EDUCATION IN BRITAIN

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 313, 30 September 1926, Page 12

EDUCATION IN BRITAIN

VALUE OF CENTRAL SCHOOLS WONDERFUL WORK OF CARE COMMITTEE OBSERVATIONS BY WELLINGTON TEACHER In London the schools arc - supported half by the local authority and hall by Government grant. As a result, fur more interest is taken in the conduct of the schools by all classes of the community. This is the view held by Mr. W. J. Melody, a well-known Wellington school' teacher, who has been teaching iii England for the past year under the recently-arranged scheme for the exchange of teachers, by the various units ot the British Empire. Mr. Melody gave some interesting comparisons between English and New Zealand teaching methods to a Dominion reporter yesterday. “I taught in 22 schools in London, said Mr. Melody, “and visited as manv more in London, Scotland, and South Africa. Our New Zealand school svsteui is to a great extent based on’ the Scottish system, and the few schools I visited in Durban and Port .Elizabeth were conducted on lines similar to our own. London’s Problems. “The L.C.C. elementary and central schools, comprising 100 U schools and 20,000 teachers,” he continued, “present a vastly different problem, and it is not to be wondered at that, no two schools in this vast orgautsation resembled each other m methods and attainments. Even schools side bv side had to solve, different problems. More power is vested in the headmasters than is the case m New Zealand, and each headmaster runs his own school in his own way, 1 is policy always being determined bv local conditions. Rarely was an inspector seen, and very many schools go .for as long as five years without an inspection visit. 'Hie teachers, too, advance in salary to their maximum by regular animal increments. Another interesting feature of the elementary schools, and, to my mind, a very undesirable one, is the system of double—i.e., six-monthly—promotion winch obtains in the majority of schools. 1 his policv has been dictated solely bv cconomic reasons, as in this crowded city the accommodation must be used to its fullest capacity. “The L.C.C. is rapidly reducing tlie size of classes to the 40 maximum, and comparatively few classes over that size were encountered. Physical Training. “On the physical training side the results obtained were wonderful,” proceeded Mr. Melody, “and the, L.C.C. and its teachers are justifiably proud of the results obtained. Tins applies not onlv to organised games and all branches of athletics, but also to swimming.” Mr. Melody mentioned' that in London the schools arc .supported half by the local authority and half by Government grant. As a result far more interest is taken in tlie conduct of the schools bv all clascs of the community. The work done by the welfare committees, acting in conjunction with the medical and dental services, lie added, verges on the marvellous in its magnitude and efficiency. It is no uncommon thing to find in these care committees that visit every home in the poorer districts of London ladies of high social standing, who daily, year in and year out, voluntarily give their services in connection with this work, and everv bov and girl on leaving, the elementary school is placed in a situation for which he or she is best, suited bv the employment officer, acting in conjunction with the parent, the headmaster, and the care committee. Value of Central Schools. “I was wonderfully ini] ji*ssed,” 'aid Mr. Melody, “with'the work that is being done in the London central schools, which are turning out scholars at 16 years of age who compared more than favourably with secondary school scholars, who are allowed to remain at school until thev ire 18. These schools have either a commercial or an industrial bias, and the former generally aim at preparing scholars for the Oxford and Cambridge senior locals, Chamber of Commerce, and Society of Arts examinations, whilst the latter give their pupils a good general training in technical drawing and. design, whereby they can be immediately and profitably absorbed in the industrial machine. “Owing to the difficulty of travelling, I was unable to visit .my provincial central schools with cn agricultural bias. Another interesting feature was the Rotlierhitlie Central School, which has a nautical bias and where the boys have their own boat

in the docks, with a ipecial instructor in seamansliip. “Although these schools arc. somewhat costlv to run, the results obtained have more than justified expenditure on them, and I think that central schools -with, an agricultural or industrial or a dual bias are urgently needed in any country like New Zealand, where the primary school has so long outlived the function for which it was intended, viz-, give a child sufficient education to enable him. to go out into the world without teceivmg further educational facilities. The advent of free secondary education brought this about. “iii London just over 1 per cent, of the children receive free secondary, education, whilst roughly about 10 per cent, qualify for admission to the central schools, which rank as elementary. The problem of the average boy is a very acute one in London, and there is certainlv quite a lot of overlapping and marking time in our own elementary schools.” Visit to the Continent.

There were over a hundred exchange teachers in London and Scotland from South Africa, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and two interesting visits were made under the auspices of the League of the Empire (which arranges all exchanges) to France, Italy, Holland, Belgium and Switzerland. These proved of great educational value. For instance, in Rome the party were personally conducted over the Coliseum, the Capitol, and the Forum by Dr. Ashmole, who is head of the British School of Archaeology in Rome, In Geneva the party were the guests of the Bienvenue Suisse, who personally conducted the visitors over the League of Nations building, and two excellent modern schools. Tn Leyden the party jjjeeived a public reception from the Burgomaster (Sir Nicholas de Guysler), and they had also afternoon tea in tlie doctor’s room of the famous university, when they were the guests of the professors and their wives.

Mr. Melody was accompanied on tlie visit to the Motherland bv Airs. Melody.