The Dominion WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 1928. THE COST OF SCHOOL BOOKS

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 186, 9 May 1928, Page 10

The Dominion WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 1928. THE COST OF SCHOOL BOOKS

The Minister of Education, in his address to the New Zealand Educational Institute Conference on Monday evening, touched a burning topic when he mentioned the cost of school books. This question has lately assumed some prominence as the result of a public statement by the Institute on the subject. The Education Department recently had occasion to remind the boards that departures from the authorised list of school books meant needless expense to the parents, from whom there had been numerous complaints. The Institute contested the question on the ground that the restriction of text-books narrowed the scope of the teacher’s work and was against the interests of the pupils. , . This is no doubt true, if one considers the question from the heights of Utopia. There are no doubt many people who can afford to endorse the view of the Institute. On the other hand, there are many to whom the question touches sharply- personal economic limitations. As the Minister said, to the man who is earning but £3 or £4 a week it is not only the shillings that count, but the pence. Here we have a conflict between ideals and realities. In a jocular aside, Mr. Wright observed that the more brains a man had, the less, very often, he knew about money matters. What he meant was that the theorist is inclined to overlook the practical limitations of his propositions. If the Institute could suggest a practical means of distributing a plentiful supply of extra text-books amongst the schools, at no extra cost to the parents, it would very effectively further its ultimate aims in this connection. From another speaker at the same gathering, however, fell some pertinent remarks which are worth noting. The speaker, His Worship the Mayor, was discoursing on the subject of the ideal teacher. Incidentally, he observed, in effect, that from the wealth of a well-stocked and cultured mind a teacher in love with his work could disseminate knowledge without .the aid of books. After all the inspiration must come from the teacher. That is not to say that books are not necessary, but it suggests that variety and. quantity in school literature are not a sine qua non of effective teaching. If the Minister, now that he has taken the matter up, will carry his investigation further, he will make some surprising discoveries in the secondary schools." It is there that the cost of school, books bears heavily upon the harassed parent who is struggling to give his children the benefit of “free” secondary education. Why in the name of common sense should it be. necessary to change, and change frequently, the text-books on such subjects as. Euclid, Algebra, and Latin, the forms and principles of which remain constant year after year? Yet that is what is happening every year, with a scandalous lack of consideration for the parents’ pockets. There can be no justification for this state of affairs, and it is time the whole question was overhauled.