EDUCATION COMMISSION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVII, 15 July 1912, Page 2

EDUCATION COMMISSION.

NELSON EVIDENCE. RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. In a statement Forwarded fby the Rev. J. H. M. Maclvenzie, ex-chairman -of the Neison school committee, he advocated th? abolition oi' boards and committees and the substitution' for them <'l' a system under which the • teaching staff, ■equipment and inspectors would be controlled by a central authority, leaving to the local bodies the provision oF school sites, buildings, and upkeep. He considered that the national system would be safeguarded From the dangers of <lenominationalism if a clause recognising indirectly the Nelson system of BiLle teaching in schools were introduced in the Act? to this effect: the provisions of i laus-e 143 (b), any committee. under a board, which prescribes that the teaching time shall exceed £0 hours ;por week, shall be at liberty to reduce this excess of time by hal t-an-hour per week when requested to do so citizens wishing to give religious instruction.''

THE SYLLABUS. POINTS TO BE WATCHED. Miss-. M. Lorimer, principal of the Nelson Girls' College, agreed that the primary school syllabus was a- good and up-to-date one. but it needed for its interpretation much higher teaching ability and a broader and more intelligent out look oil the part of the teacher than Sufficed' for the syllabus and system it superseded. The old system certainly gave a, certain glibness of expression, because it was largely book knowledg? poured in in readiness for being poured out at examination time, but the observational faculties were trained haHdy at all and originality was not encouraged. In arithmetic, for instance, the new syllabus had reduced the amount of work and encouraged more rational methods, but still further reduction wou':l be an improvement. The general resuit of the new system had been in the direction of developing all the powers of the child. The secondary syllabus was built up on that of the primary school and she considered it would b? advantageous to eliminate some of the arithmetic no-v taught, especially in the case of girls. At present girls spent hours in wrestling with problems of no possible use to them •and the time so occupied could bs miu'n better spent over English, or history, <-•' some ,more humanising subject. T]~ work of primary and secondary schocl: should l>e better correlated, but primarv schools should not be regarded as merel;, preparatory to the secondary schools, a c very many pupils never passed to thr latter. There was no reason ■ why the primary work should be especially modi tied to fit in with the secondary, worShe thought there ought -to ib-e some uniformity of method in teaching arithmetic between the two classes of schools. Ira reply to question Miss: Lorimer said that the.colonial, accent had becom more pronounced in. recent years, ai:.' some : special means had to be adopted t- • correct it;-v She thought it most desii ,,th?vt ; arrahge'ipe.ntsi shpu'd ; .-'b made", for the "proper training*. of second •ary teachers. Instruction in sex physi* ology came best from the ;parents, bir failing this specially qualified msdlcr.' instructors should do the work. MR H. L. FOWLER,

PRINCIPAL OF NELSOiN COLLEGE. Speaking of the primary school syllabu.' Mr. Fowler said he considered it an excellent one, well adapted to its avowed purpose of training the pupil to observ \ and reason, and gf bringing his school work into clos3 relation with life. At th: J same time, there was no doubt that i demanded too much' in the way of ex perience and adaptability in the ordinal', teachers to be altogether a success ii operation. While the English com.posi tion was on the whole better than it use;' to be, there was a tendency to omit ever the small amount of formal grammar tha: was making the progress of tin,', pupil. .liiorg-"' difficult'than "it need be ii: the early stages of Latin. French, or other language that he took up. o:, join ing a secondary school. The institution in geography had become more inter.est.ing, but there was a smaller residue o. actual knowledge than o ns would expect : History, which was of the utmost valu .in developing a. sane and enlightened patriotism, appeared to be tin justifiably neglected. ■ In these subjects in particular a great deal o£ the work had. to 'be done again, so that there was in Fact sonv. overlapping. Pupils were eligible for admission to a secondary school after passing the Fifth Standard, at which point they 3 had reach cd a fairly definite stage of attainment. . the syllabus of the Sixth Standard beiim to a- great extent a continuation anr ■ amplification of what had', g-one before He was of opinion that ttie woi\k of th< Fifth Standard, if, thoroughly mastered ' was a sufficient foundation on which t< base a. secondary course, arid' would there ! "fore' suggest that free places might b granted in this Standard, •either on th results of an examination in the more im portant subjects, as was the case wit! the existing Proficiency certificate, or on the recommendation of the Inspector, after consultation with the headmaster. It was. essential to the success of thisi scheme thai the test should..be a, strict! one, and, if the proposed Council o'j Education were adopted, provision woijk ' n 0 doubt also sbe made for uniformity i> the interpretation of the regulations re lating thereto. * • . The principal advantage to be gainer would bs that the secondary school.would - obtain \ their promising* pupils ; year earlier, viz, at the age of 13, instead of 14, the,average age at which the/Sixth standard was passed. Having obtainet them younger they would in many case?also keep them longer than they woul<" otherwise have stayed. This would re suit in an appreciable lengthening of th-f secondary school life, which was still d? plorably short —under three years—and make it easier for parents to keep then children at school till they reached the standard of the matriculation examine-t-ion, which was not only required by the university, but also served as a prel'imin aiy examination for the profession's, these who preferred to let their children pass through the Sixth Standard could take advantage of the free place reo-ula-''Cn/Lfollowing year. An arrangement of this kind, would, moreover, obviate much of the overlapping that had been complained of. free education was so freely granted was not the same need for scholarships the funds for which might well be used in assisting country children to come to the chief centres of education. Mr. Lowler then proceeded to give an account of the curriculum of the Collet, describing the three courses, professional commercial, and agricultural, with details of the last-mentioned, apd some intoimation about the new science building in course of erection. .u 1 ! 1 r *V? ly tQ motions Mr. Fowler stated that all profits from the boardiii"-estab-lishment went to the College : that he did not. favour the intervention of any local authority bsw-een the College Governors and , the Education Department ; and thai he did not believe in the total abolition of examinations, ha vine found by experience that an examination now and again had a . good effect in keeping hoys up to their work.