NATIVE SCHOOLS

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 109, 31 January 1908, Page 5

NATIVE SCHOOLS

- «— THE WAY TO A GREATER SUCCESS. ■ WANTED—OPPORTUNITIES. [W TELEGRAM.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Auckland, January 29. In the course of, a special articlo-on the Native school system,-a.writer in tho "Herald" says, - inter,; alia :—As a rule the Department appoints only married teachers;- it being generally recognised as an integral part of tho teacher's duty, to act as father • and mother'to the Maoris'of the district, setting them a pattern and assisting generally in the. improvement of the race. The Health Department generally avails itself of tho presence of. tho .teachers to assist in looking after the general sanitation of the pas, and many of the teachers, by the use of simnlo remedies, havo acquired quite a reputation as healers of the sick. r TEACHER v. TOHUNGA. Naturally, the teacher and, the nativo Tohun'ga are liot oil amicable terms, but the teacher generally scores in the end. In one district there-was, an outbreak of, typhoid. The local Tohunga had several cascis handed to him for treatment-, and lie lost the lot; while the'/European teacher, with over 50 pationts, put them all in tents on the beach, and .only lost three cases..' In that districtnow the Tohuiiga has lost his pra'ctice.' ; "The'public;" says one of the Department's inspectors)''."has. no .idea' of. the amount of good.- work done by our teachers iii . this direction,, and frequently iiiisstatc : ments. are made reflecting oil the -.teachers. Tho best- answer to 'these 'is a resolution passed by-the Y.ouiigr'Maori: Party—the Te Aitte -College,-Association, tho people who ought to know if anyone does—expressing : tlio highest appreciation of the work "of -the - Native school' teachers 'in this connection." ■ The Maori children aro found,as a-'general rulo to be. very easily nianaged' and to•, readily take up':tuition in ; matters of. cleanliness. "An unfailing indication of the moral tone of a -school," "'says ■'6rie ; of ;l thp"Department's officers, "is the writing onwalls br.'o'utbuild-ings-and Native-schools .aro probably without '.'exception, free, from anything'of., this sort. - I wish I could say tho sarnie of European schools.!'' Unfortunately' the moral tone prevailing amongst' sawmill and flaxmill hands in the.- neighbourhood of pas is not very high, and it is a' matter for unutterable regret that these men, and very frequently tourists and others who ought to know better, tempt young Maori girls. . NO DIFFICULTIES TOO GREAT. There seems to bo no difficulty in getting children to attend school, although there is no special inducement held out. In ono school in 1906 the arerago attendance for the year was 99.5. Frequently the children camo very long distances, in all weathers and over bad roads. In the caso of one northern school, statistics covering a period of three years showed that on an average each child walked six miles each way every day, and somo of them nine miles each way. 1 Cases havo not been .wanting where Maori children have had to swim flooded streams, the elder ones pulling the younger across rather than stay away from school. Tho adult Maoris, too. tako a keen interest in the s school work,,and render much assistance with money and labour. In an East Coast sottlemont last year they collectcil £200 for tho erection of a school. "How many European settlements would do that?" asks the Department. Children, too, aro lodged with relatives, perhaps a hundred .miles away, to enablo them to attend school. "Wo are getting rid of thc'Tohunga and the Tc Kooti influences," reports the Department, "not by teaching against them, but through our teachers letting the Maoris seo for themselves; and tho Maori is very quick in that way nowadays." What aro the results of tho system? It may bo said uliatthe children, after being educated, go back to tho ways of their, fathers; but if the parents of the European children wcro semicivilised, and no opportunity for following up their education wore,atfrrded, whito children would do precisely ho same. NEXT GENERATION.

Fifty years in the history of a raco is, after all, but a short period, and people who look for tho.highest results from tho education of tho Maori children aro bound to lie disappointed. It is only by perseverance that the results brought about will hoar fruit. The next generation will show the advantage, of educating tho present generation of Maoris. After leaving school tho Maori boy or girl finds the Way beset with great difficulty. The walks in life open to them are very limited, for again tho old prejudice against the Maori unconsciously comes in. Undoubtedly tho thing that will do the greatest good in this direction is the opening up of. Native lands, and the establishing of a purely agricultural college for .Maoris. "It is want, of opportunity.'' says tho Department, "far moVc than want of adaptability or ability.'' Last year there were more Native children attending Native schools than ever before, and on overy hand tho Maoris aro recognising and appreciating rnoro and moro the benefits of education. Maori committees aro very enthusiastic sometimes. They make such rules as "only English to be spoken in tho playground." There is no capitation paid, ami the Maoris themselves provide firewood, and tho children undertako the school cleaning. CLEANLINESS. At some schools the youngsters tako keen prido in keeping tho schools clean. One school, in iiso for 20 years, has not a mark ■or stain on either tho desks or floors, and at another tho youngsters not only scrub tho insido of the building but the outside as well. School gardens have been established whoreever possible for tho purpose of teaching agriculture and-horticulture, and the results iuivo been eminently satisfactory; but in all cases tho lack of subsequent opportunity is deplored,'and' it is recognised that, to enable tho Native schools to do their best work and show the best results, opportunities, such us tho oponing up of Nntivo land on somo sensible individual system would nfTord, must be provided. The Department is satisfied that. New Zealand's efforts towards tho civilising and education of its Native people aro on tho best lines and are bearing splendid fruit. Hut, given proper opportunity for the following up of this education, it is manifest that the results achieved would be immeasurably' greator.