SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 188, 11 May 1928, Page 16

SECONDARY SCHOOLS

.IMPROVING THE COURSES

MINISTER OUTLINES POSITION

“It is satisfactory to note flint the great majority of secondary schools are I willing, and even anxious, to develop courses which exclude the more academic subjects such as Latin, and devote more attention to subjects better suited to the non-academic type of pupil—e.g., woodwork, metalwork, drawing, commercial work, and housecraft.” The above announcement was made by the Minister of Education (Hon. R. A. Wright) in an address at the annual conference of the Secondary Schools' Association of New Zealand yesterday. The Minister stated that there had been a continued growth of secondary schools in the Dominion, both in number and size. There were now 43 departmental secondary schools. Two _ had been opened this year (the Rongotai Boys and Avonside Girls) ; two last year (Rotorua and Takapuna) ; and two iu 1926 (Hutt Valley and Balclutha). The number of pupils on secondary schools rolls on March 1 had been as follow: —1928, 15.900; 1927, 15,000; 1926, 14,500; in 1919. the number stood at 9400. There had thus been an increase of 69 per cent, in.nine years. In the same period (nine years), the number of departmental schools had risen from 32 to 43, and the number of. registered private secondary schools from 17 to 39. Reasons for Increase. Proceeding, Mr. Wright said that the reasons for the increasing j-olls were:— (1) Recognition by parents that post primary education would eventually be of value to the boy or girl, no matter what walk of life was entered upon later; (2) difficulty of boys obtaining entrance into trades, lack of openings in apprenticeships, etc.; (3) so far as this year. was concerned, a considerable increase in the number of pupils passing proficiency examinations. Expenditure on School Buildings/ Proceeding,, the Minister explained that the total expenditure on secondary school buildings and sites in 1927 had been £94,000. The largest items were: Hostel, New Plymouth Girls’ High School, £19,000; new school and grounds, Takapuna, £12,000; additions to Hutt Valley High School, £10,000; additions to Marlborough High. School,' £7400; new Girls’ High School at Avonside, £6700; new school at Rotorua, £4000; additions to Waitaki Girls’ High School, £3000; memorial hall at Wellington College, £3000; completion of new Boys’ High School, Christchurch, £3000; site for new Boys’ High Schoo], Dunedin, £2200.. 1 In 1927, continued the Minister, the percentage of pupils taking Latin was 41, and French 88; in 1919, the percentage taking Latin was 46, and French 91. There were very few girls’ schools where courses in domestic crafts were not encouraged. Increasing attention was being paid in boys’ schools to art and various forms of handwork.* More boys’ schools, though admittedly not ■all, would have added instruction in manual work to the curriculum had the requisite facilities and equipment been available in the past. Agricultural courses were being persevered with, though the support given to them by parents and pupils had not in some instances been encouraging.

New Primary School Syllabus. Mr. Wright stated that he could not at this stage enter into any detail of the effect on secondary schools the new primary school syllabus would have, but it was, he said, confidently expected that the secondary schools would benefit considerably. The gap between primary and secondary syllabuses would undoubtedly be reduced, especially in mathematics, science, history, and geography. Whilst a little of the work hitherto reserved for secondary schools had been added to the primary syllabus, care had nevertheless been taken to ensure that pupils completing their education in the primary schools would be given a satisfactory and adequate grounding in such essential subjects as English and arithmetic. -