University course urged

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32860, 8 March 1972, Page 18

University course urged

A special university course for all disciplines in which students could study man and his social needs would be a useful addition to university curricula in New Zealand, according to a

report on tertiary education by a committee of church representatives.

The committee met in Christchurch in November. It consisted of representatives from member churches of the National Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church.

The committee said it found it difficult to believe

that free inquiry as it was practised at university could be morally neutral. A complete education involved not only academic attainments or technical skills, but also social awareness and personal growth.

These qualities were in danger of being lost through an emphasis upon economic considerations and technological advance. Their loss would be hastened by the growing fragmentation of the university itself, and the apparently growing isolation of staff and students.

It was not expected that a course as suggested would provide ready-made answers, but it would provide opportunity for a frank evchange of ideas and the exposure of

prejudices, it was added. The Church needed to reexamine its role in tertiary education, because a general and liberal education was no longer the norm in ter; tiary education in New Zealand, said the committee.

Christlans could not be content with the assumption that education alone had the answers to some of the urgent problems facing society today, added the committee.

It welcomed the news that some small groups of university staff members had been formed to discuss ethical issues resulting from their work, and said that churches should notice that chaplains wanted to work in ecumenical teams.