COUNTRY LIFE

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 27, 1 February 1929, Page 12

COUNTRY LIFE

PRESENT-DAY PROBLEMS

REASON FOR URBAN DRIFT

A wide and fruitful field of inquiry was covered by Professor. 11. Belshaw in'a lengthy paper which he delivered before the Science Congress on "Some ■ Aspects of the Country Life Problem in !New Zealand.'.' The country life movement he defined as a -conscious and more or less co-ordinated attempt to improve the social environment of the rural citizen. In that sense, he said, there was no country life movement in Now Zealand. Present indications pointed to a much greater degree of rural stability than had been evidenced for the past two decades, at least.

1 'Of'th6'total population, exclusive of, 'Maoris,-370,000, or about 38 per cent., livetl in the four main cities, but.over ■50 per cent, of the people lived in cen-; "tres. of population of less than 10,000. For a young country the transport sys-! tein was good, but, of course, conditions varied widely from county to county. The.' total length of formed roads was nearly 47,000 miles, and it was a safe, ■generalisation to say that the-transporf "system presented few' barriers' to community development.'. ".•. :.. . .... v ■ EDUCATION METHODS' ; „. The chief work of formal education' naturally fell ph the resident teacher, but:there was, a strong tendency toward the appointment of itinerant specialist^ instructors. It would appear that iibout 220Q out of a total of 2600 schools :;ind .about 70,000 out of a total of IBG,'- 1 000 pupils were definitely rural. There had been a bias in education toward; town, occupations, and those .capacities' most;.likely to enable the clilld to oil-; joy the country life and face it in the :spirit of scientific adventure had been; negleuted; to- the-advantage of : attain•monts .more' useful in town iiursuits.^ In his personal .opinion, this■ condition' was no small factor in accounting for the "urban drift" in New Zealand. Portunatoiy, a new and, moro clastic syllabus had been devised; .Tho'secondary schools wero not playing the' part' they' should in providing agricultural education. • ■ The Workers'' Education Association had endeavoured, very successfully in' many cases, to develop an interest in non-vocational education among,residents in rural districts, but, so far, only the fringe.of the rural community had been .touched. , For this work the Workers' Educational Association, although at present' the only competent body, was not(well suited. In origin, outlook, and administration, it was 'essentially an urban' movement, with only ai very partial .realisation of the nature of the problenr of adult education in country districts. Further, it was re-' garded with-some .suspicion, 'largely un-j warranted, b,y many farmers, who be-; ..lidved.it to bo a '-'labour orgahisa-' tion,. and, for. that reason, imagined it to be inimical to farming interests. THE RURAL OHITRCH. It was necessary, therefore, to aim toward tho creation of a new' movement based,on co-operation between tho University 'and farmers' organisations, working parallel with, but distinct from, the Workers' Educational Association. A scheme for,the development of extension work in country districts was now under consideration, aiid, provided sufficient funds could bo s raised,; it was likply to be launched iii tho near f uturu.v Thq;rural church ", problem.-in New Zealand was acute. Speaking generally, the country, church, whether it-was in the open' country or tho small township, was poorly attended. •Clergymen travelled .long'distances to minister to pitifully small congregations. ,'-. Potentially,' tliQ<,Churchi.wßß;ra social force of tro-' mendous importance.in-, tho rural .community, "but Organised activities, other than the purely religious, were microscopic in importance. Professor Bolshaw said ho bolioved'the urgoncy of the Church problem in rural districts was realised by Church leaders, but tho problem seemed to have'been very littlo studied.. .. '■' .■'■.' .'■ „..'■ !.-■■; . .' ' '.