THE TEACHING OF LATIN, AND OTHER QUESTIONS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1097, 8 April 1911, Page 10

THE TEACHING OF LATIN, AND OTHER QUESTIONS.

! >Min B to see. the. Wellington College liourd of Governors at last .waking up to/'tho obviously antiquated form of teacliiiig at the college. I trust that,"in this waking up,, the' matter of the teaching of science will be looked into, f>s at the present timu it is extremely doubtful if, in the whole staff, the college has one man properly qualilied and able to teach science in a scientific way. Mr. Ward defends Latin by saying it gives a course of mental gymnastics and trains the mental faculties. Quito so. But does not a modern language, and in fact any subject, train the mind just as much as Latin? Would not a decent study of English literature do as much good as'that of latin literature? Most secondary schools to-day, have a classical and a modern side; As far as I know, Wellington College has not, and in this rcspcct is behind the small district high schools. These give a variety of courses with their small underpaid stalls, and yet wo arc told it would be impossible 111 a large school with a limited (?) staff. No,' sir. Mr. Leo came very near tho mark when lie said the opposition to reform came from the toachurs, who had beenbrought upon tho old Latin lines, \\ liy, then, doesn't the college get men brought up on modern lines? Why,.for one tiling, arc trained teachers, degree men, passed' over when appointments aro made, and unskilled teachers given positions instead? Some of us would like these questions answered, and I trust the matter of reform at Wellington College will not be allowed to drop, so that our Empiro City college may be raised from tho low comparative position it holds with the other similar institutions in the Dominion. I affi ' otc " D.n.s. April 1, 1911.