EDUCATION MATTERS

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 79, 30 September 1930, Page 13

EDUCATION MATTERS

MANY-WOMEN INTERESTED

There was a largo attendance at tho monthly meeting of .'the National Council of Women last evening, when Professor Gould spoke on the recent Education report. Ho prefaced his remarks, with the statement-that he had, ou ;flrst read.iugy. considered it a, valuable report, even--masterly. On further consideration he adhered to that opinion whilo ho did not altogether agree with some, of the ideas and suggestions put forth. He said plainly that while .Now. Zealand,, up to about the war. period, had hold, a leading position in the world, of education, he considered tliiit since then ;thcro had been a dc'eiiiie,'f6;r,\ while other countries had admitted new thought and ideas, Now Zealand - had gone along in the former stereotyped lines. He placed the responsibility for this on over-cen-tralisatioi'i- in- a Department. A ' 'LOP-SIDED" PEOPLE. The reports w-as valuable in that it contained ..the ideas and suggestions of a number Xdf minds,- which was justwhat should be. ' But something more than re-organisation was needed; a clear idea of; the fnnction of education had not been, arrived at ■-.■altogether. He felt that education' at present was too much a prepartiQii for economic success —to prepare- to- earn, and to enter into industrial .or ■commercial life. This was essential aiid. prudent, but it was not everything; . He felt that what real education meant was the full development of caeli individual. Now Zealand had been producing partly atrophied people, concentrated in one or two directions. He quoted from the report some, very interesting commentary on educational matters in Norway, where 'it was assumed that there was a rural bias given to education, but having visited the schools there, he found "People's High Schools," at which tho young people from 19 to about 26 could continue a general education which gave a real opportunity of many-sided development. This was partly paid' for by- Government and partly by the students themselves. It was an "eye-opener" to sco those schools, and he felt that this effort saved the 'Norwegians from turning out a "lop-sided" people who would never have a chance of becoming a great people. Eeorganisation of tho educational outlook in New Zealand was badly needed, specially among those in control. ?Tie conflict between, central and local administration meant a most costly system, and inefficiency resulted from that conflict. Ho showed how the old provincial control had gradually been encroached upon by tho central Department. It was now found that New Zealand compared badly with other countries in tho matter of expense—the cost being much higher here, while tho system was not successful. Great Britain kept to the local system and placed responsibility on local people. In this country there, was still a big range for local authority, but there should bo a clear definition of powers. The report suggested reducing the local authorities from 5-i to 18, with 18 districts throughout the" country, and this should contribute to correlation of effort and unification of teaching service. Now there were several kinds, which made for antagonism. . "CRITICISM ON ALL SIDES." Professor Gould had nothing kind to say about the grading system. Ho remarked that it . was tho subject of criticism oil all sides. It was instituted to avoid, patronage by local authorities, which was right enough, as that led to evils, but it had become a Juggernaut, and ho felt that its result was to make teachers anxious to merely please their particular inspector, giving their best efforts to that instead of studying . their. particular school. It destroyed initiative altogether. A good suggestion was made in tho report for the abolition of primary instruction at "eleven plus," though it was difficult to carry out on account of tho difference in the children. • But it meant an intermediate school, which would bo valuable. Ho was, altogether in favour of: raising- the school age to lv, although it might press hardly on some parents, but, after "all, the children had to be tho first consideration.

licoirring to the question of cxnmiuutiou Ijx external peopift, tiiu Professor

said that New Zealand almost stood alone in that respect. Tho training of teachers was the crux of tho whole educational system. Ho felt that tlie col legos Were under-staffed, giving interestiiu; reasons for his contention. The professors needed time and opportunity to get some personal touch with the students. Mention was also made of "specialisation," which meant that Auckland and Dunedin would have tho training of "the primary students, ana Wellington and Christchurch that or the secondary. In rcsponso to a question, the irofessor agreed that this was a. very expensive method. A number of other questions were asked and answered, and a very hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Professor Gould, who had thoroughly interested tho council, the president'(Mrs. Stone) remarking that all had had an opportunity of better understanding a most important subject.