The Education Question.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume I, Issue 25, 9 August 1887, Page 3

The Education Question.

MB BALLANCE’S VIEWS.

aking at Wanganui recently Mr Ballance said education was one of the great issues now before the country, and a great many said “ cut it down." They want to raise the school age from five to seven, and to do away with the fifth and sixth standards, by which they said they would save £84,000 on the small children and £52,000 on the fifth and sixth standards. To put the savings on one ride for a moment, he would ask them to think of the effect of throwing 85,000 children out of their schools at once. What ifrduld Be, the result ? The working daises who now sfend their children to school to prepare the ground during the two years from 5 to 7 would lose all the time, and he could tell them that period was one of the most valuable, from a teacher s point of view, in a child’s life. He had had a conversation a day or two ago with the chairman of the Wellington Education Board on this point and that gentleman bore him out and gave an instance of a school which, When it first opened was attended by children who Were ill-clad, unclean, foul-tnoUthed and everything that was bad, it was ail abominable school and he had been ashamed of it. But, said the gentleman, they had an infant school from which the children were afterwards drafted to the more advanned school, and year by year the character and tone of the children in the other school improved till they had hot a finer school in Wellington. Thia to his mind indicated the great value of infants’ schools, for their eould be no doubt but that the elevating influence on the higher school Was the result of the work in the Infant School. (Applause.) Who was it that was crying out for this reform ? Was it the working classes whose children were receiving the benefit of the system ? Not at all. But it wa B the wealthv people who feared an ex. tra 3-16th' Property Tax. If it cost him a hundred elections he would never submit to any alteration of this kind. (Applause.) As to the sth and 6th standards, the position was this; They estimated a saving of £52,000, and said “ make the parents pay fees for the sth and 6th standards, ’’ meaning thereby that

those who went into these standards were the children of more affluent people than those who did not go beyond the fourth. He believed that to be entirely without foundation. So far as his enquiries had gone the great number of the sth and 6th standard boys and girls were the children of of the working classes, and of people who were taking the only chance they had of endeavoring to. fit their children to rise in the battle of life. (Applause.) They calculated that if so many children did not attend schools between 5 and 7, and in the fifth and sixth standards, that at £4 a head so much would be saved. But he would point out that more than half of the schools in the colony were schools with only one teacher, and he did not see that any saving could be made there unless they reduced the salaries, the effect ; of which would be to introduce a , lower class of teachers. As it was now they would see that the percentage of uncertificated teachers was higher in small districts than in large ones. J hen with regard to the coun--2 it would be found that if the town ools were cut down the savings made on them, which now go a great way to provide for country schools, would be lost. '1 he average cost of teaching in town was £3 3s, as against £5 Ils for the country, and it was only by the one helping the other that the system was carried out. Something had been said about qualifications and the rearrangement of

salaries, but he believed their safety rested in the system of average. Ihe larger the districts were, the greater their voting power, and in small districts such as this the voting power would be light. If they were to have a legislative scramble they would find the weaker districts would go to the wall, and therefore their safety lay in having one great average for the whole colony. As to the financial aspect he believed that, instead of saving £l7O, 000 as had been talked of, the saving would only be some £15,000 or £20,000 altogether. The savings, it would be found, would be made not on salaries of the highest teachers, but on the pupil teachers. In his opinion there was.no expenditure more justifiable than this education vote, it went to improve the future people of the colony, and to help to build a nation up. (Applause.) He did not say that there could not be some economies in education, nor did Sir B. Stout say so. In fact the Premier had two years ago proposed to reduce the capitation allowance 2s 6d which meant £lO,OOO, but the very people who were howling out for retrenchment were the very ones who strongly opposed the idea then. The Premier had however, made a proposal to take off 5s from the capitation, believing that they could educate children cheaper now than they could when the numbers were smaller. Besides this saving the Government could show a saving on the Education vote in this way, that the natural increase this year is provided for without any additional vote from the House.