“The Press” In 1865

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30934, 15 December 1965, Page 20

“The Press” In 1865

December 15 EDUCATION.—It Is not enough, as a practical scheme for the education of a people to rely on the principle that every parent is bound to pay for the education of his children, and that the State need only interfere with so much assistance as shall provide that schools shall be established in which the children may be taught if the parent will pay for it It is not enough to make education compulsory, as has often been advocatedBoth these ideas are worth something, but they are not enough. There is a principle at work in education which is often forgotten, and which largely influ-

ences the result; we mean the voluntary action of the child himself. “You may take a hone to the water but you cannot make him drink,” says the proverb; you may send a child to school but you cannot make him learn. Human Nature is so organised that men are influenced by repulsion and attraction at the same time. It is not only the fear of punishment, but the pleasure and advantage of virtue, which deter men from crime. It is not only the rod but the inducement to improve, which develops the love of learning in a child. It is exactly this point, the want of motive, of inducement to. learn in which our school system is deficient.