EDUCATION.

Northern Advocate, 9 January 1920, Page 4

EDUCATION.

CATHOLIC IDEALS

THE QUESTION OF STATE ASSISTANCE.

The subject of Catholic education was dealt with in an outspoken manner by Archbishop O'Stn'a, at the opening ceremony of a new school at Levin on a Sunday afternoon. The new school, which is capable of accommodating 150 children, has been erected by the authorities of the Cathdlic Church in Levin. In his address to 'the large gathering present at the ceremony, His Grace said:— This fine Catholic school is in itself another sign of the progress of religious education in the Dominion. In every parish of this Archdiocese, we have now flourishing primary schools which can hold their own with any sehocxl in the land, not only in efficiency, but also in buildings and equipment. And all this because of the faith of our Catholic people in the cause of Christian education. For this sacred and patriotic cause our people are making many sacrifices, but these sacrifices are being already rewarded. And though we are being penalised and treated unjustly by the State in the matter of education, we are returning good for evil, and are conferring very substantial benefits on the whole community. Even those who would deny us our right to continue the injustice, have to admit this. In England it is recognised that the State has duties to the Catholics in the matter of education. A few' months ago the Minister for Education (Mr Fisher) announced that, as there were thousands of Catholic children receiving a good education in Catholic schools throughout the country, he had come to the conclusion that the Catholic elementary schools should have a grant and shou'id receive the same assistance as the other school.

This is only justice, but it is also an act of wise statesmanship. To increase the educational activities of a country should be the aim and object of its statesmen, and whenever influential bodies of men and women, such, for instance as the Cathdlic body, voluntarily undertake at their own expense to supplement the public system, which, for conscientious reasons, they do not use, I say whereever this is being done, an additional force on the side of the country's education is being created, and the task of the State is in reality being lightened.

Is it n&t stupid folly, then, on the part of everyone professing to work for the advancement of education to seek to hamper the educational activities of the Catholics or of any other body? Is it not foolish and nonsensical to cry out, as some, who ought to have known better, have been crying lately, that private schools and voQuntary effort are going to injure the public education of the country The fact is that State education should exist only to stimulate and keep other educational institutions up to the mark. This was the opinion of John Stuart Mill, who wrote these words:—"An education established and controlled by the State should exist, if it exists at all, as one of many competing experiments carried out for the purpose of example and stimulus to keep others up to a certain standard of excellence." And I might add myself, on the other hand, competing system of education are absolutely necessary to keep the State system of this country "to to a certain standard of excellence."

So you see hat, as long as the public education of this country or of any other country is being controlled and guided by people of such narrow and reactionary ideas, it will suffer and go back, even from a purely secular point of view. Nothing is more certain than this, as many of you will live to see and acknowledge. The attempt to do away with all competing systems of education is nothing else but a confession of weakness and a cry of despair.