THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, MAY 28, 1907. IMPERIAL EDUCATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13499, 28 May 1907, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, MAY 28, 1907. IMPERIAL EDUCATION.

The evolution of the Imperial idea in every, phase of public life is the most marked ; feature of the Twentieth Century in our British States. Its national character has been demonstrated unofficially in the. commercial, industrial, and social conferences at which delegates from all parts of the British world gather to discuss and to arrange matters of common interest. Officially, we have lately had the Premiers' Conference and the Shipping Conference today, an Imperial Education Confer- j ence is in session at the capital of [the Empire. Nor is this last the | least important. It will not be watched: with critical eyes by foreign diplomatists, as was the Premiers' Conference, or by foreign commercial agents, as was the Shipping Conference ; but because it assumes no great proportions in the narrow perspective of international politics it is not therefore of inferior interest to the participating British States. For upon the education of the rising generation depends the ultimate welfare of our democratic society, a truth which is above all party differences arid can be heartily accepted by men of all shades of political opinion. If the British peoples of the world are ever to grasp consciously the meaning of Imperialism and to feel that, however great may be our local autonomy, the New Zealander and the Canadian are as much fellow-countrymen of the Englishman as the Yorkshireman is of the man of Kent, it will be by means of the sufficient unity of our educational systems and the inculcation of the Imperial idea throughout our schools. This does not mean, of course, that the local authority of any and every free State of the Empire will be in any way weakened or that there will be surrender of our unquestionable right to conduct our schools in whatever manner we please. But it does mean that a true understanding of our local rights and privileges involves certain distinct obligations which are only the more binding upon us all because it is entirely voluntary whether we admit them or' not. - ..■'■'. -; ' ' '{';""' "■,-. !

We cannot make this clearer than by quoting, in illustration, the admitted obligation of all British peoples, wherever they are found, to provide for the adequate education of every child who is growing up to citizenship. There is no more Imperial compulsion upon us to do this than there' is for us to provide roads and harbours.* But | we' should not be British if we were not impelled by dominating influences which are common to every thoughtful man :of British stock, whether he is found in Canada, South Africa, the Home countries, or Australasia. It is within our colonial "rights," if we chose to put it ' that way, to close our public schools and to wind tip our Education Department; yet .we can no more do this than we can add a cubit to our stature. There are certain things which we must do if we would retain the social, industrial, and political institutions which are the basis of our complex civilisation among these things education has now as recognised a place as the maintenance of law. And if we desire to bring about, for our common good and individual advantage, that closer unity and organisation of the British peoples of the world which will make more assured our liberties and our securities, we must of our free will assist the movement in its educational as in every other phase. To keep in voluntary harmony educational systems which otherwise may drift apart and to secure the general recognition of diplomas and certificates obtained . by adequate qualification in any part of the British world is a work the bearing of which can hardly be overestimated.

The immediate effect of an educational understanding .between the self-governing States of the Empire would naturally be to differentiate the Imperial States from all others. In our colonial schools, thanks to

our origin, we have never placed the !geography of France and' Russia?on a level with that of the United King- J dom, but there are millions of English children who know a great deal more of the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb than they do of Cook Strait, and who. are much more familiar with the topography of Italy than with that of Canada. Nor can it be said that I any of our colonies direct sufficient 'attention to the others. . It is obvious that great good must result, to all of us, by a reasonable educational recognition of the fact that our public school children will not merely be citizens of a local State but also of that great combination of free States which make the Empire. Beyond this immediate result is that essential condition of educational harmony involved in the mutual recognition of satisfactory diplomas and certificates. Not only should an English certificate be recognised in the colonies, but colonial certificates should be recognised in other colonies and at Home. Imperialism is a mere shibboleth unless such reciprocity is easily attainable, for as far as the British States are concerned we are one people, with one language and with common requirements. The man who is properly qualified to teach in an English school or university is properly qualified to teach in a colonial school or university; and vice versa. And the man who is properly qualified to plead at law, to • practice medicine, to survey, to follow any profession among one British people, is similarly properly qualified to follow it throughout the whole of us. That some reciprocal arrangement covering the teaching profession will be reached at the Education Conference we do not doubt, and this should prelude the complete solution of the entire question. The interchange of teachers, which is being considered, and which reciprocity would make easy, is altogether advisable. It would enable teachers to post themselves in the educational changes made in every British State, to compare them with other methods, and to advise as to their value. And it would be a step towards the coming time when no man will be * considered " cultured" or " expert," whatever his calling or occupation, who has not had a wider and more fruitful experience and training than he. can possibly get in any one part •, of our great British Empire.' . •