FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 284, 20 August 1918, Page 4

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

To-day, when our lea-dors everywhere are preaching (.lie gospel of in tho individual as a ■preparation for the economic*rivalry which is coming after war, it is of extreme importance that wo should guard against certain influences, tho formation of certain habits, which make for inefficiency. Carelessness and 'slovenliness in work, loose, inaccuratc habits of thinking, are fatal to efficiency. They are easily acquired—never more easily than in tho formative period of school lifo; but only with tho greatest difficulty are they tomoyed. It is therefore with soma uneasiness that we note in the reports of the cxaminors for the. 1017 University matriculation examination (extracts from which wj publish to-day) a singular consensus of opinion as to tho prevalence •of these prime factors to' inefficiency in our schools. Apaq't from tho informative quality of papers handed in by the candidates, which appears on the whole to bo more or less normal as compared with previous years, the distinguishing defects appear to arise from habits of slovenliness and inaccuracy—untidy papers, answers badly sot out, loose thinking, carelessness. These, unfortunately, are not new discoveries. It ; .s the general opinion of business houses that tho youth of New Zealand arc not unintelligent—quite the contrary; hut it is the general experience that carelessness and inaccuracy are two of their besetting faults. Careful and exact methods of work, good writing, correct spelling, tidy setting out, habits of clear and deliberate thinking, all conducing to efficiency in the individual, are not nearly as common as they should he.' There is far too much "scamping." All this is bad. Lt. is cost--I, \ ,> irritating, and, if 3iot corrected, may become an insidious evil, sapping our efficiency as a nation. What is the cause 1 Is the syllabus so consisted with demands on the capacity of the teachers that it is f)ot possible to put afinish to anything? The root of tho evil, whatever it may be, must be sought out, urgently, and eradicated, if our future generations are to hold their own in competition with other nations.