JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 7 September 1926, Page 6

JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS

STRONG SUPPORTER MR FRANK MILNER ADDRESSES AUCKLAND ROTARIANS (By Telegraph—Special to Mail). AUCKLAND, This Day. Speaking to the Auckland Rotanans to-day, Mr .Frank Milner ofiWaitaki gave an address on modern, education a<nd incidentally- made a strong plea, in favour of the Junior High School system. This system, said Mr Milner, might he criticised on the grounds of expense, but On the score of principle, its position was impregnable. The speaker quoted American as well as English authorities in support of this view. The ex-Minister of Education (Sir James Parr) had given this new development in education his parting benediction, but Southern papers had hinted that his successor was opposed to it. From his personal observation, lie (the speaker) could speak of the inestimable advantage of having a junior school as a connecting link between primary and secondary schools. The junior school proposals had been criticised from various standpoints, but he made it clear that tjie policy to be .adopted provided for harmonious blending of the various factors needed in an educational syllabus. It was nearer to the practical than had been- the case in the past. Dealing with the financial side, Mr Milner admitted that the present was not an opportune time lo emphasise the necessity for spending money on education, but he emphasised the fact that if New Zealand was to lake its rightful place in the world, it could not he parismonious over the education of the young. Denmark spent one-sixlh of its revenue on education, New Zealand one-eighth.