HINT OF REFORM

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 130, 3 June 1936, Page 17

HINT OF REFORM

EXAMINATION SYSTEM EDUCATION UNDUE KEYIEW MINISTER'S REMARKS

A suggestion thai there should be some reform of the Dominion's examination system was made by the Minister of Education (the Hon. P. Frascr) in Iho House of Representatives yesterday afternoon, during the discussion on the report of the Director of Education (Mr. N. T. Lambourne) on his visit abroad. The Minister declared that New Zealand was too much under the tyranny of tho examination system.

Mr. W. A. Bodkin (National, Central Otago) said that there was a great conflict of opinion among educationists as to the best form oi' education. It was gratifying to note that the Director had found that the system of education in New Zealand 1 compared favourably with systems elsewhere. In spite of criticism, he contended that consolidation of schools had been o£ great benefit in the country districts, and to confine this to only one-teacher schools, as was advocated by the teachers, would be a retrogade step. He congratulated the Director on his report, which he described as a valuable document

Mr. G. H. O. Wilson (Government, Rangitikei) thought that it was unnecessary for the Director to have made a world tour in order to put forward a few minor improvements, which could have been done without going abroad, particularly as most of them referred to the restoration of conditions previous to the institution of the economies. He thought, too, that questions of importance were not as fully dealt with as they could be. Education should enable people to develop powers of thinking, instead of assimilating facts. The cramming of facts into children prevented them from thinking. He thought that more time should be devoted to economics and political science. Some reform was wanted in the examination system, which merely encouragcd tho policy of instilling facts. He paid a tribute to the teachers of the Dominion, who were interested in their job and did it because they were interested in it. The Government should provide maximum opportunities of development by ensuring decent living standards and the best possible education.

POSITION IN COUNTRY. Mr. S. G. Smith (National, Now Plymouth) said that in dairying districts the school population was affected by the number of sharemilkers living in the locality, and consequently with a changing population the grading of schools and teachers' salaries and conditions were unstable. The lost Government had decided that it was time the education system should be examined in the light of developments abroad, and for that reason had sent the Director of Education overseas. He hoped that salary scales in primary schools, particularly those of headmasters in large primary schools, would receive the consideration of the Minister.

Mr. T. H. McCombs (Government, Lyttelton) said that the aim oil the education system should be to turn out pupils suited to the needs of the community. He complained that the syllabus left too little to the imagination of the teachcr, and he contended that the system was too much tied to th'e examination system.

Mr. R. A. Wright (Independent, Wellington Suburbs) commented on the fact that the Director of Education had found that in the countries which he had visited the teaching was not much in advance of that carried out in New Zealand. As far as the basic principles of education were concerned the Dominion had not much to learn. He had noticed that the same applied in other Departments when experts were sent abroad. It was generally found that New Zealand had not much to learn. It was gratifying to learn that in education the Dominion was holding its own. It- was not a "fancy" report in any sense of the term. Reports had been presented to the House by experts which if carried out would cost hundreds and thousands of pounds. The report, under review was "common sense." NO CROWDED CURRICULUM. Mr. Wright said he did not believe in a crowded curriculum, but he thought it wise to concentrate on primary education. The boys and girls should be given a thorough grounding in the three "r's," and the teachers should be well trained and prepared for their calling. Children were not trained as they should be trained. If they were, they would be better fitted to grapple with the things they met with in everyday life. The ultimate object of education should be character building. The boys and girls should be turned out of school with character, so that they would not only know right from wrong, but with the backbone and stamina to stand out for that which was right and to eschew that which was wrong. He agreed that the subsidy to kindergartens should be restored as soon as possible.

Mr. H. Atmore (Independent, Nelson) said that the acquisition of facts did not matter so much as the development of the intelligence and mentality of the child. He was opposed to large classes. They meant to the teacher huge crowds and a list of names, and it was impossible to discover the aptitude of the child. Unless this was found there could be no proper education. He would like to have seen more in .the director's report concerning the methods of control. Too much money had been wasted in the past in administrative bodies. It was all very well for the director to say that New Zealand's educational system compared favourably with other countries. That was not sufficient. New Zealand had led the world in certain phases of legislation, and there was no reason why the Dominion should not lead the world in applied education. He drew attention to the fact that 600 marks were given for Latin and 300 for agriculture. That was an absurdity. It showed that there was not a proper perspective of the relative value of the subjects.

BEST BRAINS REQUIRED. Mr. Atmore expressed the hope that the kindergartens and workers' educational associations would be absorbed into the Dominion's educational system. The best brains should be obtained for educational work, and he would like to see teachers receiving increased salaries and privileges. The classes in the primary schools should not be greater than those of the average secondary schools—from 25 to 30 pupils. Much had been said of the previous Government's policy of reducing education expenditure by £1,000.000. It had been called a saving, It. was nothing of the sort. "You cannot save on the development of character and intellect," he added. Mr. H. E, Herring (Government, MidCanterbury) regretted that the director had not visited Russia and Germany and gathered information from J those two important countries. He'

described as ridiculously inadequate the £2,750,000 spent on education in 1033-34; he compared it with the £4,000,000 spent on tobacco and £5,000,000 on drink. He spoke particularly about the technical schools, which, he said, were the Cinderellas oi the education system. They did not get the grants they should get; they were starved while high schools received endowments. Mr. Herring urged that the engineering principle should be more recognised in technical schools; there was at present too much emphasis placed on commercial subjects. There was too much of the typewriter. Out of the fifty-five technical schools three only had engineers as principals..

MINISTER'S STATEMENT. The Minister stated that he would be sorry if the idea got abroad that the director returned here in a state of mind approaching smug satisfaction. The director was sympathetic towards any advance made in education, and the director and the Minister were contemplating advances that would be real advances in the educational life of the community. It was a question of how soon they would be able, with the help of Parliament, to put them into operation. He had found a lot of Cinderellas of the education system besides the technical schools; various other units of education claimed to be in that position, and the fact of the matter was that every one of them required something. Technical schools were possibly a little better off than the high schools, though that did not mean that they were getting enough.

The education system in New Zealand, continued Mr. Fraser, was, in parts, as good as could be gained anywhere, and in parts, it was not as bad as could be found anywhere. The more members knew about the system the more they would be surprised at how really good it was. There were methods that would achieve as good results as could be obtained anywhere in the world. "Wc have the best possible understanding of education principles," declared the Minister, "and the best possible attention on the part nf the teachers and administrative bodies, but there are one or two handicaps that we have to overcome —there arc certain limitations that must be removed." He thought that in common with other countries the Dominion had been too much under the tyranny of examination, and examinations and the grading of teachers were two fundamental questions that must be attended to. Some thought must be given to the question as to whether the time had not arrived for removing all examinations that acted as a barrier to the progress of the child. He did not throw that out as a decision, but some thought had been given to the matter. They were approaching their problems in a humble way. They were looking for advice and assistance, and they asked those interested to help them solve their own problems in their own way, so that the children could be helped to develop their education, particularly in the direction of thinking for themselves. The report was referred to the government for consideration.