NATIVE EDUCATION

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 13, 16 January 1941, Page 11

NATIVE EDUCATION

A NEW DEPARTURE

PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION

ESTABLISHMENT OF HIGH SCHOOLS

A departure of considerable importance in the education field will take place at the beginning of ihe school year next month, when .three Native district high schools established by the Education Department between Gisborne and the East Cape will open, according to a statement made yesterday by the Minister of Education (Mr. Mason). The move is in the nature of an experiment, and if it proves a success it may be put into operation in other parts of the Dominion at present not served by post-primary schools. "The three schools are situated at Ruatoria, Tikitiki, and Te Araroa, districts which contain a fairly large' population of Maori children who in the past have not been able to receive personal instruction in postprimary school work," said the Minister. "When they open early in February it is expected that each school will have an attendance of from 20 to 30. pupils. Some of them will be Europeans, for the Department does not propose to exclude these, though primarily the schools have been established to serve the Maori race." The Department felt, continued Mr. Mason, that the ordinary district high schools did not give the Maori children the kind of training most required. There was a greater need for practical rather than academic instruction, and so these three Native high schools had been designed to give the boys and girls that type of training which would be of direct benefit to them when they left, school. Thus, building construction, carpentering, and other useful crafts would be taught to the boys, and for the girls there would be housecraft, infant training, home science, house management, infant child welfare, and those other things which generally fitted a young woman for her place in the home. "The work to be undertaken immediately the school year starts will be unique in the history of New Zealand, although it is interesting to recall that the principles involved were those which were used with much success by Marsden and other early missionaries," said Mr. Mason. "To enable one phase of the practical work to be done, a model cottage is to be built at each school, to be used for the training of the girls in home management. ' BUILDING COTTAGES. "The boys themselves will build these cottages under the supervision of their instructor, as part of their building training. While they are doing this, the girls will prepare the furnishings and will receive tuition in cookery and housecraft—all part of their practical education. When the cottages-,^are completed, the girls will take them over, taking turns to live in them, do the housework, prepare meals, and actually serve them to the other children at the schools." The girls would be taught to run the cottages quite independently and to think for themselves. Mistakes would be made, but mistakes were expected, and it was hoped that in the making of them the girls would learn more thoroughly. The same condition would apply in the case of the construction work to be done by the boys. They would not be expected to build the cottages without making mistakes, but these would be corrected by the instructor, and when the buildings were erected the boys would have acquired valuable training in a useful practical work. Later on, more constructional education would follow. That part of the East Coast where the three Native district high schools were situated was a farming area, and the boys would be taught, to build cowsheds, pigsties, and other buildings related to the farming industry. Metal work would not be neglected. The boys would be taught how to make gate hinges and other articles used on. the farm. Again, if bicycle or tool sheds were required at the schools, the boys would build them. It was hoped eventually to institute motor workshops, where the pupils could receive instruction in engineering. STAFFING OF SCHOOLS. In addition to the headmasters, two of the schools would- have one secondary assistant and the third two secondary assistants. It was expected that these would all be male teachers. Also, the Education Department was going to appoint two itinerant teachers, one male and the other female. They would be supplied with a motor truck to carry all necessary equipment, and would travel from school to school regularly, supervising the work of the pupils. "This experiment is well worth while," said the Minister. "If it is successful, as I feel with great confidence it will be, its influence in our educational system is likely to be very great. It will amount to an impressive demonstration of the cultural value to be secured from practical subjects." The Minister added that at Kaikohe a secondary department of the district high school was to be established. This would provide intermediate and technical education to Maoris and Europeans in the district, and in this school a similar policy of laying stress on practical subjects would be followed.