The Dominion. THURSDAY, JULY 27, 1918. OUR NATIONAL SCHOOLS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 239, 27 June 1918, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, JULY 27, 1918. OUR NATIONAL SCHOOLS

—. -Q If things are nob as gopd as they ought to be, they arc not as bad as they might be. This is .the impression one gets from a perusal of the address given to the Council of Education on Tuesday by Dr. W. J. Anderson, tho Director of Education. It is not a very inspiring utterance. Tho note of apology pervades it from start to finish. Dr. Anderson is unable to point to any great outstanding achievements in educational reform. He can only claim that our school system is in a more satisfactory state than it was some- fifteen years ago, and that it compares "not unfavourably" with that' of some other countries. Ho states that if the expenditure on education in England bore the same proportion to its population as docs that of New Zealand it would amount to £61,000,000, whereas tho actual expenditure from Government grants and rates combined is only £30,000,000. But. Dr. Anderson does not appear to make due allowance for the large share of the cost of education which in borne by the religions bodies in England. In any case his comparison raises another question. If we are spending in New Zealand in proportion to population twice as much as is being spent in England, arc the results wo arc obtaining proportionately better? It is very doubtful whether the children who pass through our schools receive a more liberal and useful mental and moral training than tho children taught in the primary, schools of England. I Have our educational .authorities. framed a scheme of reform equal to .the courageous programme which Mr. H. A. L. Fisher, with the approval of the British Government, has drawn up, and which will almost _ certainly receive legislative sanction in the very near future? The British Government appears to be more alive- than our authorities are to the fact that efficient schools are tho foundations of a nation's well-being and progress. They arcactually doing big things in England, while we arc . talking very much about educational reform, and doing very little. ■ Fairness demands that due weight should be given to Dr. Anderson's reminder that the war has seriously interfered with the Department's efforts to increase the efficiency of our schools; bub during the fourteen years prior to the outbreak of the war, a period to which Dit. Anderson makes special reference, tho advance made was extremely slow and faltering. There was plenty of change, but little progress. Tho need for far-reaching reforms has been admitted by Ministers of Education and by tho Department. Pretentious schemes have been prepared, and there' has , been a never-ending flood of _ talk. Governments have been lavish in their promises, but their performances have fallen far short of the expectations raised. Of course, something has been done in fourteen years. But much more could and should have been done, Tho people of New Zealand have never begrudged the money spent on education. The need is urgent, and public opinion has been consistently in favour of a vigorous forward policy. But it has not been forthcoming. It .is true that the salaries of ■ teachers have been increased, but experience has shown that much more- will have to be done in this way to attract a sufficiont number of men and women of tho right stamp to tho profession.' There has been a small reduction in the siza of classes; but as regards this point the comparative figures quoted by Dr. Andehson tend to put tho position in a false light. The average number of pupils per teacher is 32, hut when the large number of small country schools in Now Zealand is taken into consideration the classes in the main schools must still be Car too big. Dr. Anderson, tells us that "but for the war there would havo been nothing to complain of regarding the size of classes." Wo .ire glad to have this assurance; hut it is quite certain that the pre-war rate of progress would have had to be greatly accelerated to ensure this very desirable result. It is to he

hoped that the Department is 'now making plans for the future on an •adequate- scale, so that all will be in readiness for a big forward step in educational aims and methods as soon as the victory of the Allies has secured for the world a just and stable peace.

Dr. Anderson's address is mainly concerned with the machinery of education. .Littlo is said about the education itself. It should always be horno in mind that our school system is not an end in itself. It is merely a means; the end is the training; of the child. The test of success is the after life of the boys and girls for whose edification all this educational machinery has been brought into existence. Is the standard of character in the community being raised? Is industrial efficiency being increased'! Is there a, greater willingness to servo the State? Is the average man and woman 'becoming quicker to see through shiams, to detect quackery in all its forms, and to form a right judgment in all things 'I The answers to these questions- provide tho surest proof of the success or failure of our educational methods and ideals. It is hard to estimate tho importance of business and industrial efficiency, but still more ! important is character. Conduct is three parts of life. Education is now at the cross-roads, and everyone recognises that.science must bo given an increasingly prominent place in our schools.- But a word of caution is necessary. It is a mistake to exalt science- at the. expense of the humanistic side of education. The idea that science should be taught because it is superior to literature in commercial utility is rightly repudiated by sonic of our highest scientific authorities. Dr. Batoson, who was President of tho British Association for tho Advancement of. Science in 1914, declares that this idea is "horrible and terrifying." Tf tho choice were really between dead classics and dead science, or if science is to be vivified by <m infusion of. commercial utilitarian spirit (writes Dr. Bateson), then a thousand times rather let us keep to the classics as the staple of education. They at least liavo no "use." At least they hold the keys to the glorious places, to the fullness of literature, and to the thoughtful speech of all kindred nations, nor are. they demeaned with sordid shopkeeper utility. Commenting on On. Batesos's words, tlie writer of a striking article in the Times Literary Supplement remarks that the leaders _ of democracy arc wisely demanding .that the education they aro calling for is not merely "vocational." They hold that education should aim not only at making better workmen and higher earners; but also, and chiefly; at making better men. It should give a wider outlook' on life, an enlarged capacity for intellectual pleasures, and make life nobler and richer in interest. Humanists and men of science arc all agreed that science and tho humanities must both play their part in the national education of . the future. We must guard against-tho tendency to tako a narnv and shallow view of "efficiency" in education. There ib a real need for clearer ideas as regards the purposes for which our schools exist.