Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 1928 NELSON'S PART IN EDUCATION

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 14 January 1928, Page 6

Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 1928 NELSON'S PART IN EDUCATION

THE holding in Nelson, during the present week.'of the N.Z. Teachers' Summer School, walls the part which Nelson played in founding and developing New Zealand's system of compulsory ami free education which lias been described by distinguished foreigners as the finest system of primary education in the. world. That system emanated in part from the plan of education devised by the Nelson School Society in 1842, in promoting which the chief credit is given by unanimous consent to the late Matthew Campbell, a Nelson citizen whose mem-

cry every good Nnlsonian honours wholeheartedly. The'Bishop of Nrlson paid him it tribufJn in his interesting address this week. Campbell's Schools, as they were popularly palled, were established in Nelson, 1842—attended by 120 pupils in Wakefield, 1843; Spring 4 5; Stoke, 1845; Waimea West, 1846; Richmond, 184 G; Waimea East, 1848; Hiwaka, 1848, in which year the total number of pupils attending the schools was 422--not a bad beginning, in a colony of a few thousand souls-. There' it- a pretty pen-picture drawn by the lato Sir Francis Dillon Bell (father of the present leader of the Legislative Council) of the Annual School Examinations and Feast, held in 1849, in connection with the Nelson School Society's, scholars. Sir Francis Bell was at that time Resident Agent of the N.Z. Company, and was asked to preside over thepleasing ceremonies. He says: "From early morning lines of crowded carts came down the Waimea road, covered with green boughs and flowers, and each carrying a distinguishing flag; and it seemed, indeed, as if every cart in the settlement had been engaged in the service, which was almost literally the fact. As they passed along, a. dozen or more in line at once, filled with young children, singing gaily in chorus, many a linensight in the world would have given less pleasure. In the middle of the day, when they had all arrived, the children assembled on the green, and formed into a, procession to tho booth, which had been fitted with an amphitheatre of benches one above the other, and most tastefully decorated with flags, inscriptions, and flowers; the letters in some of the inscriptions being ■ made with cherries, which delighted the little folks as they passed, and saw the treat that was designed for them. "Nearly all the adult population of the town was assembled at the booth, and as everybody, including the children, had on Sunday clothes, and appeared bent on being gay and merry, the scene looked more like one of the delightful' fetes in France, than one of J tho sedate English rejoicings. . . I was honoured by being called upon to preside over the. assembly and examination; and during a couple of hours of questioning in various branches of elementary knowledge by the clergymen of the place, by Mr Jollie and other gentlemen, and by myself, tho children acquitted themselves, on the whole, excellently well. They were afterwards addressed by several gentlemen with words of advice and praise. The girls were on this half of the benches, and the boys on that, and as "their favourites ,among the speakers ceased speaking, upwards of a thousand httle hands would applaud with all their might. A great number of songs wero sung by them in chorus, keeping time surprisingly, considering that they had learnt the songs at different and fardistant times and places; and now and then they all waved their hands together backwards and forwards, so that the effect, was greatly heightened. "After the examination was concluded, they were regaled with a ■ substantial meal and with fruit, which .was most gladly contributed by all who had any, and were asked for it. In no other settlement in New Zealand could such a scene have taken place at the end of 1849; so pleasing, so hopeful, so encouraging." "In no other settlement in New Zealand"—because in no other settlement did'there exist such a school system ! Campbell's schools were a great success. But upon the establishment of the Provinces, in 1854, one- of the first things which tlie Provincial Council of Nelson did was to give its attention to the creation of a system of primary education by the State.. It set up a Commission "to enquire into and consider' what system of primary education would be best for the; Province to adopt." The, Commission consisted of Dr. Greenwood, Dr. Monro (afterwards Sir David Monro and Speaker of the House of Representatives), Mr Charles Elliott, Mr Wells, and Mr F. A. Weld (afterwards Sir Frederick and Prime Minister of New Zealand). After much deliberation and prolonged discussion on the question —"On what basis should the Education System he built?" —the Commission laid down.the principle, "That as every settler was to be called upon to pay for its support, what-1 ever his religious opinions might be, the basis on which the scheme ought to'rest must in equity be a secular one." This decision caused Mr Weld to resign from the Commission, which continued its work without his assistance, and in due course, rendered its report to the Provincial Council, in 1856, created the Nelson Education System, in conformity with that Report. Under that System j the Province was divided into Education Pistr*ts, each District having its own Local Committee, and each Local Committee returning a member to the Central Board. "The Board," we are told, "was composed of heterogeneous elements, but its actions wore, as a rule, directed by a spirit of fairness and justice. The Anglican Bishop, the Catholic priest, the Wesleyan clergyman, and the freethinker, all found, places on the Board, which included, indeed, persons of all shades of religious opinions and of no such opinions at all, and several men of liberal education and broad and liberal culture, together with plain farmers and sturdy mechanics who, without much book-learning, were gifted with strong common sense. There, was very little friction, for the spirit which animated the Board as a. whole was a determination to administer the Act as benevolently as possible."

"There are few things which' such of the Nelson settlers as have reached middle age regard with more prfrfe than tin! Nelson Education Scheme/' says Judge liroml, in his History of Nelson. 1892, ti> which, we are indebted for most. .>!' (he facts in this article. "Nor is this feeling altogether without- justification. It was no small achievement that a few thousand colonists, thinly scattered over a vast extent of country, should, without, any extraneous help or' guidance of any kind, have devised a system that, owing to its admirable simplicity and liberality, fully satisfied the needs ot the community for which it was intended, during nearly a quarter of a century." When, in 1877, the New Zealand Education -Act was passed, the

Nelson system was merged into the Colonial system, but the latter was professedly based on tho former. However, whereas the former provided for tho maintenance of denominational schools by means of the payment of head-money by the Provincial Government, tho national scheme provides for no such payment. "Those who have been brought up under the older system," says Judge Broad, "still regret tho simple and elastic provisions that have been superseded by the complex and rigid regulations that now encumber by their help the cause of primary education." Whether that is so or not, it is quite clear that in the Nelson Education system is to be found the model on which the present National system was based, and that the former was based op the system evolved and put into operation by tho Nelson School Society, with the help of that remarkable man, Matthew Campbell. Nelson is proud of its educational traditions, proud of its College, but proudest of the fact that it was the educational pioneer which New Zealand has followed with results which have been of the greatest national importance.