EDUCATION IN BRITAIN

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25274, 28 August 1947, Page 6

EDUCATION IN BRITAIN

NEW SCHOOL SYSTEMS TRAINING FOR SPECIALIST WORK After seeing educational institutions in all parts of Britain, and studying the educational reforms in that country, Mr A. J. Campbell, lecturer in history at the Christchurch Teachers’ Training College, considers that New Zealand has nothing to be ashamed of. He said this yesterday, although he added that i* was difficult to make comparisons. New Zealand wag definitely ahead of Britain in the implementation of modern education theory. Mr Campbell spent 12 months in Britain on a Carnegie Fellowship, and returned to New Zealand in the Rangitiki last week.

Schools in Britain had faced great difficulties, he said. During the war most young teachers had been in the armed forces, and many had been killed. While the war was on insufficient teachers were being trained, and there would not be enough teachersfor a number of years. Another difficulty was the shortage of building materials. Throughout the country there was a need for homebuilding, and there was also much bomb damage to be repaired. However, the education system contemplated the erection of new schools, and sites had to be found for them. While it was a comparatively simple matter to find a school site and grounds for playing areas in New Zealand, great difficulties arose in the thickly-popu-lated areas of Britain.

While there had been great criticism of public schools and the “old school tie” during the war, Mr Campbell found that there had been little change m the system. Except for a small stream of students admitted on scholarships, the public schools were still for the privileged classes. “There is for the intellectually elite the grammar schools, which take children who have passed an examination,’ Mr Campbell said. One effect of chat had been an increase in the number of private schools, because parents of children who would not pass the necessary examination wanted to see l heir children obtain a social advantage. About 20 per cent, of English children attended grammar schools. For the great majority there were the secondary modern schools and the junior technical schools, which were not properly started yet. While it was not oossible to get an overall picture, Mr Campbell thought that the secondary, modern schools were going to he the key to the Butler Act. To a New Zealander the segregation of children from the age of 11 did not appeal, he and tended to accentuate the social cleavages. It had been pointed out to him, however, that in Britain there were many jobs which required a high degree of special skill, and that it was necessary to provide educational courses which would fit children to fill vacancies. Some education authorities were instituting the multilateral schools which were provided for by the Government. In such schools students were not segregated, but there were different courses in each school. The choice of a system depended a great deal on the political outlook of the inoividual authorities.