ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

North Otago Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 5041, 21 December 1885, Page 2

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

| Within reasonable limits, and under recognised rules, onr columns aieopcn to everybody ; hut we wish it to bo distinctly understood that in no way do we indentify oursclvc3 with the opinions of correspondents, or with their methods or forms of expression.]

SECONDARY EDUCATION IN NORTH OTAGO. TO TUE EDITOR.

(Memo for the Hon. Robert Stou 1 ', Minister of Education.)

Sir, — What ia proposed is, not to destroy a school, bat to transfer one, in amendment of the educational constitution for tho locality, bo that the national establishment of education in the locality shall be fit to accomplish the purpose of its bain?. The transference of the achool may occasion somu loss ol the means which h3vo been thrown away in placing th 3 building where it dooa not and cannot accomplish the purpose, to provide for secondary education of tho people of tha locali:y. Bub the waste of means on putting the building iv a wrong placa ia the opposite of a good reason fur continuing through all time, by adhereuca to the wrong place, to waste ever ni'>re mean?, on not doiujf •he educitional wjik for which the endowment h -s boon set apirt. Tho required reform m»y cost s>me rut lay of the mams of e^ucition : tho I erpetuf-tion of the aline w>ulJ cost everything — tho education itself (See in this rnpmo. , head necjiul of Rmsdhj), Tho pirtie3 ciihug f.>r the proposed amendment of c>nstimtion are, not simply tho Olago B >arJ of Education, but Bubatantialty the whole population of North Ota/j >, tho true beneficiiries : as

represented, firat, by unanitnou3 resolution of Conference of D.-pusiea of Wsitaki County School Cunmittees alon^ with a majority of the Governors of Waifaki High School ; and second, by plebiscite of an overwhelming majority of houaeholdera in tha locality directly interested. Obj cting to tli9 j roposad amend monk ihere is not any one public body in town or counfry. Tlioao obj ictin^ aro only a very small minority, in the circumstances an astonishingly small minority, of individuals, who tuny have :ui intc-rjst in continumca of tie existing slate of thing 3, but who have no cl.iim

lo peculiar consideration, more than other men, in a q nation about the education of tho pouple at tho uafioa'a expense. It is not necessary to enquire into tho reason why tho Waitaki school was originally placed naifis- Tbe pat-.nt facl now is, that, after experience, the p r oposed amendment is called for, as " indispensable in the interest of secondary education," substantially by the wb.Qle mass of those legitimately interested in the secondary education ol the locality, whose secondary education is the one matter now in question.

First : Narrative. — When the Waitaki High School was set up, the Education Board thought it would be right to discontinue the work of secondary education in Oamaru District High School. This was objected to by t'ae people of Oamaru, on the ground that it would effectively leave them without accessible means of secondary education for their sons and daughters. The Board have thereupon agreed to support the District High School far two years, avowedly in the view that the Waitaki constitution ought io be emended so as to become a real provision for secondary education to the people of the locality. And now they have called a conference (printed minute of its meeting is herewith given in) of parties locally interested, witn'the chaiYman a.id two other deputed members of the Board, to consider a proposal for combiningfche two local high schools into one, so as to s.ive the nation the whol2 present cast of secondary' education in Oamaru, and at the same time g'reaiy 1 enefit rhe cause of secqtiuary education, both in Oamaru and m'iNorth' Ota»o at large.

The Board's unanimous reßolution to call that Conference was upon a representation (printed along with circular letter herewith given in) by one of its member^ to the following effect : ' The two years' penoJ h runnjog on to\yq.r'd 3 Close j a&d lor .the North OUgo people it

would be ur.6afe to assume that the nation Bhall always go on maintaining two big»Bcbools in »heir locality. The combined nigh School might, like the D.sti.ct High Schools under the Education Act, liseupon (he foundation of primal y instruction. There would thus acci ac to it the capitation crnnt in respect of that instruction. And thip, along with the Woitfiki revenue from national endowment, would suffice in rr epeot of mennn, not only to cany on the common eduotion rb in district l»i»h schools, nnd completely rolievo the nation of tho present cost of Beconda.y ertucilion in Oaraarn, but also and especially, lo maintain for North Otago as Well ro Oatnnra a first-class secondory education with two nideo, classical nnd O' imr.ercial ; which would bo conveniently situated for town and countty ; which -would be open to girls as well as to boys ; of wnich tho feo need not be higher thnn Ihe Otago District Hish School, L 2, while it might bo provided that pupils who pas* a high examination shall receive their education free ; t a prizj of honorable distinction. That representation was sent along with the circulnr letter (copy given in herewith) of invitation on the Board's behalf to a conference about combining the two schools into onn ; and was reppated on tho Board's behalf at the meeting of conference by the Board's local convener, when he was requested by the President (Chairman of Board) to explain tho purpo c of the meeting. Thereupon the Conference, alter full consideration, unanimously adopted the following resolution : "That in tho interest of secondary prlucatinn it is ludispensablo that the Waittki lU^h School be transferred to or near Oamaru under such a constitution as Parliament shall direct." Tho meeting was largely attended by de|Hi'iea of School Committees from every part of Waitaki County, which had all been invited to send representatives ono for every school ; and also by throe of tho Waitaki Governors, who had all boon invited individually. The Conference was thus exclusively and completely reprosen»n»ive of all the public interests of education in connection with the locality

Tho two Waitaki Governors who were not present nre nominoce of Ihe Colonial Government, and thus nre not representative locally, either of Waitaki or of Otago. The three who were present all expressed dissatisfaction with the existing Waitaki constitution, na unsuitable for the educational purpraa of the national endowment. One of them ia tho nomineo of the Education Board. Tho two otherß are tho statutory Governors of Waitaki High School / .■ oflicio, respectively a<? Mayor of O-imaru and Chairman <f Waitaki C unly Council. One of these (wo moved the resolution of Conference, "That in tho interest of Becondaiy educ:tion it is indispensable that the Wai'aki High School bo transferred to or near Oamaru ;" and all three are on the Committee of Conference appoinied to take Btepajn accordance with that unanimcus rpsolution. Mr Hislop's name wob loft out by mistake until D c. iMh. (Copy newspaper report of Conference meeting herowith given in). The cil.'zens of Otmaru, it was intimated by the Board* local convener, h*d previously spoken for themselveß about the ex'sting Wait.-.ki constitution, at a Mrles of public meetings regularly convened in connection with the proposed digrntement of their District High School. In unanimous resolutions, repeatedly laid by them before tho Education Board, they had thcici declared that, while for tho town and district ib io vitally important to have 8c r ">nda!y education within easy reech of both eexes and all clokppc, this is not provid. d for by Wiitnki Ui?h Sohool as now constituted, inBpmuch ns (1) it makeß no oroviabn for girls, nnd (2) the provision it rrakes for boys is by distance and high fec3 put practically beyond reach of those who are not of the comparatively wealthy clna*. The deputies nf Counly School Ci-n-rnittoce, who spoke strongly in favor of tho proposed changp, specified two grievances os peculiarly afft cling the people f f country dlstric's in consequence of the existing state of things. (1) On the ono hand, when their children have passed tho Oh standard at tho common school, they aro kept from Fending them to Oaraaru District High School by an impression that, with the disadvantages under which it labors in cmncc'ion with tho oxis'ing 6tate of thince, the secondary education in it cannot be really thorounh and exact. Thus, the seconder of the resohrioii of conference feola it necessary to rend his daughters to Dunedin. (2 ) On tho other hand, the Waitaki Hi»h Bchool, with its closed door lor girl- 1 , cannot be attended by their boys in that situation, ! t they could attend a school situated in Oamaru, going to it m tho morning, and returning home from it in the evening. Thia complaint was corrol orated by the Mayor, who said that to his knowledge the Waitaki School might for country people as well have been in Dnnedln. The Committee of Conference, at its first meeting (November 14) unanimously resolved to take a plebiscite of the educational constituency on tho (nbove) resolution of Conference. Consequently residpntors of gjod standing in tho variout districts were appointed for all the county of Waitaki to lay beforo householders a pnper (c py given in herewith) whis') cotitaina simply that resolution, with a provision for signing either "Yes" or "No" to it, and a provision for attesting on every page tho genuineness of householder signatures on that page. To those in charge of papers there was sent a printed memo, of insl ructions (copy given in herewith), the first of which is, "1 What is wanted is np honest plebiscite of tho educational constituency ; and for that purpoee it is essential that all hou3O holders alike should be visited, and every ono rr^ueafod to put down his name according to his own mind, whether it be for " tfia" or f.»r "No." A.i attempt hn been mado through the local press (articles eiven in herewith) to prevent the people of the locality from signing. This may be significant of the kind of support on which tho existing constitution is felt

to ro dependent by thoso who foel an m interest in managing it. Otherwise, so ' f.ir as appears, the attempt has not had any nppreciahlo result. At the committee meeting of December 5 h the reports from the various diatricts had not been all given in as completed. But the proceßß had gonu far toward completion. And tho result, pb nppcaring from the reports which had como to hand, was in sura, that only a very email proportion of householders — ptrhnps 5 per cent — hod declined to sign either " Yes " or "No ;" that mcro than 90 per cent of the signatures were for " Yes ;" and that the bulk of those for "No" are from about Tyne o'reet and tho neighbourhood ef Waitaki JJigh School. The remaining reports are not likely to be less favorable to the proposed change. On {) h Docerober the sum f f reports come to hand was found to he — Tntol household signatures, 770 ; "Y. s," 7(0;" No," 01. Of the " Noes," 23 were frcm the neighborhood of Waitaki High School, and 1G from about Tyno slrW. Reasons given for not signing either

" JTcs" or <'No" had been : People did rot know about the matter, did pot care ab.ut it, tilt precluded (c.V/ , Calholjcs) from meddling with it. And already the patent fact, now definitively made dear,

is, that Jhe chance is fftl'ed fbr by nr overwhelming majority of the educational ronntitiwncy, se well as by the unanimous Conference of represantatives. Second. Rar-ons — On b half of the existing s'ato of things it hpi not, so far tn known, been oron alleged that the school as it stands cither does or can serve fie practical purposes, to educate the you h of the locality. An orderly statement, therefore, of refons ageinst tho existing constitution, has to ho prefaced with a protestation, that this doea not imply that any real renona a r e or can be rMe^cd in faror of it 1. The existing constitution is detrimentally anomalous in tho educational establishment of this country. From other schools of tho same type, high schools under bonrds of governors, it differs in various resprc's, always for tho worse, alwayß to the disadvantage of sr condary education in the iccUity directly interested. Thus : (1) Here alono a Mjl) school of this type cimasinto competition with another national high school; competition which, in a community so small, must be injurious to the real Interest of education, because it makes forces to be conflicting which ought in that interest to be conspiring. (2) Here alone, in a national institution for secondary education of the peop'e, there is no provision for girls. Dunedin has a distinct high fchool for girla. At InTorcargill the distinct provision for girls wnn sot on foot b fore that for boyß. In Waitaki alone there is no provision for girls; nor, we are informed, c<n thero bo any— it is simply out cf their power in the eiis'iuj; ■tate of things. (3) Hero alone a echool, intended for the people of the locjliiy, is so plbced, away from the local centre of population, ns to be practically inaccessible to many in the country diatric's ai well as in the town. A number of boys ride to and from the ecbool, and hardy boys can walk. But the uphill work thus imp'ied is a heavy drawback to the actual education for which the school is eudowed by the nation. And we hare it in evidence that for thoso d'stricts the difficulty of acc.-ss operates as effect/. e exclusion f'om the echool (4) Here, for

those not thus excluded, the f~e i 9 exceptionaily heavy, in a locality whe*e there may not be one familj abie to pay high fee for ten or a hundred such famili'3 in Dunedin. Even in Dunedin

the fee is only LB, whilo the education is free for every pupil p^£3 : ng an exerrination with 50 per cent of marks. In Timnru it vj only six guinea?, and in Wai mato it is only L 2. Here it is ten guineas, with no provision for girls, and a situation difficult of access. In short,

it seems as if the problem in view had been, how not to educate the people. 2. The school ai now constituted doea not nnd ceinot serve the purpose of the endowmenf, na'ion-I education of the people, but rather tends to frustration of that purpose. While the endowment h national, the constitmion in effect makes the fchool to be sectional. In working reality it is not a public school for all, but a private school for the wealthy or ambi

tious few ; natively tending to foster the prejudices of a social caste in what ought to be as a juvenile republic of letters Pprenta who choose lo send thr.ir children to a private school ought to be allowed to do bo. But it ought to be at their own expense : the private school ougnt not to be supported by national endow ment. National endowment ot a private school does not eductte the children, but relieves the parents at the public expense of the cost of their children's education.

In addition to the ten guinea fee, the cost per pupil to the nation in Waitaki school as now constituted has been variously estimated at L7O, LSO, L"3, Lls a 3'ear — variation suggesting a call for enquhy. Last year the endowment had to be supplemented by a par-

liampntary grant of Lsi ), about thrice the whole yearly co9t of secondary education in Oamaru District High School. And all that ou 'ay Is for the nation simply waste, It confers no really educational advantage on anyone. The real education obtained in Wailaki Schoo' does not result from the heaviness of the fee or the difficulty of accass. Tho sirae education, or better, could ba far more easily obtained if the school —ere placed in Oamaru, and made really opon for all, with a f c less than a fifth of the W itski ten guineas. Thus, the mover of the resolution of conference a Waitaki Governor, whose boyß attend Waitaki School, in advocating the proposed change avowedly spoke both as a parent and ?u a friend of the education of the community.

The ono diat'nc ivo positive result of the ex : b ing constitution is thus, not education but isolation, separating one section of the cinr>munily from the whole — a result thus broadly contrasted with

hat of national universities, which draw

the variouß cjissesof society into one life A id while thus positively useless for national education, the existing constitu-

lon makeß Wail-kl School to influence

that education detrimentally. That is, by weakening, discrediting, threatening with extinction, the District High School,

in which alone there is secondary education really nee sible to the sons and daughters of the people. Unfair cimpetiiion with the people's only school, through national endowment, and preßtige which results from misdirection of that endowment, drawing aTay the pupils of the UT're wealthy or ambitious clans, this, relatively to tho national education of the people, is the only practical result of that constitution which it is proposed to amend.

3. The misdirection pf the endowment involves, to the true benbfic'arioa, b great loss of educitioml privilege and benefit, which would result from the proposed '•raondmont, in addition to saving the nation the n'esenfc coat of secondary education in Qamaru. The proposed pmendment would make the endowment, now misdirect d to the sup port of a cl»«i school for the wealthy or ambitiou«, to reaph its real destination — the aepondary education of the whole community desiring it. On the excellent subsoil of the primary instruc'lon, the secondary education could be seonred of the best Cjiialily, with a completeness of teaching apparatus and thoroughness of grada'ion that c-nnot ba hoped for in ail her high school apart. A combined high Bchool, with the prestige of being tho one

great lisiht of secondary education in

North Olago, and the facilities of access to both sexes at an esßy rate of fee, wou'd attract an attendance as large as

the population nil! eO'ord, including those

who may be kept away from the ono echool by impre:. -.ions regarding disability in coiißCquencta of disadvantages, and exe'uded from tho other by obstae'rs of situation and cost. And the blending of various ranks in the generous fellowship of a really national high rchool would, as in the national universities, liberalise the rising generation of all ranks into a community of citi'z nship, Instead of hardening and narrowirg into castes. The lcis of these great advantagaa to the community te a result of the constitution which it is proposed to amend. It therefore is worse than idle to say, in dcfoDce of that constitution, that a number of boys are receiving a good education at Waitaki. They could be receiving as good an education at a private echool not endowed ly the nation, or at a public school really accessible to the people of the natjon in the locality. Ti.e maiutenance of a class eohool for the wealthy few

may be desirable to sorae IndiTiduals. It ia not desirable to the nation that that ehould be a' <hu cost of losing aubsfcantlally the wlio'e advantage of aecondarj education of the people of the locpMty, contemplated I y the national endowment ■et apart i-i the locality. ! The qu?atioa thuu appeals to be, not simply whether the propsed change would not improve the constitution for the ru r poao of aeenndary education of tho people ; but, whether the change is not nn n oeßfai/ in order that ihere be any real secondary education by the means which the nation hn set apart for that end ; or, whether a pilyate achool for the few, ot the instance of a yery small minority of indiTidaalo, io to absorb the national endowment, against the declared mind of substantially the whole eductional con stiiuency, ard the unanimous voice of the representative Conference of publicly ■ rusted edueation'Vi.

James Macgregor. Onmsro, 10th Dec, 1885 Tho substance of what wr<« read, and "gmerally approred," at the committee meeting, Decamber sth. — J.M.