Headmaster's Views Of U.S. Education System

Press, Volume C, Issue 29535, 9 June 1961, Page 15

Headmaster's Views Of U.S. Education System

The system of school boards i of control operating in the i United States would not suit the New Zealand education . system, the headmaster of the , Caebmere Hi#i School (Mr T. ' H. McCombs ' told the board i of governors last evening. Mr . McCombs recently spent three , months on a study tour of , Hawaii and America. The American system was , half-way between the British system. with its full Government control, and the New Zealand system. with it* Edu- ' cation Department and ' elected representatives to 1 school boards. In the United States the 1 school boards were elected 1 by the public and raised > funds for education by impos- 1 ing rates oc housing. An 1 American board of governors had power to set academic 1 s’andante and courses for '

the school. and alao bad ad□Mniatrative powers. An esample of bow boards couM concro! academic coarse# was shown at one school he visited. There the board had decreed that the pupils were not to beer anything about U.N££C.O. It was considered a subversive organisation by the board, said Mr McCombs. Training af Teachers In the United States there were 42,280 school authorities. But even with this number the training of teachers throughout was remarkably uniform. In school buildancs though, there was often a marked divergence from one district to another. This could often be explained by the wealth of one area or the enthusiasm of the school authority. Mr McCombs eaid that the Federal Government dtd not play an Influential pert in local education. However, now it offered subsidies to schools to assist in the improvement of the teaching of science and mathematics This was a direct result of the advances made in science by Russia. Mr McCombs considered that the science equipment in New Zealand schools was, on an average, better than that in most American schools But with the Government's subsidies for science teaching the position could change quickly. “Could Be Copied” He said that one aspect of American schools that could be copied by New Zealand was the training given to first assistants to enable them to take over a headmaster's position. Professor A. Crowther ' <chairman): Like learning how to write letters to the Education Department. Mr McCombs: That would t be included. Part of the training is how to deal with a normal "in” basket of correspondence received by a headmaster in one day. The standard of sixth-form pupils at New Zealand schools was lower than that at British schools and lower "han the top American students. That could be explained by the fact that in New Zealand pupils were required to study a fairly wide range of subjects, whereas in the other countries there was more specialisation. said M- McCombs.