Nelson Evening Mail TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 1924 AN INJUSTICE TO NELSON’S RISING GENERATION

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 8 April 1924, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 1924 AN INJUSTICE TO NELSON’S RISING GENERATION

— WE have liad occasion more than once lately to refer to the insufficiency of the grounds at the Colleges: to tiie fact that lack of space prevents the pupils having their due allowance of games and physical recreation. \\ e are entirely at one with the College Governors in their efforts to remedy this evil. It has long enough! been recognised by those interested in the welfare of our young people that education has many' sides, and that unless due attention is paid to all, it is incomplete and falls short of achieving what it should. Athletic games and sports are of great importance, and it cannot be too strongly insisted on that they have not only a physical but also a mental and a moral aspect, ( There >.s, we think, a tendency among educationalists to exaggerate the importance of school lessons and to undervalue the mental and moral aspects of games. A iiuman being is a very complex organism and the physical and mental are so closely and intimately interwoven that any sharply drawn distinction between the two must of necessity be largely artificial. The moral and spiritual are likewise so closely intcr-relatcd to the. other two that there can be no influence brought to bear on any one of them without influencing the whole organism. Thus it is that education should aim at developing all the faculties of the individual uniformly, not only for the sake of the faculty itself, but also for the indirect effect on the rest of the organism. Games and physical training are essential for the proper development of the body during the growing years of youth,' and for the maintenance of health when the body is mature. Ibis is an axiom which none dispute, but the psychological s ide of school games lias hardly rs yet come into its own in State-managed schools. In a general way it is conceded that, games have some value, but d is not yet sufficiently recognised that the physical training of hoys and gu!a is of such vital .importance lo the we! ’fare and happiness of the individual and of the nation ns is actually the case. In this respect the English and Scotch public schools lead the world, possibly , not from a purely scholastic point of vie* (though we are by no means sure that here also they do not, hold their own) but in turning out sound and healthy and self-reliant men and women. In all the British secondary schools, games play a very important part. We hardly need to dwell on the value of games in developing character, courage, self-reliance, honesty, self-control, endurance, discipline, good sportsmanship. These are jusi th e qualities which make for good citizenship, which no nation can afford to neglect- Those who direct secondary education in New Zealand appear to be taking a lop-sided view of their responsibilities. They crowd the curriculum ami. give or try to give a smattering of far too many subjects, and appear to think fhat they are furthering the cause of education by so doing. They forget that most of what is learned in classrooms at the secondary schools is useless in itself and soon forgotten what ever value it has is mainly as mental training —whereas the lessons of the. sports ground last a lifetime. We arc convinced, too, that the present school curriculum provides what farmers call an “ill-balanced ration.” To expect children in their early teens just when they are making their maximum physical growth to spend five hours a day irt close mental application at school, two hours’ borne lessons at night, together with, in the case of girls, possibly an hour or more of practise at the piano, is not giving the physical a fair chance. The Education Department in its efforts to raise the standard in school

subjects is" taking a serious respuiisi bilitv.

One tiling is quite certain at the present time. Most New Zealand towns are growing rapidly in size : most schools are growing: the vacant spaces in the towns are being built over: many schools have insufficient or unsuitable playgrounds. This is true of both primary and secondary schools. The need is greater in the secondary schools, but is none the less very important in the primary. We regard it. for example, as a grave reflection on the Department that a Targe and important school like the, Girls’ Central should be practically without ground for games. lL is also, perhaps to a less extent, a reflection on the local education bodies that they allow this to continue, without vigorous and continuous protest. The v.ellure o, our young people should properly he om first duty and take precedence of all .else. In* the ease of the Colleges we have I lie sad spectacle of two of the foremost schools of the Dominion with a history of over half a century (in the case of the Boys’ College) of proud achievement, in grave danger of drifting hack and not only losing their place but much of their usefulness because they lack space for games. Most of our readers well know the pitiable State of affairs. To see a section of the hoys trying to play cricket with the wickets, so close lo one another, is to make the hair of ihe spectator rise in apprehension. Much of their drilling is done in the public streets. From the winter games nearly a third of the hoys are cut off altogether. The girls have three tennis courts —one for each hundred girls. They need a dozen. T hey need u swimming bath. 'J hev need a hockey and sports ground. With mutters m this stale we cannot expect our Colleges to hold their place, and what is infinitely more important, we. cannot turn out our rising generation physically and mentally equipped as they should be. A correspondent recently assured us that the Minister and his Department der.lt with Nelson in a wise and statesmanlike manner and that their chief consideration is the best interests ot the children. After over 20 years of drift and neglect we may he pardoned for doubting whether the centralisation which lias grown up during that time is not. the greatest -nlamily which could have befallen the cause of true education in this Dominion.