EDUCATION MATTERS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLV, Issue XLV, 9 February 1910, Page 7

EDUCATION MATTERS.

THK SCHOOL ISOV OF TO-DAY

There. are complainis in I-m o! in J, as well as in New Zealand, 1 hat I hi" school education of to-day is noi turning out as good a type of boy u-. formerly. Ask anyone-. says a Lom(j'oa journal, with a long exponent-'.' of bovs what he thinks of them thev 'iiow leave school. He will tc!! voir, they are less" stolid than tlu-y were wont to be, and prtbaoiy unintelligent, but .they are infinitely less reliable. TiiT'r ability to wid am! write and spoil is undoubtedly button it used to be:; they have a superficial knowledge. »f >»«■»}' Rlibji'l":: which is of iru practical use to th-m in the sphere wherein they aie ( J f stined to .move, and it they lfii\c ga.n----•xl sonvewhait alertness—by no rieaai-s alwavs the ea.se—they hav«* suffered in solidity of character so hi* •is it can be developed in a boy of r!. Mfs.'.iy of •vhem chafe at discipline; (lie views thev pat her in school v.'; 1 frequentlv unsuitable. having regard tn their home surroundings; tr.ev i,:;ve been mi'.le to understand lilti.' of .the calls to be made on them, on leaving '•eli.vol, and the result. _ from the em-pl o .ers' po.at of \iew, is unsatisfactory in the extreme. Here, then, is a fevu'e inditimchi, and t'n ,j opinion is bv no means an isolated one. When we come to examine Mio lad's knowledge -to see how far tins view is justified', what do we find? That substantially it is correct. The modern schoolmaster will not admit that children do not write and spell r IS well as formerly; seek the opinion, however, of old teachers, those with the experience e.f -(J y-un.-i, and yo i will find the employer, layman though he be. has not been tar wrong. He will tell you less was expect"cl from him during the school day, and ,lie result was an increased proficiency in t.he things he did. He could it'lwitir wrae wo.i. and had a fair knowledge of figures; but now ho is supposed' to know a little of so many subject .that tliei- is little tim, ; to leach hi in anything well.. And hotV has the boy .himself oecu ift'ected in M is outlook'? Frequen'tly Jie shri-u !;s •rum the thought ,;.f an occupation to .vhich a i-jiuner generation of boys looked with equanimity. It is litt<e jxaggerattion lo asserr 1 hai the m;.jority will prefer some commercial pupation on leaving school to an ;n----'luh'irial one. Especially is this noticeable in large towns. The glamour of an office, the bustle of a warehouse, uixi the freedom of a .messenger boy loom large in the boy s horizon. There iras been I it-tie to make for k! ea-d'in o- i ii his character, and the effect is traceable in his exp-essed widns. And even where pressure is brought to bear on him. and he is placed on! as an i..ppren?.ice. fnere is a re.stl2-.s-ness witliVn him which it is no ee.-e. task to. comba;.