THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 1889.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 9321, 26 March 1889, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 1889.

How is it that " uneducated" men, as they are called, have generally stronger memories and a firmer grasp of the subjects they take in hand than those who pass through colleges and .schools'? We say called uneducated, because as a matter of fact and experience such men, rude perhaps in manner and coarse perhaps in expression and in taste, are often better read and their minds better informed than those who have been trained in universities. Can it be that we misuse the term education as a rule? Does it consist in cramming little brains to bursting point, ruining the health and destroying the stamina of lads and lasses, making them laboriously learn things for which they have no natural taste, and sending out those who survive the process as j mostly prigs, full of conceit, having J the shallowest acquaintance with science ! or anything else, and dignifying that acquaintance with the name of knowledge ? With the observing faculties neglected and the thinking powers deadened and dull, we send them forth to take part in the " glorious progress " of this wonderful century. They may be profoundly ignorant of history, but they will be only the more dogmatic on the politics of their own country or any other. They may be innocent as children of the doings of other men and other nations, but will pose without hesitation as oracles in improvement societies, and take part with perky selfconfidence in the enlightenment of fel-low-citizens and the world at large. These reflections are suggested by reading the very matter-of-fact report of our, Education Board published in last Saturday's Herald. The report deals only with the administrative functions of the Board. It throws no light on vexed educational questions, nor does there seem to be any authority in *■ any part of the Colony whose duty requires him to do so. It is pleasant to learn that 146 pupils attend the Free Night Schools, and most cheering' to hear that 39 schools teach science " with experimental apparatus," by which the attention of the pupils must at least be fixed, and their powers of observation and concentration be developed. Drawing is being generally taught, and a more useful subject, especially free hand and mechanical drawing, could not be found. But we are not quite sure that "elementary science" unaccompanied with experiment is of much use. We are half , afraid that by puffing up the pupils with the idea that they are really acquiring knowledge it may even do them harm. Cram is the curse of modem education, and cram is inevitable if a mere superficial acquaintance with a large number of subjects is required from our youth. The University far surpasses our free schools and is the greatest of all sinners in this respect. At present there is no authority in New Zealand, general or local, to inspect our system as well as our schools, and to report upon it in the h i aspects. This is done by the superintendents of public instruction in many of the States of America. But these superintendents are not mere official inspectors. They are Inspectors elected by the people, and their duty is to watch vigilantly, and in all its phases, the progress of public instruction within their districts. The report of the Board deals entirely with administrative matters. This, with a Board which must have the character of .a mere official bureau, is quite fitting. There are 254 schools in the province, 637 teachers, and 17,640 pupils. Other similar matters of administrative detail are given at length, and will have been read by those curious in such matters. New schools are being constantly required in the outlying districts, and the funds at the disposal of the Board are quite unequal to meet the demand. Educationby which we mean the training of the observing and thinking powers and the development of the higher moral faculties —is indispensable in a country desiring to rule itself, and not to consist of a mass of ignorant, passionate, and easily-excited animals ruled by more cultivated classes. We find by the report that the Board in Auckland had at their command no less a sum than £83,928, which they have spent during the past year. This great sum is raised from the general taxpayer by the Government, and placed at the Board's disposal with practically no responsibility on its part, How mad we should deem the people in Peru or any other place if they managed affairs in this way ? If the general Government is to raise all the money surely they who are responsible should also spend it. Not that we regard such a course as at all the best, for we believe that education would flourish more soundly if its control and responsibility were made broadly local. What reason is there why large, well-defined districts should not manage their own education, control the endowments, and contribute towards the cost ? It is quite certain that the general Government has only been able to pay, as it has done, out of borrowed money. That is a resource now exhausted, and who is to direct the administration and who to find the money are questions that will soon become pressing, We hear that the Government are taking them in hand, and that next session a Bill will be introduced that will embody several important changes in the education system, It is proposed, in the first place, to abolish Education Boards. We do not believe in any body which has the expending of money which it does not have the task of raising by taxation, but to abolish Boards would tend to destroy the localism of the system, to centralise the administration, and to make it more bureaucratic than it is at present. The question will undoubtedly be raised whether the system would not be better worked, and more cheaply worked, by the Boards having imposed on them the duty of raising .the money. We believe it would then be carried on at half the cost, and so the property tax could at once be abolished. The Bill will also propose that deductions shall be made from the salaries of teachers so as to form retiring allowances. This also has its dangers. It would undoubtedly have a

of the teaching class It SIS proposed that there should be ««££: J? tions," so that the moat iw^ bl " scholarship boys should £& through a course of University S 0n In any case the most watchful eve?nn g : be kept on such measures, for the V 8t Public School has become and m*? continue to be the corner-stone off foundation on which are buih e whole structure of setf-govern °Y and on which depends 2? fc { equality without which self -gov?™'f 1 is impossible. government