RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume C, Issue 29508, 9 May 1961, Page 23

RANDOM REMINDER

SCHOOLTEACHERS

Once upon a time when life was simpler, and less emotive, in New Zealand schoolteachers (outside the classroom at least) were a strong silent class—well, silent anyway—who seldom if ever made news by talking about education. Now they talk shop at the drop of a hat Only recently there has been publicity for a suggestion that New Zealand children might in the present position of New Zealand in relation to the rest of the world, learn to speak such South-east Asian languages as Malayan. Furthermore the man who made the suggestion went on to say that French, in his view, was the least suitable language to teach at school, and of the European languages he suggested Italian and then Ger-

man. Much research by the Society for the Contradicting of Schoolteachers (an extremely active body throughout the country) hag discovered the motive behind this. Schoolteachers are more and more moving towards being in a position where they can not be challenged by parents enlisted to help with the homework. Many a father who can still remember how to render in faultless Form 111 French prose just how to describe the pen of his aunt and the whereabouts of various things in the garden can occasionally score a tactical point against a teacher in Albert’s homework especially where the teacher is only a lesson or two ahead of the class. But what chance would he have in Malay? Exactly the same thing happened with Latin years

ago. Now Latin has gone from many a school, and not even lawyers have to have it. It is all part of a conspiracy really to buttress the superiority of teachers as against parents. But they’d better be careful about European languages.

There are many thousands of New Zealanders round who can still talk in Italian. They’d be safer to concentrate on Russian. And until they’ve progressed a stage further the lucky teachers who are given the job of teaching Malayan or Swahali to Form 111 B will be out on their own. Not only the headmasters on their rounds, but even the inspectors, won't be able to check on them for years. And children will be able to be cheeky to Mum in a language she can’t even guess the meaning of.