EDUCATION SYSTEM

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 21 March 1929, Page 5

EDUCATION SYSTEM

VIEWS OF HON. H. ATMORE. t>> I *iiegrapf> AjttsOCLaUuL./ INVERCARGILL, March 19. “In connection with the proposed alterations in our present system oi education,” said the Minister of Education, the Hon. H. A. Atmore, addressing the Southland Education Hoard today, “I cannot hnd m any educational authority a divergence of opinion that there must be a change of some description. “The present system is too largely dominated by academic influences, it is merely a survival of that which was in vogue during the period when education was not considered a means of fitting a child to earn his place in the world. It catered only for the wealthy classes, and not for those who had to go out into the world to make their own livings. “It is now quite obvious that the last few years of a child’s education must have more hearing on the occupation which will lie followed later in life. The logical result of the present system is that many children after several years at a secondary school are forced to seek positions as clerks. “It has been proposed that at the age of eleven a child should receive a schooling different to that of to-day,” continued the Minister. “Academic training must be provided for a certain number, but provision must also be made fox- the large number who have ability in other directions. When this aspect is realised by parents there will be no delay in the demand for fair treatment for the large proportion of children. “It is a rather remarkable fact that although 95 per cent, of the Dominion’s wealth is obtained from the land the majority of country children are induced to take academic courses which will be of little or no use in after life. “Of course, the ideal countx-y would be one in which each child c-ould liH the position for which it is fitted by natural abilities plus education, and to bring about such a state of affairs is the culminating point of the policy of any Government.

“I have been besieged by applications for an alteration in the present system bv educational bodies, particularly in the North Island, and it is significant that these bodies have already requested that should the junior high school proposal be adopted such institutions be established in their particular districts. “In Southland, however, although no definite statement has been issued, it appears that there are critics who are putting up straw men for the sake of knocking them down again. It is obvious that some alteration in the present system must be made, but the question is, of course, what form that alteration should take. “I was requested by representatives of' four associations, primary schools and technical colleges, to defer any announcement until May. I agreed to hold over a definite statement till alter Easter, when 1 will have met representatives of those associations. Our aim is fo develop each child along the lines of its own individuality, not to force it into a race for which Nature did not intend it. There must be no uniformity enforced; the individuality of each child must be recognised and developed.