EDUCATION METHODS

Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 195, 16 July 1930, Page 2

EDUCATION METHODS

REPORT TO PARLIAMENT MANY CHANGES RECOMMENDED The report of the select committee on education, which was submitted to the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon, the main items being published in the “Standard” yesterday, has created a large amount of interest. If adopted, the proposals will result in considerable changes in the Dominion’s education system.

THE PRESENT SYSTEM. DEVELOPMENT REVIEWED. The committee, observing that there has been no fundamental change in the organisation of the system of education in New Zealand since 1914, while other countries have evolved in various important directions, “confidently believes that the reforms proposed in this report, if carried into effect, will once more place the Dominion in the fore-front of educational achievement. These constitute the unanimous and considered judgment of a Parliamentary Committee upon which all three existing political parties are represented.” After reviewing the development of the present system from the first legislation passed, in 1844, to “the virtual nationalisation of the secondary as well as the elementary education reserves, and the establishment of the central department as the final controlling factor in post-primary as well as primary education,” the committee notes that “along with this evolutionary expansion of the central department there was no corresponding diminution of the administrative staffs and expenditure of the local bodies. At the present time it is nearly five times what it was thirty years ago, before the expansion of the department and rapid increase in the number of local boards began. No better example can be quoted of this complexity of administration and control than the rapid development since the free-place system was instituted in 1902 of three separately organised, administered, and inspected systems of secondary education in the district high schools, secondary schools, and technical high schools respectively.” EXAMINATION SYSTEM.

The committee, in remarking that “the best equipment the primary school system coma give the children was the certificate oi proficiency” declares that “the proficiency examination prescriptions in effect wholly ignored the manual, domestic, scientific and agilcultural subjects and diverted the attention and energy of the pupils into the narrow but intensive study of formal arithmetic and grammar, lhus the cold grip of the external examination for this certificate fastened itself upon the system, with fatal effect. Under the spur of economic necessity, teachers and taught bent their united energies toward this objective as the supreme measurable and marketable criterion of the value of the recognised eight years’ school course. For the former promotion, for the latter employment depended almost eutiiely upon the success of their efforts.” The same condemnation was vented upon matriculation. “The rigidity and narrowness of the ‘proficiency - ridden primary system was repeated in the secondary schools in a form, impossible, even more Procrustacean by reason of their no less complete subordination to the purely academic prescriptions of the external matriculation examination. This state of affairs tlie separate organisation of the two stages under totally independent and differ-ently-constituted local boards served but to confirm. Thus even the rapid development of free secondary education was largely stulilied in its effect; nor was any opening left by wlncli an amelioration of the conditions or a readjustment of the point of articulation between the two stages might have been arranged. This was the second reason for the unfortunate arrest of the promising earlier movement for tlie development of prevocational courses in the primary and district high schools alter Standard IV.” “A stage has now been reached in the educational development of the Dominion,” states the committee, “at which the leaven of the manual-train-ing centres and district high schools in the primary and the technical high schools in tlie post-primary systems has rendered the fundamental reorganisation of our education system not only possible, but inevitable. This stage is represented in concrete form by the eight experimental junior high schools established during Hon. Sir James Parr’s term of office as Minister of Education. In these schools the psychological basis for the earlier introduction of subjects and courses ol instruction closely related to life s realities is frankly realised, with the result that a deliberately increased emphasis is placed upon exploratory manual, domestic and agricultural courses as the means of revealing special aptitudes to which purely literary studies formerly denied an outlet. It cannot be denied that New Zealand has lagged behind in the general application of this principle to the whole education system. RAISING THE LEAVING AGE. “All the witnesses examined by the committee on the question of the senool leaving age agreed as to the desuability from the educational point of view of raising the compulsory limit to 15. The New Zealand Educational Institute urged ‘that attendance be compulsory on all pupils, irrespective of attainments, up to the age of 15. Other authorities, including headmasters and school inspectors, concurred. From the educational point of view,states the committee, “the question of raising the age limit of compulsoiy attendance at school is closely bound up with that of the reorganisation of primary and post-primary education. It is indeed clear that if this limit bo raised to 15 it will be necessary to rearrange the curricula of the schools so as to provide suitable training for all children on the basis of attendance up to the age of 15. If the proposals for tlie reorganisation of the education system which are put forward in this report are carried into effect, there will thus be created a definite period of at least three years’ compulsory post-primary education —viz., from 11 plus to 15 years.” POST-PRIMARY EDUCATION.

Tlio committee’s references to tlie suggested intermediate schools for the determination of aptitude for further full-time education (for “continuers”), or for employment (for “leavers”), are somewhat extensive. Briefly, “the committee is not surprised that our elaborate system of post-pnniary schools, the cost of which necessarily falls upon tlie whole of the taxpaying public, thus fails to confer any corresponding benefit upon the children of one-half of their number. Tlio proposals recommended in' this report will, m the opinion of the committee, entirely revolutionise this state of affairs, and will ensure for all the taxpayers’ children a post-primary education in which the transition from one stage to 'another will be both natural and easy.

It is further of the opinion that by the adoption of the scheme proposed "there will bo made to disappear the last vestige of the objectionable social distinctions which have hitherto tended to divide those who have received a secondary education from those who have not, as well as those who have received an academic education from those taught in tho technical schools; for these two types will be brought under a single controlling authority, and in many, cases actually amalgamated.” Tho committee adopted, in principle, the conclusions recorded in evidence by the late Mr C. W. Garrard, chief inspector of schools in the Auckland Education district, regarding the success of tho differentiated type of experimental intermediate schools fepresented by the Kowhai Junior High School at Auckland, the Northcote Junior High School (Auckland), the Whangarei and Rotorua High Schools, and the Matamata District High School, each organised to suit the special circumstances and of its particular district. Tho further extension of the consolidated school as a means of improving the facilities for rural education on the lines of fully organised and wellstaffed urban schools is also recommended, both on tho score of economy and educational efficiency. The committee records the self-evi-dent fact that scholarships within a national system of free places form an anachronism and waste of money, and urges that these be abolished, the scholarship funds to bo available for grhnts in aid of necessitous children desiring to proceed, after due qualification, to higher courses in education. “AGRICULTURAL BIAS.” “An ‘agricultural bias’ is (in the opinion of the committee) essential to tlie vital needs of the Dominion. In furtherance of this policy it has become imperative that a fresh and definite orientation should be given to our educational curricula by the inclusion of agriculture as an integral subject of instruction in all schools; for it is of the utmost importance to the welfare and future prosperity of the Dominion that the city dweller and tho professional man should become, though not agricultural workers, at least agricul-turally-minded members of the body politic, thoroughly seized of the country’s dependence upon its primary industries and in a position as citizens and electors to take a sympathetic and intelligent view of its land-settlement and allied rural problems. “In any New Zealand educational marking scale agriculture should rank equally with tho highest-marked subject—Latin, French, mathematics, or

whatever it may be. In other words, it should occupy pride of place in the syllabus of all schools. In the same way, it will not do any longer to allot four or five hours a week to the study oi a foreign language,_ and only half an hour a week to agriculture, it- is suggested, for example, that in the secondary schools it might be taken concurrently with Latin for all non-Latin pupils, and for the same length of time. But, howevor it is arranged, the point is that agriculture should henceforth be a major a.id not a minor subject on tho time-table of all New Zealand schools—primary, intermediate and higher secondary.” ADMINISTRATIVE METHODS.

Perhaps the most important of the committee’s recommendations, from the point of view of education economy, are those relating to administrative reform. “The de lego provincial organisation of the New Zealand education system,” states the report, “has become wholly at variance with tho de facto existence of final authority to-day in the hands of the Minister and Department of Education. In other words, tho administrative power has followed the power of the purse; and the problem which tho committee has had to consider has been the discovery of some new and satisfactory method of organisation which will both fit the facts of national, and meet the legitimate desires of the people for local Control. ’ The committee itemises the points made bv the Director of Education (Mr T. B. Strong), concerning the gradual absorption, by the central authority, of functions previously exercised by local administrative bodies. These nationalised services include:— (1) The appointment of teachers must be in accordance with the national grading and classification lists. (2) Schools must bo staffed and salaries paid in accordance with a national scale. (3) There are no longer district scholarships, but national scholarships. (4) Allowances to school committees are now on a national scale. (5) The' boards have no inspectors of schools. The inspectorate lias been nationalised. (6) Grants for sites and buildings have been nationalised. Each _ application is dealt with on its merits irrespective of district. INCREASED COST. “As a concession to provincial sentiment,” says the committee, “these important transferences have not been accompanied by any changes in the original administrative system, which is still maintained as if the whole control of the service were as local as it was during the first twenty. years of its history. The total cost of educational administration has in consequence increased inordinately by reason of the fact that the increase in the staff of the central department neces-

sitated by the above transferences has not been accompanied by any corresponding reduction in those of the boards. This duplication lias now reached a point where the administrative cost of the New Zealand education system is practically twice as much per school pupil as that of the neighbouring States of Victoria and New South Wales. Comparative Cost of Educational administration in Australia and New Zealand.

partinent 134 6,671 1,147 3/6 “On the whole, there is no marked disparity either way between the education services of the Australian States and our own, or between the salaries paid to the teachers on either side of the Tasman Sea. It therefore becomes at once manifest that in order to preserve the appearance of local control New Zealand is really paying two educational administrators for every one employed in Victoria and New South Wales.” After a full review of the various aspects of the question, tlie committee came to tlie conclusion that the right course to adopt is “to transfer to the national department all those administrative and professional functions which have already become in effect, and which in its opinion ought to be by law, nationally administered; and to invest the local educational authorities with new and responsible duties and give them greater liberty of action within their own domain by revising the whole system of regulations with a view to their simplification and the removal of unnecessarily irksome restrictions.

EDUCATION BOARDS. “The committee is genuinely desirous that the boards should occupy a dignified and important place in the new system, and its recommendation that there should be a single educational authority within each area unit of administration is designed for this express purpose. It believes that the boards will find in the organisation and co-ordination of the schools within their respective areas a worthy and responsible task.” There are two special recommendations : t2 ~ The first provides for the continuance of the existing post-primarv boards as school councils for their respective schooiSj with this exception, that where a single board at present has control of more than one school a separate council will be set up for each school. The second relates to the creation of a unified inspectorate. “The committee is convinced that, as with tho local administration, so with the inspectorate, it is better to have a completely unified inspectorate than merely to unite the secondary and technical branches, and not include the primary. Under the new schedule of organisation it is proposed that there should be an inspectorial corps of specialist inspectors attached to each education district, and that they should inspect all the schools and all stages of education. Tho committee also recommends that each inspectoral corps should include a woman inspector.” Tlie committee did not overlook the question of the constitution of the new boards, which was raised by several witnesses. This, in its opinion, is a matter of detail upon which it is not prepared to make any recommendation; but as a basis for discussion it is prepared to suggest that each board should consist of five classes of members, viz., representatives elected by.— (a) Popular vote; (b) Local governing bodies; (c) School committees and councils; (d) The teachers; and (e) The representatives of agricultural and pastoral associations, and employers’ and employees’ associations recommended by those bodies for appointment by the GovernorGeneral in council.

FUNCTIONS OF THE CENTRAL DEPARTMENT. Tho committee recommends : That the powers and duties of the national department under the proposed scheme of reorganisation shall include the control of: (i) Administrative — (a) Native schools; (b) Child welfare branch ; (c) Distribution of capitation allowances, special grants and subsidies; (d) Payment of teachers; (o) Teachers’ Superannuation Fund; (f) Power to make regulations (1) requiring hoards to share services and officers where, in the Minister’s opinion such a course is desirable in the interests of efficiency or economy, and (2) to ensure that earmarked grants are applied to authorised purposes only. (g) Appointment of nominated members of boards. (ii) Professional — (h) Syllabus of instruction; (i) School certificates; (j) Inspection of schools: (k) Classification of teachers; (l) Appointment of teachers. That the allowances paid to school committees should bo increased and adjusted so as to provide adequate funds to meet essential requirements, and that subsidies on moneys raised locally for school purposes should be on a generous basis. TEACHING PROFESSION. The committee recommends tho merging of all three branches of the teaching profession into one, on tlie following basis: (a) That thero should be only one teachers’ register for the whole teaching service, (b) That a new salary scale be prepared covering the whole education service, with a view to the elimination of anomalies at present existing as between the primary, secondary and technical services, anil between men and women teachers; and that this scale should be based upon the principle of the payment of the teacher instead of the payment of the position, together with recognition of family responsibilities. (c) That tlie system of numerical grading hitherto in use in the primary service be abolished in favour of classification by inspectors in broad groups based upon teaching efficiency, (d) That tho appointment of teachers should be entrusted to a National Appointments Committee constituted in a manner similar to the present Teachers’ Grading Appeal Board, the system of an appointment to include provision for—(i) Preparation of teachers’ classified roll; (ii) preparation of an annual promotion list within each classified group, based upon inspectors’ reports, copies of which should be supplied to the teachers; (iii) appointment by national committee, which shall also have power to transfer, reasonable removal expenses to be paid in cases of compulsory transfer;' (iv) all appointments to be made in the same month of the year, with consequential appointmnts in the month following; vacancies then remaining to be filled by transfer, and sufficient permanent relieving staff 1,0 be maintained to fill casual vacancies

until next period of appointment; (v) right of appeal to Teachers’ Court or Appeal against (a) non-inclusion in the promotion list, (b) suspension, dismissal, reduction of salary, non-appoint-ment, or transfer to a lower-paid appointment. FURTHER SECTION IN PREPARATION. SPECIAL SCHOOLS OF DOMINION. (By Telegraph—Special to Standard.) WELLINGTON, July 15. When the chairman of the select committee on education presented the first portion of its report to the i»ouse of Representatives to-day the Leader of the Opposition (lit. Hon. J. G. Coates) asked if the Government would give a full opportunity for discussion. “I take it/’ he added, “that they are policy proposals.” 'the Prime Minister: It is the report of a select committee. Ido not know what is in it. The Prime Minister assured the House that the Government would give the fullest opportunity for a discussion and he would arrango it as soon as lie possibly could. Mr Coates: Take it after the Ad-dress-in-Reply. What is convenient to the Government means putting it off as long as possible. The Prime Minister: Not this Government. (Laughter). It is understood that the committee intends to report in a further Parliamentary paper on the special schools of the Dominion, the child welfare work of the Department of Education, and also the operation of the school dental clinics. An extension of time until August 15 was for its operations by the Minister of Education.

r T3 fi <.2 a D o P-4 o & Ph OS O a Victoria 2646 232,595 £ 46,766 4/ Queensland 1695 163,062 33,286 4/1 N.S.W 3472 328,966 87,720 5/4 N.Z 2799 252,517 117,826 9/2 N.Z. Native schools managed by de-