SCHOOL SYLLABUS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 16 April 1907, Page 2

SCHOOL SYLLABUS.

DI^CUSPTON RY THE TOWN COMMITTEE.

"CRAMMING" THK CHILDREN.

After the routine I usineps hqd been concluded at the mf>et : ng of the Town Pc^ools Committee last pv'ninp, Mr Bisley rose and asked under whose care the children weie — the Committee's or the Board's. The ActHcj-Chni'man (the Rev. J. H. MficKenzie) said the children were rnder the Commi'tee's care. Mr Bisley said he had put the question to members of the Education Board — trree^of whom hadaiid the children "-pre under the Commit tee's care, and three that they were under the Board's rare. If the Committee ware the enreiakeis, 'hen it was the Committee's duty to see that the children were properly educated. A teacher nt one of the schools with 80 pupils had hersslf fa:d that she could not possibly do justice to the boys. In one school where the Thiid Standard was tanght the children read aloud perhaps once a, fortnight, ins f ead of every day, as they should. If more teachers were required the Committee should insist on having them. It was ridiculous to think that a woman could properly teach 80 children. Mr Boyes thoueht the children should be clas'ed off, and not rushed through the Standards. A teacher, under present conditions, had not the time to give proper attention to every child. Unless a child was parti ular'v bright, an! able t"> grasp a subject ft once, tl c parents had to become t! c teachers— at n : sht. Mr Condell Slid the Standard system was a eyftem of Ciam, and did not help, but hindered the smart child. He thought a teacher with 80 children in one Standard could do better than a country teacher who taught four or five Standards, The Chairman said the number of teachers wai fixed according to a scale laid down by the Department. The town schools had their full complement of teachers. He had long appreciated the difficulty mentioned by Mr Bisley, but they could not get away from the scale laid down by the Oovernment. The discussion then ended, no resolution being proposed.