The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 1869.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IV, Issue 200, 26 August 1869, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 1869.

In a country governed as New Zealand is, where the electoral privileges are so large, and where men of every class may, aod do successfully, aspire to seats iu the Legislature, "there can be no question of more vital interest to the community at large than that of educating the rising generation. When we reflect that in their hands must ere long be placed the destinies of the colony, and that the use or abuse of the large powers eu trusted to them must to a very great extent, if not wholly, depend upon the training they receive in their early youth, we must all allow tbat this is a subject to which it is impossible to attach too much importance. In Nelson we have adopted a system of education which has worked exceedingly well, and which has received a well-earned meed of praise from many of thejeading men in the neighboring provinces, and we have now before us the lately published report of the Inspector of Public Schools for the year 1868-69 on which we propose to offer a few remarks. On the whole, the report may be consisidered satisfactory, but there are certain drawbacks which we sincerely trust we may see remedied by the time the next report is written. For instance, under the head of " Reading," we find that although " the number of scholars above twelve years old has increased by nearly 100 ? there is a slight falling off in the number of readers marked ' good,' as compared with last year." If, as we take it to be, our object in educating children is, not merely to cram their heads with a certain amount of knowledge, but to create a taste, and to afford them facilities, for acquiring information as they grow older, then this falling off in " by far the most important branch of an elementary education" is a matter of serious importance. " Writing," we are told, " is on the whole better taught than reading," and it is deemed noteworthy that the schools where writing is taught almost entirely by means of copyheads set by the masters continue to excel in penmanship. In arithmetic and geography, the Inspector repovts great improvement, and has every reason to be satisfied with the progress made by the scholars. There appears to exist great difficulty with regard to teaching history, owiug to the impossibility of procuring such works as will suit all denominations ; Mr Hodgson, however, " after making ample allowance for unavoidable shortcomings, considers it desirable that children of eleven or twelve should learn something of the outlines of English history at school; that they should be put in possession of the more salient points, and be furnished with a few pegs, in the shape of dates, to hang an ampler clothing of facts upon." We entirely agree with Mr Hodgson in the protest he raises against the "needless prodigality with which prizes are showered upon the scholars." Our own school experience has convinced us that any benefits which might otherwise arise from the system of granting prizes are entirely lost hy too great a liberality in their distribution. The feeling*that the mediocre and even care? less pupil maybe rewarded equally with the most deserving, both encourages the idler in his idleness, and disheartens, the more painstaking scholar.

I There is one more portion of the report, ! which we cannot allow to pass without remark. Referring to certain alterations in the school management, which he had recommended twelve months since, Mr Hodgson now says: *' It'ts -disheartening to have to report that the lapse of auother year has brought but little improvement in either respect." Prom this we infer that the Local Qorfmiittees have not required the teachers in their various districts to carry out the plans suggested by Mr Hodgson, and this certainly appears to be a very great mistake. Of all men, the Inspector, from his position and experience, should best know wbat is most likely to tend fo the success of our educational system, and we caunot think that the Local Committees are acting wisely in ignoring his suggestions. The concluding paragraph of the report refers to the number of scholars, and the average daily attendance, and it certainly is a matter of congratulation to find that four hundred names have been % added to the roll, the number now being 3078 against 2678 in the previous year, and that the per centage of ! regular attendants (sixty-seven) is so much larger thau is the case either in the neighboring proviuce of Canterbury, the colony of Victoria, or the home country, where the averages are forty -four, fifty -seven, and fifty-six per cent, respectively. "These figures," says Mr Hodgson, " will serve to show how far the complaints made, not only by opponents of our system, but occasionally by the teachers themselves, that the children attend school with extreme irregularity, are well founded."