EDUCATION

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 7, 9 January 1930, Page 11

EDUCATION

IS IT OVERDONE ?

(To tho Editor.)

Sir,—You quoted at some length in your issue of yesterday the remarks of Mr. A. Spencer, of. Auckland, on the subject of education. The fact that the remarks were accorded a very prominent position in your paper gives them such importance that some words of comment are called for.

As Mr. Spencer says, tho various aspects of this important question are too varied to be dealt with briefly. I have therefore not attempted to deal with his statements as a whole but shall draw attention to a few points as they occur. First, Mr. Spencer . speaks of "general opinion being that the existing system is not only too costly add^ ing to tho excessive burden in taxation," and so on. Proof that Mr. Spencer misapprehends the general opinion is to be found in the fact that there has been no public demand for a curtailment of the system or for a reduction in expenditure, but on tho contrary an increasing demand for further education and greater expenditure. A prominent member of Parliament said only the other day that the present four millions expended was insufficient and would have to be considerably increased. To speak of an excessive burden in taxation in this country is simply re-echoing words without duo consideration. The country that can spend as much as New Zealand does on mo-tor-cars, totalisators, alcohol, and tobacco cannot say that tho share of its burden of taxation devoted to education is excessive.

In another part of his remarks Mr. Spencer speaks of hundreds of young people when leaving school being unable to find suitable employment and steins to deduce therefrom that the education system is in fault. Nothing could bo further from' the truth, which is that there are more applicants for positions than there are positions to fill and that is- cvidenco of social mal-adjustmeut, which is too big a subject to enter upon here. The one thing to be thankful for is that if it were not for the relatively high standard of education in New Zealand the effects of this maladjustment would be much more disastrous than they havo yot been. Mr. Spencer goes on to say "that those closely in touch with industry maintain that a good primary education is all that is necessary for artisans and manual labourers." Against this it is. only necessary to say that jthoso closely in touch with industry on a large scale in the older lands find that the best education possible- is necessary for their working people, and they devote large sums of money to encouraging general cultural education among them. They find that the contention "that higher standard of education will in ' itself tend to high efficiency on-the part of these workers" instead of being "probably, entirely erroneous" is entirely true. A little further down Mr. Spencer makes two very remarkable statements. Tho first reads "the tendency of secondary, university, and even technical training when applied generally and indiscriminately is probably neither beneficial to the individual nor the community generally." Mr. Spencer probably did no| mean so much as he has said, but tho real meaning of what he has said, whatever he.may havo intended, is that education^ except up to the requirements of some particular occupation, is of doubtful benefit-to the individual or to the community. That is just what tyrants and autocrats liavo said and acted upon in all ages. The less education tho general body of the people acquires, the better from tho tyrant's point of view. Education is at once the birthright and tho bulwark of freedom. The second of these remarkable statements is -contained in this sentence: "Probably more liarin than good is dono by ignoring tho actual realities of life and limitations of environment and educating to a standard which in nine cases out of ten tho individual can never attain." If that sentence had stopped at the word "life-" it would have embodied a most profound truth, probably the only truth in the whole of Mr. Spencer's argument. What are the actual realities of life? Briefly, that overy man and woman has, besides a living to get, a life' to live—as full and conipleto and varied as circumstances and abilities will. permit, and 'also a share to undertake and responsibilities to bear in the . government of a free and self-governing democracy. These are some of tho actual realities of life which the industrialist-econom-ist too frequently forgets. The rest of the sentence quoted above means, so far as a careful reading shows, just simply nothing.,

Mr. Spcnoet blames the education ' system for the fact that the young people on leaving school become employed as clerks or office boys instead of farm workers or manual labourers. He seems to ignore the fact that it pays better to be a cleric or office boy than a farm worker or manual labourer, and to ignore also this other fact that if they i had not had. the education that enabled them to take the position of clerk or office boy they would have had to go straight into the ranks of the unemployed since there were not places for : them as farm workers or manual labourers, or in the organised trades. As has been said before, it is only the fact that these young people have had a fair general education that has prevented the effects of the social nial-ad-justment from being much worse than they have been. So far from this country being "education mad" it is only now beginning to wake up to the fact that it must follow the example of every other enlightened country and educato to the fullest possible extent the powers of will and skill that have hitherto been allowed to go to waste or bo turned to evil uses. Even such, a typical Conservative statesman as Lord Eustace Percy has proclaimed the slogan in Conservative England "Secondary Education for all." It. is a little late in the day for Mr. Spencer to bo quoting nonsense about New Zealand being education mad.—l am, etc., H. A. PARKINSON, Secretary, N,Z.E.I. 9th January. •