THE FTVE-YEAR-OLDS

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 8, 10 July 1934, Page 11

THE FTVE-YEAR-OLDS

EXCLUSION FROM SCHOOL

ATTITUDE OF -PARENTS.

lii- the reeorit debate on the school entrance.ago.legislation- iiivfch'has been said oii.rthe .attitMe'' of ..teachers, ' but there has- boea.a"tettd.eucy.to, overlook the .fact-that, thousands of parents are behind tho. movement for the readmission of tho five-year-olds. At the. annual meetings of householders held throughout■■' Ne- Zealand\a few months ago scores of resolutions were passed urging that .the, clause forbidding the enrolment of five-year-old children at State schools. should, be repealed. In tho. f6ur main .ijentres alone nearly a hundred such, motion's were carried, and many of them: carried unanimously

A SIMPLE TEST.

Supporters of. the legislation, where they have not ignored these resolutions altogether, have been at some pains to explain, them .away. It, has been said, for example, that "they were "machine-made." The idea is, apparent! j, that few. parents are. really anxious for their children to be readmitted. If this is so, there is. a very simple- and obvious '■ course for tho authorities to pursue and tliat' is to repeal the legislation at once. All the critics-will be silenced, and since only a tiny minority of parents will avail themselves of the right to enrol thenchildren at five the cost to the State will be- uegligible. ;

PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY.

. Onco it is admitted, as it must bo admitted, that a very largo number of parents are emphatically opposed to the legislation, other reasons must be advanced for ignoring' their clearlyexpressed wishes. ' 'It is therefore urged that parents demanding the repeal ,of the legislation are actuated by selfish mo.tivesj and that all they want, is "to got rid of their children" for a few hours a day. This, is a-charge which most parents will rightly resent. The average parent is intensely interested in everything touching the wellbeing of his children, and ho wants his five-year-old, to go jtb school, not. because he is anxious to avoid his responsibilities, but because he is convinced of the- advantages of school attendance. --Doubtless there are some parents who are lacking in a sense of their duties towards their'children. But Ihe idea that early attendance at school lead 3to a further weakening of parental responsibility is directly contrary to tho truth. Practical workers in the field of early education are agreed that children are often better cared for at home as tho direct result of school attendance and that the par;' ent's sense of responsibility is' increased rather than diminished.—(Pub-, lished by arrangement.) .