EDUCATION AT HOME

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 123, 18 February 1919, Page 5

EDUCATION AT HOME

LESSONS FOR NEW ZEALAND INTERVIEW WITH HON. H. A. L FISHER PART I. '

(By lu-ed. Pirani.)

"Our system of educational adininietration depends upon the- cordial cooperation of the Minister and the local educational authorities. ■•Education is far too serious a matter to bo left to the cducationalistil is a matter in which the whole nation has an immediate concern. "Education is the eternal debt which maturity ■ owes to youth. Now, Ido not- care whether the youth be poor or rich, we owe it education-all the education which'it, can afford to receive, and all the. education which we can afford to give. "If education is'had it can always be improved by the very simple expedient of getting good teachers on the only terms on which you are certain of getting good work in any department of life, and that is by paying reasonablo salaries. . , "At the time of my appointment as Minister of Education I was not a member of Parliament, but I wae called iuto the Government at a great, crisis of national history to examine the educational fabric of this country, and U> make recommendations as to its improvement. . "Auy little success which I have had. as a teacher has been duo to a barefaced imitation of other people.

-Hon. H. A. h. Fisher, M.P.

While it was impossible to make an I exhaustive ■ inquiry into the working of Die primary education system in the lane I had to spare , during my visit to the Old Cutintry, the information I obtained cannot tail to'be-of-interest lo those who are at one with me in tho desire to bring our system up to date, and to terminate the hide-bound methods of the moribund Education Department New Zealand is honeycombed j with. Let me Buy-at once that my hi- j vestigations proved to me that the yarns j we have been regaled in New Zealand < with as long as i can remember, that I we have nothing to learn from England j in this respect, is one of the many fnl- j lncies foisted on: us by men who'are too lazy or too "incapable, to see what j is plainly set before them. ■ I shall-'en-deavour in. this series, of articles to set out something of what 1 have learnt during the time I had to spare at Home in regard to elementary instruction, vocational education, continuation classes, and the method of government adopted to ensure the best results, and if. it does not shame the so-called experts who muddle and meddle with our educational systeni-at good samnes-they must be j incapable of taking a lesson, lhe Old Country is fortunate in having a really great Minister.of Education in the Hignt Hon. H. A. L. Fisher, who has worked marvels in the two years he has been in office. His career has been particularly advantageous to his present position. He had served in an ancient university and a modern one. Ho has seen at first hand the educational conditions of the United States, of India, and ot the British colonies, and ,he had had the' privilege of spending part of his life in a sieut industrial city. He is not only a practical educationist, who has proved successful in work ltseli, but he.also possesses the faculty oi recognising the requirements of a good system by no means a usual thing even with successful teachers themselves, bo I concluded that my best method of acquiring facilities to', obtain information was to go to tho fountain head and interview the Minister.

A Meeting with the Minister, A request for an interview was promptly acceded to, with an iuuuiry- as to the date and timo suitable to myself. Hue preliminary settled, I sallied forth to the Ministerial office in London to keep tho engagement. Unfortunately lor jnmselt and. fortunately for me, Mr. Fisher was in the 'throes of the passage ot hie Mucation Act,, which was placed on the Statute Book of 1918, yielding the- greatest advance primary and vocational education lias taken at Home My good tortune proved to be that Mr. l'ishor was willin" to discuss some of the problems ho had. considerable difficulty, in solving ■in the House, and the drawback to the Minister was that every moment of his timo was valuable. ■ T In appearance, Mr. Fisher is tall and slim, with 'dark hair and (sharp features,and is not unlike President AVilson. Ho is courteous and kindly, and a democrat to tho finger-tips in his educational ideas. Unliko many experienced headmasters, there .was nothing didactic or self-opin-ionated about Mr. Fisher's style, but ho was moro of the persuasive sort, with a pleasant address and an air of deference which, on one of the gentle sex, would be called gracious. Ho asked mo about New Zealand educational .conditions and remarked him much easier the task ot evolving a good educational system would be in a now country compared with the drawbacks and difficulties of tearing up old prejudices, and tho class caste by the roots in tho Old Country.

Last. Session's Act, •Dealing TvTfh the 1918 Act, which had ius nassed -through its most critical Plages the" Minister said that ito.-prm-"MrJhoST for children under 5 yC Centrai a scJiools for advanced .elementary instruction. ... Classes for practical instruction. HoiuTay and ertiool camps. ; ' Playing fields. "' .' ' . , Arrangements for social and piijeical Tpeclrti provision for children whose circumstances were exceptionalA Medical inspection and treatment for children attending places'of higher as well as elementary education. No children under 12 years of wo to be employed on school days at all over that ago only between the school closing it 8 p.m. on school days, and between (fa.m! and 8 p.m. on other than school ''To' person to ha employed during: the time he is required, to attend continuation schools, and two hours' freedom from employment ensured during the day a continuation school 13 held the minimum attendance, of such schools to be eigit hours n week for forty weeks 'Vie 6 powers of local education authorities to be greatly extended. A. cheaper and more expeditious procedure for the. acquisition of land. Educational authorities enabled to encourage- research", ■ , jWi education authorities required to frame ana carry out comprehensive and : adequate scheme for the performances of their duties and exercise of their powers.

Against Centralisation. ' In answer to a question as to centralising the payment «»d wntrol o1 teachers and inspector, Mr. Fisher said: ' J,he establishment of the teaching profession ua a branch of the Civil Service would cut ai- the roots of our local system of education. ' I do not 60 much fear the enslavement of the public intellect through a corps of State teachers; but I do tear a very great and abrupt decline ill the local interest in education it the control of the teaching body he withdrawn from the local bodies. I believe, by providing an additional grant for elemen hvry. education framed upon a principle which will give a direct interest to the locnl ■minorities to enact- liberal salary scales, the object, will be attained without any undue invasion of the sphere of local autonomy. So, to the salaries of the teachers the State contributes 60 per cent, and to other expenditure' 20 per cent on the amount raised by rates .or voluntary contributions. While we give a direct inducement for the payment of adequate salaries, we.do not contemplate any' minute interference with the local authorities. We feel that the authority which has the responsibility of administering "the Education Act in the conntry should have reasonable latitude, as to' the. expenditure." RefeiTiiiff to the desirability or otherwise of abolishing small local educational bodies, Mr. Fisher was emphatic in his condemnation of any attenint to reduce the number or the powers 01-bodies connected with education. "I feel," he said "Hint these smaller authorities have, in many cases, 'done their work well, and that their continued existence ie sot incompatible with the formation of Renoral and progressive schemes of education in the /country ns a whole. Experience has shown that local control has enabled a laTge education advance to be accomplished, and that it has been the means of enlisting a not 'inconsiderr

able army of persons who take an interest in education, and who have acquired a Rood deal of valuable experience in the management of schools. I l;ave been a member of trco local education authorities, and I have far too much respect for the work which is done .by these admirable bodies to desire in any way to curtail their powers or abridge their responsibilities. On the contrary, I desire, to largely augment their rights and privileges." Medical Inspection, Asked about medical inspection, Mr. Fisher, said: "One of the great diile=. in our social history is tlie establishment of the school medical service m 1807-. We now know wliat we should not otherwise have kuoivn, how jjrewtly the value of our educational system is impaired by the low physical condition oi a vase number-ot the children, and how imperative is the necessity oi laisiiiK the general standard of puysical health among the children.of the poor, if a great part of the money spent on our eilucauon ays*, ten? is not to be wasted." "1 am a great believer in the value i of school camps' lor boys between 11 and IS yairs." said Air. Fisher, "ami i' am looking J'onvard to the acquisition by the local education authorities of some of the material equipment for. camp life with which the War Office lias so plentifully supplied us." . Mi-'. I'isiier hoped to see a great devielopmerit in the system of physical {raining as the result of the passing of the law. - "Physical training," be said, "is already an element, perhaps not a sufficient element in our elementary 6choo! curriculum, and. grants have recently been sanctioned for organisers of physical training in our public elementary schools. The new law gives to physical training a place in our continuation schools. Every boy and girl in those schools, will receive physical training. The low empowers the local educational authority to establish nursery schools for young children, to maintain playing field's, school baths, holiday or school, camps, and centres and equipment for j physical .training, and it extends the I powers and duties with respect to medij cal inspection and treatment now enjoyed ior exercised by the local educational I authorities in the case of eleinen- : tary . schools to. secondary schools provided by them and ~to coni tinuation schools uude'r their direction and control. A pupil will be under the continual inspection and supervision of the school medical service from the age of entering school, and during the whole period of childhood and adolescence will have the advantage of physical exercise and remedial training as'well as the practical training, which will be part of the work of the continuation schools." Private Schools. Alluding to a remark of mine that the Old Country seemed to be well provided with private schools, Mr. Fisher said that many of them were'excellent, and that there was a great value in permitting educational experiments of all- lands, to be made, even at the cost of some disregard of normal standards of efficiency; yet there were not a few private venture schools which were a fraud on the publio —tho teaching was deplorable, the buildings were inappropriate, and there was no adequate security for the health and progress of. the pupils. He had taken power now that the Minister could call upon everv school or educational institution to furnish certain particulars of their work, and for their inspection by Government Departments. It was clearly in the interests of the parents <M the community . that those schools sn-mld benefit by such experience and guidance as the M'inister could place at tlieu; oisposal. In that way' Parliament c.'uld be made aware, more exitctly than m the past, as to the quality and quantity ot the total provision for education. . fin a-subsequent inter riew the Minister dealt with the question of continuation classes, which I will refer to in another article, but meanwhile I wants to deal in my next article with primary education as carried out by the London County Council. The Minister was kind enough to give me letters of introduction to the L.C.C. authorities, and to ask bis private secretary (Mr. Oates) to give me anything I would like in the way ot publications relating to education likely to assist me in miy quest. And 1 subsequently found that,courtesy was an integral part of the conduct of ofncials of the English Education Departmenta marked contrast to some of the too highly placed officials in- New Zealand..]