COMMERCIAL EDUCATION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 74, 20 December 1907, Page 3

COMMERCIAL EDUCATION.

SCHOOL COMPETITIONS. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PRIZES. Once a year the Chamber of Commorce easts aside its air of commercial austerity and indulgently suffers an invasion of school children. It is the custom of the Chamber — and a very good custom it is—to offer prizes for competition • among the children attending the city schools, the subjects being the three fundamentals of a sound commercial training, arithmetic, composition and writing. ' The distribution of the prizes awarded for the present year took place at, the Chamber of Commerce yesterday afternoon. Several members of the Chamber, the Chairman of the Education Board (Mr. 11. Lee), the Board's secretary (Mr. G. L. Stewart), Mr. T. R. Fleming, Chief Inspector, and some of the city headmasters were present while seated at one end of the room was a group of anticipatory school children. The President said it had been found that one or two candidates had taken more than one prize at their respective schools. That was not the intention of the Chamber of Commerce, and regulations would be drawn up to guard against that aspect of the' competitions. In addition to the prizes, certificates signed by the Chamber of Commerce and the Secretary of the Education Board had been awarded, and he urged the children to preserve these, as they would be of valuo to them later. Referring to the standard of .efficiency exhibited by the papers, the speaker said that he nad gone carefully through them, and although he had noted much that was gratifying, lie had also noted one or two discouraging features. He had honed to see a higher standard than was •exhibited in last year's papers. Ho was not quite sure that there had been an advance. He hoped, however, that improvement would be aimed at. Mr. Robert Lee, Chairman of the Educa-! tion Board, said that ho had taken a keen interest in these examinations, having set tho papers for this and the previous year's competitions. That tho work done had not shown an advance on the previous year's results might bo explained by tho fact that the High Schools had absorbed the upper stratum of school work. He was no great advocate of examination tests, but the work outlined by the Chamber of Commerce was simple and straight. It constituted, in fact, tho sino qua non of elementary education. Referring to the arithmetic paper, he said that its requirements necessitated a sound drilling in the principles of arithmetic. There was room for improvement in tho direction of shorter methods in the calculation of problems. Out of thirteen schools represented, seven had done well. Two. however, were so weak in arithmetic that the candidates had failed to obtain half-marks. This should furnish ,a moral lesson to thoso particular schools. With regard to the composition, ho considered that tho work of four of tho thirteen schools was gcod. Composition, to be worth anything, should smack of originality ; it should not be a mere statement of facts. Originality might reasonably be expected from senior pupils. Mr. G. Shirtcliffo \vas pleased to hear tho remarks of tho previous speaker. Tho commercial man of to-day, must be well educated, and thoroughly grounded in the .three essentials of a souncl commercial education— arithmetic, composition, and writing. Efficiency in tlieso three was a determining factor in tho making of appointments, and was an earnest of tho applicant's future ability' in. commercial world. - The prosperity of New Zealand depended up'oii her over-sea commerce. Commercial life meant strenuous hard work, and, to win success, one must not only possess ability, but also the quality of industry. THE PRIZE-LIST. Terrace Writing, Atliol Thompson; composition,. Donald M'Arthur; arithmetic, Gladys Worboys. Mitchelltown.—Writing, William Pritchard; composition, Gerald Griffiths, Clyde Quay.—Writing, Ida Rowe; composition, Rowland Coppock; arithmetic, Rowland Coppock. South Wellington. — Writing, Muriel Hayes; composition, Natalie Allen; arithmetic, Bernard Bell. Island Bay.—Writing, Kathleen Nicholl; composition, Kathleen Stuckey; arithmetic, H. Greville. Normal School.—Writing, Evaline Maisey; composition, Gladys Welbourne; arithmetic, Lewis Dear. Newtown.—Writing, Ethel Kerr; composition, Henry M'lntj're; arithmetic, Victor Falclor. Kilbirfiie.—Writing, May Durrant; composition, Dorothy Isherwood; arithmetic, John Hurrell.'Roseneath.—Writing, Vera Bailey; composition, Dorothy Wall. \ Mount Cook' Girls'. — Writing, Edith Parker; composition, TJna-Cameron; arithmetic, Hilda Munro. Mount Cook Boys'.—Writing, Fred Danks; composition, Robert Sweet; arithmetic, George Bilderbeck. Brooklyn.—Writing, Cyril Hopkirk; composition, William Keble; arithmetic, Clarence Willis. Te Aro.—Writing, Archibald Tipling; composition, William Osborne; arithmetic, Percy Searl.