The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY MONDAY. OCTOBER 20, 1928. AN UNREASONABLE COMPLAINT.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 10729, 29 October 1928, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY MONDAY. OCTOBER 20, 1928. AN UNREASONABLE COMPLAINT.

11 was, perhaps, only to bo exported i hat. at the present juncture, i,hovr'N'.Z.’ Kducational Institute, atfffeh has, lately, heroine • a much P iitovo aggressive body, would put in ,n very strong plea for much heavier expenditure on the education system. It. his election manifesto, Mr Coates has pointed out how much lias been done in that direction even during the past three years. He lias drawn attention to tho fact that classes have been reduced; that staffs have, been increased: that a new system of physical training has been established; that manual instruction has been extended; that the dental clinics have been developed; that child welfare has been promoted ; and that, in addition, to the heavy increase in. working expenses, half a million sterling has been expended on new schools, remodelling, etc. Mr Coates has also made it known that the re-organisation of tho whole system of education in tho near future is under consideration. On its part, the executive of the Educational Institute professes to be dissatisfied. In a letter to the press, it' complains that Mr Coates has not indicated the direction which the proposed reorganisation will take. Well-known it. is, of course, that tho Institute aims at a most ambitious re-organisation of the Dominion’s school system. The present scheme of separate control of primary, secondary and technical schools is, inter alia, wrong according to the ideas of its members. But- there is room for strong disagreement on this point. What is at the bottom of "tho Institute’s main complaint, however, is a demand that the leaving age should be raised. “Many, if not most, of those young people who leave school at or before the 14th year are,” it says, “deprived of instruction and of the formative influence of school just at the time when these are most needed and are likely to be fruitful in permanent results.” If the Government would agree to raise the age of leaving school, it would, unquestionably, be necessary at once to re-cast the whole system of higher education. Two vital points, however, require to be studied by the Government : fl) “Could the State afford the extra expense ihat would be , involved?” and (2) “Could very many parents afford to allow their children to remain at school until the age that has been suggested by some of the educational authorities, i.e., 18 years?” These are most important matters and the great bulk of the electors will agree that the Government is acting very wisely in taking time to allow the points to he fully considered. It seems to this journal that tho answer to the second question must be an emphatic one in the negative and, if we are not greatly mistaken, the Government will require to pause before it ag rees to the extension of the school period by even a single year. Such being the case, how can the Government announce the direction in which the education system is to be re-organised until the important point as to what should be the leaving age has been very carefully studied from every angle?