A NEW PROBLEM FOR HEADMASTERS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2541, 16 August 1915, Page 3

A NEW PROBLEM FOR HEADMASTERS

JUNIOR NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS ' ; , UNDER THE NEW ACT ~ Tile question of Junior National scholarships was the principal business of a well-attended meeting of the Head-' masters' Association on Saturday last. The meeting first passed without a dissentient the following resolution as a reaffirmation. • of - its position on the pchokrsliip question generally: — .. "TKat this meeting of the Wellington Headmasters' Association records its great regret that the • Education Act, 1014, does not in the - matter of tlio Junior National Scholarships Fund recognise the principle' that, such fund should be conserved entirely for the secondary education and maintenance of Approved pupils of the small back-blocks schools; and that in the case of pupils living in localities more favoured from an educational viewpoint, the present facilities for secondary education provided by the State for holders of Sixth Standard proficiency certificates should in themselves bo regarded as equivalent to scholarships."

The meeting then proceeded to discuss the present position of primary schools as disclosed by the Education Act of 1911; and the following resolution was carried unanimously, oil the motion of Mr. William Foster, seconded by Mr. ,Wm. I. Grundy:—

"(1) That this meeting of the Wellington Headmasters' Association expresses its great regret-that flio Edu- - cation Act, 1914, in the matter of Junior National Scholarships, gives legal sanction to an anomaly that is directly antagonistic to the interests of pupils of the primary schools, in that: (a) Whereas Section 102 of Education Act, 1914, provides that 'Scholarships to bo called Junior National Scholarships . shall be awarded annually m accordance with regulations for the purpose of enabling .qualified persons to pursue a course of secondary instruction'; (b) arid whereas by. regulation ,110 person over 14 years of age on December 1 in any one year is eligible'as a candidate for a Junior National Scholarship; (c) .and by Section 105 of the same Act, no i such scholarship.is tenable after tlio end of the' year in which the holder is 16 years of age; yet Section 102, sub-Sec-tion . 3,, of tlie said Act directs that 'Junior National Scholarships shall be open to all persons -who . . . have, for the six months immediately, preceding December 1 been under regular instruction in the subjects of the Sixth Standard or a higher standard at a public school or other "registered" school; and a "registered" school is defined by the interpretation clause of the same Act to mean "a school registered under this Act, whether-such school is a public' school, secondary school, technical ' high school, endowed school, or i a school under the. Education Department, while Section 133 of the same Act further provides that any private school shall upon the fulfilment of certain conditions be gazetted by the Director of Education as a "registered school."

"(2) In effect, this legislation enacts that although the express, purpose of Junior National Scholarships is to provide for qualified pupils or primary, schools, a continuation of their education in a secondary school from or under the age of fourteen years -until they are sixteen years of age, yet the scope of', bho examination is made so .wide- by Section 102 as to force pupils of tliq pr'.mftfy schools (in. most, of which Standard '.VI. is the highest standard) to compete not only with pupils of. secondary' schools, who are already receiving that very secondary education 'which Junior National Scholarships are designed :toprovide for qualified primary pupils, .but also with' the. pupils . s of : suoli c . priva'to schools as may; become ■registered. ;.;. "(3) This 'association is'of^-opinion, that not only does this; overlapping cleaily contradict the basic principle of tho Junior National Scholarship system, but it is.manifestly unfair to- the: pupils of the primary schools, the majority of whom are children of parents of metier-, ate means. It leaves an open door for these scholarships, to be gained either by 'free pupils' of secondary schools; that is, by pupils who are already receiving by virtue of their Sixth Standard . proficiency certificates, free secondary, education at the cost of. the State; or by pupils whose parents are, prima facie, in a monetary position to pay for their children's education either'at'a'second-ary--school or at a private 'registered' school. Such a position is undemocratic. and entails a waste of public money," , ■ j Two minor resolutions were also ' agreed fo: One dealing with tl e stiam on candidates whicli the present scholarship time-table sets up, and ilie other, setting HP & sub-committee consisting of Messrs. Foster (convener), Macmorran, .and Webb, to report on the 1915 examination papers. ' ( 'In view of the importance of ques-

tion. the meeting decided to send these resolutions to all other headmasters' Associations in the Dominion, and to ask for their co-operation.