ i very liberal praise, and to de-serve them ' hilly the Government Trill need to do I rather more than it has done in rcpairi inc its predecessor's unhappy ini-take; ! bttt the Government i- certainly to he j thanked for acting, a~ it did. rjuickly and willingly. The University is now able to plan ita future again on an assured financial basis, though not by I any means a hroad one. It has not t much money, or a great income, and yet haa been able to extend, gradually, its provision for scholarships of various kinds, and looks forward to further extension; and this was a particular reason why the cutting off of the .statutory grant was damrcron". It meant that the University could no longer work out, within tho known limits of its income, its policy of building up scholarship funds. Then' was not likely to be much difference between having only uncertain or irregular memos of carrying out this policy and having no means at all. But the scholarship system is not only one of the University's most useful instruments, it is almost the only one which it controls directly; for the four Colleges and associated institutions are as ; teaching bodies practically autonomous. I The attraction and selection of the best ! brains, the voting men and women likely ! to be of jrreatest service to the com- ; inanity, if set free to study at the right ; time and in the riprht way, is the Uni- | rersity's business, which it cannot carry out better than by the granting of scholarships. It can never be a waste of money to provide a really promising student with the opportunity of concentrating on work at the University, or of carrying; on, beyond the requirements of a degree, and, if neeessarv, outside the Dominion, some study or specific research for which he has pre- ! pared himself. The waste too often is that economic pressure forces such student* either to divide their time and energy between study and makinp a living, or to break off too soon; and a scholarship, relieving that pressure, may be an jnvestnient returning an immeasurably gTrat profit. A lavish system of scholarships would undo half its own good, and a system would rjc lavish if it were found to reward mediocrity and smooth the way for mere plodders; but New Zealand stands in no such danger. Scholarships are too few, and too small in value. The danger is, as Professor Maemillan Brown points out, that the secondary schools and the University are both ; choked with student* of whom little or | nothing can be made. They hamper i teachers and professors, slow up the ! pace of those, who could go much faster, j and, instead of being rejected by a j standard too high for them, actually ; drag it down till it tolerates them. ! The University will not be able to ent courage and develop the highest capacij ties as it should until it has also been , bold enough to dismiss the lowest.
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Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19785, 25 November 1929, Page 10
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569The Press Monday, November 25, 1929. University Scholarships. Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19785, 25 November 1929, Page 10
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