The Press SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1955. Too Long at School?

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27838, 10 December 1955, Page 8

The Press SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1955. Too Long at School?

At the Christ’s College break-up ceremony on Wednesday, the headmaster, Mr H. R. Hornsby, usefully drew attention to the waste of time and money and effort—to say nothing of the frustration of the pupil—in keeping boys at school and in sending them on to university after it has become clear that they have neither the need nor the capacity for higher education. This, as Mr Hornsby said, is a misuse of New Zealand’s educational capital, which should be employed “ in the “ most effective way possible, all the “ time. ” Although the problem has special interest at the moment for Christ’s College, which is hard put to it to accommodate all the pupils applying for entry, it is by no means peculiar to this school or to New Zealand schools. The Cheltenham College Council recently gave its headmaster authority to “ super- “ annuate ” any boy who will not work because of laziness or lack of interest. In New Zealand, as in England, the problem is probably more acute in those schools which attract a large body of pupils through tradition or family association. But the first duty of a school is to teach; it owes no responsibility tc pupils who attend it for any other purpose than to learn. There are limits to what can be accomplished, even by the largest and most capable teaching staff, in stimulating the interest of the bored and lazy pupils; and special efforts in this direction must necessarily be at the expense of the teaching of the remainder. The pace of class work is not necessarily set by the slowest pupil; but it is certainly retarded by him. While it was reassuring to have Mr Hornsby’s opinion that “ far “fewer” boys than in former years remain for a fifth year at school when they would be better employed elsewhere, there is cause for anxious thought in his suggestion that some unsuitable students are pushed into “ a year at the university ’’ because their parents regard this as some kind of social distinction. The pressure on accommodation at the university colleges is, of course, even more severe than on the schools; and the university and education authorities generally are rightly concerned about the large number of students who fail their first-year examinations or abandon their courses after a year. It may be said, and with some justice, that the schools and the university alike have the remedy for this waste of “educational capital” in their own hands; but it is by no means easy to tighten standards in the face of an almost passionate attachment, by politicians and public, to the principle that university education should be available to everyone who wants it. But Mr Hornsby’s remarks were addressed chiefly to parents, who should understand the dangers of allowing their children to remain at school after they have lost their will or their ability to learn. Character, as he emphasised, is formed in the classroom no less than on the sports field—perhaps more so. Allowing for exceptions to the general rule, it is hard to believe that the boy or girl who has not acquired the habit of working conscientiously at school will not start his or her working life under some sort of handicap.