INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLS.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20789, 24 February 1933, Page 15

INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLS.

r_ —«— l OPPRESS BY DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION. ADVANTAGES OUTLINED. pAL'tTS OF THE PRESENT '" SYSTEM. Ikr Director of Education, Mr T. B. ; last night outlined tho advan- ' t«» « f the i ntcrmcdiate Bchool B y aiem If* Zealand, when he delivered an ,jircas on tho subject to a meeting ''/{jrifltehurch headmasters, members ,-f the Ciinteibury School Committees' jjjsoeiatien, and urban members of tho f tfmtfli'bury Education Board. Mr S. B. ' BviioA presided over a large at- ' tinla&t*- : Mr Evison said the meeting was i «jU*Md iaflr y ia that lvas helci iE I *|„ Education Board's offices, but was : tailed, not by the Education Board, but • £ w the School Committees' Association. ' fit association some weeks ago realised !'' ti«rt» following tho establishment of an '■' jataroodiate school at West Christ- ■ ' Aetek, *«* question of establishing ] '■''.' «th« *uen schools in the district would j i'*" itriM later. Since then, it had been (v aiwouneed that Cabinet had agreed | * a»» * g^" l for a Becon ' l intermediate ] -■>', s*&e«l i" Christchurch. ■J HJt socms that tho intermediate j * ssheol is already part of our national | t,f sdto*»ti<w system," said Mr Evison. j " "lie questions of the desirability and . ■% tfleieacy of those schools have apparV tufif been decided.for us by years of I i/ eipwiment in other parts of the Do'i! minion. Whatever the merits of the j - seheae are, it must lcaii t0 a lot of j •* daago and difficulty; and it could, '» hardly he expected that compulsory j t} dMorg»nisatiou leading to financial cm- j '< latHKHinent should uicct with the iap- j * jroral of staffs and committees, until j t it i* tfcown that they are necessary. In . '. my. opinion, the onus of preparing such j ',' a aeheme should be placed upon J the ; Eoaeation Boards." ] .; Mr Evison referred to the presence /' of the Director of Education. As ox- '<■ tculivo head of the Department, he waa "J often regarded as the diamond-point or \ the cutting edge of the education sys : i \\ tem, Those of them who had seen him "* at work, dealing with tho multiplex ' pnjblems'of his office, had a grefrt rc- \\ apect for aia ability. But they thought 'f IH eystea would be more efficient if * the-scope of the central executive and •■'• the director were clearly defined, and \i district -questions, left to properlyY loaitituted local administrations, Hows' over, they had no doubt at all that any \ qiicjrriane pnt to him that night would .;„ bet rfcaJt' ViMi in-a thoroughly ©ffloient Ej mittusr, aod they wore glad to. welM «ohi« him. ! U7 . Mr Strong'B Address. 'ft 3fr StffliMg 3aid he could say that as »u*itor oJS Education he had tried to ,'■„ it Sis be»t for the country. The chairl? ni«jr bad held out a very tempting bait ' to discuss the administrative ~ side of too work; but he was not goj ,»j ift necept that bait. JHo was going ■ h fejHSB intenncdiate schools, which, . ilidbjit new to Christchurch, were not i new-to other parts of the Dominion. * 'Tiejjreateßt publicity given to the idea / latbeea giyen in the report of the .* Ahmt Committee. Ho had aceomtho committee on its visit to i'US pftit of the country which included * malw.higb. schools. Tho members <tf t!-» -ommittee wcro greatly impressed, vA'A seomed to him that the proposal *M«or« likely to appeal to the public tlwii ita nurpoaes were better known. 3«K audi plan bad been adopted in !■' 4UEil«a; fcttt the objects there were not »W*auip as in New" Zealand: He undertlaut siat in the United States the '. stWihu devised because of the great ' pri»tk of the achools in the large 1 schools had become so «»- " wftw as to threaten to become m- ■ fSfcint. The intermediate sehools could " fcp'e-iMitea in one of two ways. ■' <M Bv talcing away the top classes rf * e elementary schools, to - make an ;, irfwaediate school or junior high ! «Wi, i 'II By reducing the size of, the sec- ! ■ eMar* Bchools by taking away their Vt&, Me », and making junior univer«ty Wiiools, the secondary schools ab- ■ HJUte r«P»ls from the elementary syntcm has not been adopted S JUJtttart in New Zealand," said Mr r" ""jinifc "If in the Dominion wo are ■ ' IMjU/to have nothing mbre than a sysj: ,fjß| Of ecatralising Forms I. and 11., i 'vUai tiicy would receive the samo in- . *BfSlott as in the other schools, then ! . Ht*S9Jd not be worth while. But the ' ' *Misr in the junior high schools cannot ■ " » i!i!»«ibt'd as a mere centralising, of I --J!* lartruction of I'orras I. and 11. Our r ! H daty is towards the children: We ', - *■»• jsist 4side almost altogether the ! Radices that arise through the affeegrows up for an elementary I'M of old standing; wo must not be . , -Wjjseaced by considerations of the • i !"!»i6a the teaching staffs; and if I I i l f»«"'your attention to conditions that I *f» 'prist in the primary schools in ■ 'wlliiehSßg of the children, it will be i ftn'tHat any reorganisation which ! * **» « beneficial influence to that ; wvhlng desorves our whole-hearted Varying AbiUties. t'tfy school class contained children ' . f *ftrfini{ nature und ability, chil"r 6 ! 1 diftwing oho from another in Spjittitudo towards life and towards ■ Eft *or|f, said Jlr Strong, and the . !?**>»r under the present system faced task in developing those -, abilities. The teacher tried i * •'Si'sti" a scheme of education such * "eidtl suit the average or middle- • ff"i ,: l Wi P»l. and it was impossible to If'WWd fe> nil tho pupils. Of course, "J woal wonld bo to have a teacher ! Pupil; but that wus impos"Sv,?**l surclv the next best thing rf ,■* W have a teacher for a group ■ "S H»"''* °'' " psvticuliir type—pupils pupil* of practical , . -.|L' »r pupils "nf nriistic mind. of unii.irni type, how IriaS?' !B 's l * ,r woulti llis worl{ be for ' ip,v """'l' more profitable continued the speaker. '©'wfi'^u 110 hositntion in saying that ?«E i P resetlt svstem vve are so y fff»Bff WtJie tradition of the past that 'K;B^l w *fc»«ee of the literary side is ■F rlln) l^* ur P r osent education ■WHEi**i2 ofc eak'nlatod to secure tb» epciency or the best result for :,!eo Pl e '' nve asked. . 'Why MKjffi'iJW*' prubiem during a period of ,lg^ ; ,)j?'f** s % n ?' I say it is the

mm& the bett results. Did not Great Untain do the same when she was struggling through tho immediate effects ot the war? Wo should not sit suu. it there is anything in this system that will be of benefit to the country, Jot us take Jiold of it, and let our children who have to fight stern battles hi the time to come have the best preparation that wo can gi«j them. It is our duty to cast aside tradition, to throw aside prejudice, to consider not our own interests, but the interests of the children. At the i g - inn 'r nK I ' waa a gnm3t the scheme winch I now advocate. I have been converted to it, ior I have seen its fine resultK." Mr Strong described the work of the Kowhai Junior High School, where the scholars are divided into various groups, in accordance with their differing abilities, whether literary or practical. The people of Now Zealand were going to have a better appreciation of educational values,, and he hoped the Dominion would go ahead on those lines. Now Zealand was in danger of losing its reputation for educational efficiency, and hero was an opportunity of maintaining it. Great Britain's System. "But we must not follow the example of Great Britain, whore the system was on the wrong lines," continued Mr btrpng. "There they examine the pupils after they pass Btandard IV., and they take what they call the cream—those who can achieve tho best results in an academic test—and give them free places iu secondary schools. Then they take another skimming, who go to the central schools, which are tho British equivalent of our'"intermediate schools. There they are trained for trades and commercial life. The others stay behind, and go out as they get the opportunity to trades and manual work. That system presumes that the best brains must be on the academio side; but that is not so. Surely it would not b® suggested that secondclass brains ar© good enough for, say, the foremen of our manufacturing concorns. "I very much resent the suggestion I have heard in some quarters that our technical schools are on a somewhat lower plane than our, secondary schools. , If it is so, it is a fault ot classification. Wo are trying to devise a system whereby pupils of every type will have an opportunity of discovering what they are fitted for." Nor should the emotional and spiritual side be forgotten, said tho speaker. The children should have a spiritual endowment, and a right social outlook towards, their fellows and towards the world at large. That should be a most important feature of any educational system. Only that day he had seen some school children who had growing in their faces that hopeless look which showed that they were not in the right spiritual atmosphere in their schools. That was as harmful to the individual as it was to society. Where a, pupil had that feeling of discouragement and hopelessness, because of the advantages of others who had measured up to a standard which was not applicable to him, along with that wotlid come social antagonism. That condition of affairs was not the children's fault; it was not the fault of the teacher; it was the fault of the system. Bridging a Gap. "J believe that the intermediate school system, which draws together a large number of pupils of about tho same age and tho samo intelligence standard, enabling them to be classified into their different groups is the beat System which can be devised at present. Another advantage is the bridging of the gap between the primary and secondary schools.' That gap should ■be bridged in such a way as to enablo the pupils to go. across to the institution which' is best fitted to carry on their education —the high, school or the technical school. A great'many pupils go to the wrong typo of school, largely because o£ the influence of the parents, who must realise the disservice they are thus doing to their children." Mr Strong, concluding, said he was there at the request of the Minister for Education to place before the meeting views which were not his alone, but which were held also by many other educationists. Discussing staffing, he said appointees to the staffs of the intermediate schools would bo selected from the best qualified of the primary school teachers. Tho regulations provided for a slightly more liberal staffing—they gave a teacher to every 40 pupils on the roll, and not to every 40 in average attendance—and the salaries were no lower. ' Mr Strong, who was • warmly applauded at the closo <j»f his address, answered a number of questions, and was accorded a hearty vote of thanks on tho motion of Mr Evison.