P.M. urges sharing of school assets

Press, 3 July 1978, Page 3

P.M. urges sharing of school assets

In spite of departmental arguments against the community use of school property, the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) urges the engagement of the whole community in the care and use of the community assets in the schools. Mr Muldoon addressed a dinner at Manurewa on Saturday evening after the opening of a new hall at the Hillpark School. The hall has been built by local effort and fund-raising. An interest-free loan of $20,000 came from the Manukau City Council, personally guaranteed by nine of the members of the school’s fund-raising committee. “I have always believed that the school and community should be closer together and that there should be greater sharing of assets,” said Mr Muldoon. “I am well aware of all the arguments that have been put up departmentally — and valid arguments at that — against the community use of school property.” They came mainly from concern about supervision and control, Mr Muldoon said. “But when we look at the outbreaks of vandalism that occur with distressing regularity, there is a great deal to be said for involving the whole community in the use and care of what really are community assets.” Applauding the local effort for Hillpark School, Mr Muldoon said that it reflected total commitment by the people, regardless of whether they had children at the school. It underlined the involvement of family, teach-

ers, and pupils in the total concept of education. “All over the country the catch phrase ‘back to basics,’ is being debated. It is correctly said that the catch phrase is an inadequate, even an untrue description,” said Mr Muldoon. “We are not really going back to anything. We are moving forward with a greater or lesser concentration on one or other aspect of education.” Those who blamed teachers for any inadequacy were quite wrong, he said. “I have the results of tests done in an Auckland primary school which indicate that a top-class teacher, using standard methods, found that the majority of an average class were underachievers in the basics. “The use of an alternative method, which uses a different approach, produced a majority of a similar class as over-achievers.” In every classification of pupil, from highly intelligent to the other end of the scale, the alternative method produced results superior to those in the class taught by standard methods.

“I am the first to admit that such a comparison is far from conclusive,” said Mr Muldoon. “Even in the early stages of education more is required than a simple concentration on basics. What concerns me is the suggestion that even good teachers may not be able to produce acceptable results with standard methods.”

As a layman he would not argue with the professionals and the experts. “But, as a

concerned observer over many years, I have firm views on some aspects of this question.” If only as the representative of the people who sent him to Parliament, he would ask questions of the education profession and scrutinise the answers.

“I can accept the statement of education officials that today’s standards are higher than those of 40 years ago,” said Mr Muldoon. “At that time, a relatively small proportion of New Zealand children went on from primary to secondary school, and a smaller proportion again into tertiary education.

“What we should aim at is to see that every child is adequately equipped to proceed as far as his intelligence and application will take him. That is the basic principle of the New Zealand education system. It has been reiterated by political parties for generations,” said Mr Muldoon.

“Sociologists working with Maori and Pacific Island young people have long since recognised that linguistic ineffectiveness has been a major cause of failure to deal with the problems of adulthood, and a major cause of delinquency of all kinds. “It is not sufficient in today’s complex world to be able to communicate by means of the grunts, groans, whistles, and squawks which pass for language in so many television programmes,” Mr Muldoon said. “To try to fashion a career with that kind of tool is like trying to build a modern aircraft with a stone adze.”