The Chutha Leader THURSDAY, DEC. 10, 1874.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 22, 10 December 1874, Page 5

The Chutha Leader THURSDAY, DEC. 10, 1874.

Few subjects present greater attractions to those who take a deep interest in the welfare of their native country, than those connected with the education of the rising generation, and there are fewer that are of greater importance. We may have a net work of fitting machinery, but the results are often of an inferior character. Every thing may appear to the eye as it should be, and yet the outcome may be disheartening. ' Our attention has been directed to this subject from a perusal of a late issue of the ' London Times,' which is so applicable to this Province, not to say this Colony, that we deem it advisable to refer to it. It is pretty generally known that a system has of late years prevailed through the instrumentality of Oxford and Cambridge examinations, by which it is intended " that the teaching given " at every public school in the country a shall be tested by one competent and " independent body of men, who are to " be appointed under the authority of " these two great Universities." It was wisely determined that examiners should not be selected by those more immediately interested in the schools, such as head master or trustees, for their system was found practically to produce no satisfactory results, nor were the reasons far to seek. The first report under the new scheme has just been published. The capabilities of every school willing to submit to a searching examination having been tested by the same questions and the same body of, examiners, the result being recorded by the grant of certificates. The scheme does not apply to those sdhools which are subject to the local or middle class examinations* but is intended to extend to those schools which prepare their scholars for the Universities, and the examination is equivalent to what is usually known in University circles as the "little go/ Twenty-one of the English public schools submitted to this examination, the Winchester College and Manchester Grammar School stood at the head of the list of successful competitors, and at a long interval Marlborough, Eton, Rugby, Harrow, Westminster, Charterhouse, and St. Paul's, are unnoticed — perhaps from not competing. One thing is very clear, that no public school which deserves to keep its hold on public favor, can in future withhold its scholars from these examinations, for though the regulation of a school does not entirely depend upon the attainments of the scholars, yet there is a very favorable estimate formed of a school which produces the most successful. Applying these remarks to ourselves, we cannot discard the fear that in instituting our University we have advanced more rapidly than surrounding circumstances warranted. We have no paucity of Professors, fully equal to their work, and zealous -in their performance of it, but we have neglected to provide fitting material for them to work on. Tlie potter's clay *came directly from the field, without being submitted to that manipulation which is necessary to enable the artist to turnout a work of art. The link is wanting by which the continuity of education is secured, and the raw school-boy is transferred for further elementary knowledge to the University, where professors are expected to fashion him into shape. Their employing a Nasmyth's hammer to do that which a less delicate piece of machinery could do equally well ; frittering away the time and talents of the Professors, and unreasonably extending* the time of attendance at the University. The examinations instituted by the New Zealand University rightly humbled our pride, and gave us a lesson which we should not be slow to learn. We found ourselves, as some of the English, public schools of note found themselves, no where. We are quite ignorant of the steps which the -Government are about to take to remedy this state of things — a rigid secrecy being the order of the day — but we have lived too long in hope to be very lively in our faith. It would be doing ourselves an injustice did we not make great allowance for the injurious effect on education, arising from the 1 offers of employment in banks, survey and engineering staffs, which rob our public schools and University of their most promising scholars. This is an evil which must he met by scholarships of greater value than those now existing. There must be something alluring to keep the maturing student, -something which will meet his present expenses, and set him afloat on the world with a certificate that will guarantee recognition. We have now fairly embarked, and cannot draw back. Literature and art and- science are competing with trade and commerce for our youth, and he who is to win must strive earnestly. If we are now passive all that we have done is lost, and our expensive machinery will but rust. We have alluded to what Government •should do in offering suitable prizes, .and we would now ask what are the men doing whose fortunes Otago lias made, many of whom came here to make their pile. Where are those station • owners who have gathered in the golden fleece '? What mark have any of them left, in the shape of some benevolent or educational endowment? Prosperity appeals to harden the heart, k for a community so prosperous as that

of Otago. has left few footsteps on the" sands of time to indicate that the hoarding of money did not altogether absorb their attention, and engross their affection. What Hospital can tell of their benevolence ? What College of their enthusiasm in the way of fostering education 1 ? A languishing Benevolent Institution, annually as a pauper, sues for aid, and with one 'or two similar •institutions, attests the generosity of the magnates of Otago. This is not as it should be, if we desire to do our dnty.