AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13796, 8 July 1908, Page 3

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

— ♦ ■' ■-— THE HAMILTON SCHOOL, . It is quite evident that until 3 the , farmer* 01 New Zealand organise and gain the' political power that should be theirs by. right of numbers and the overwhelming importance of their industry to the State, their interests, and the interests of their children, wiU continue to be neglected. The refusal of the Education Department to - extend the capitation grant to the pro- ... posed .Agricultural School 'at; 1 Hamilton is onlv one instance of the ; manner in which the revenues 'principally drawn from far- » mers are lavished on the ' cities whilst the country districts are educationally starved. ; The system : now in vogue, which practically gives 50 per cent, more to education in cities than it gives in the country, is unsound enough, ; both for economical and judicial reasons;;- but when even under-this very capitation system.* the Education Department still geeks to penalise ; country children and country people, the case be- ' comes infamous. „-_fc*"3 '.\>t\ % ~T Not long ago the people -of Hamilton, one 'of the most prosperous and progressive "agricultural centres in New Zealand, desired to have established in the borough an agricultural college, practically on the same lines as iae trade schools;of other towns. ■■■ The :■.-■■ people were prepared to give some acres of very valuable ground, and at least 100 pupil; ■ were expected to attend the classes. The* applied to the Education Department fa the usual 1 capitation grant, which is giver freely; to the technical'schools of all th« large cities, and : they nave been ; practical refused, not for a fair and equitable reason, but on a : mean and feeble : pretext— pretext which in itself is an insult to the whole farming community. The Department's excuse ■ was , that oit intended to cut down by one-half " tho capitation on . those 'subject* that might-bo included in tho curriculum of a secondary school." Agriculture as a subject happens to: be included in the curriculum of our secondary schools; but it appears in print only. No . attemnt has ever been made to teach it as \ mathematics . or.; geography .or . history art . taught; no teachers are encouraged to mate themselves capable of imparting a knowledge of it to their but because it happens to be mentioned in the Education Department seize vit as a pretext to refuse capitation in ' the interests . of the greatest industry this country has or 'is likely to have. If this were a solitary instance of the unjustifiable attitude of • the ; Education Department toward agriculture and farmerc, weak and flimsy as ' the excuse is, it might be accepted, on the assumption that j the Department did intend some time or other to make agricultural instruction something more than a few words printed in the secondary , schools curriculum. The • probability is, however, that the attitude of the Department in this respect is exactly on the lines its Minister took.with regard to the absence of schools in the back blocks districts. When public attention was drawn to the fact that in certain parts of the North Island there were places where, numbers of children had neither schools cor teachers, the Hon. Minister for Education threw the blame on the parents, and 'declared that the Board of Education and the Education Department were waiting until the settlers could decide ' exactly where tho school should 'be situated. ,The settlers denied this statement, declaring '. that they were quite willing to Welcome the erection of a school anywhere "in reach of their children; and, more than this,i would -• give laud, haul timber, or do anything els© within reason, in order that their children might receive .education. Even if the settlers could not decide on the site of a school, and it is a recognised fact: that-airing, a : ; number of people there is bound to be difference of opinion regarding the position of any public building, whether it be 'school, . railway. station, church, or post office, it was certainly not right that the children should suffer. The Minister for Education and the chairman of the Board of Education, ;; who took up,, the ' same attitude, failed to realise that they themselves were responsible .• • for those:' unfortunate ' children growing up ,in ignorance. The law of the country.", which makes 1 education i- compulsory, practically , takes away from the parent the , right to say that his children should not go to ; school, and throws directly upou- the r - State "or the responsible officials the onus: of not providing schools. . " k . ... In connection, with the .education Department's : report ~on "the-, subject •; of establish- ,<: ing an Agricultural. School at Hamilton, '; it may be mentioned that the Department point out that cadets can now be entered at the (government Experimental ]? Farm \ at';'-";; Ruakura, where they will receive 2s 6d. pelf week and their board. .No . doubt. the prac- ; tical training obtainable at such a place'as Ruakura. would be exceedingly useful to '/j young men wishing to fit themselves for i agriculture, particularly if they have been ■ .previously' grounded in. the> scientific ' prin- • ••, ciples ;of ; this ! great ■; industry; ; but to ' put it , - forward as a substitute for agricultural education is like - offering young people trie chance :of blowing an organ when they wish to leant music. Ruakura, and i indeed : all the Government experimental farms, might with great advantage to the community to used a.* finishing establishments where the; theories .! of agriculture taught or to be taught in the '■"■'. V-.ft»V ~ -•" .. •%•*.. 1 secondary schools or in • special agriculturalsschools, can bo put into • practical use. If, however, agriculture is not -to-v be : made a subject of education in our State schools, f and there seems very little disposition on . the part of the permanent officials to ; make it so, the practical training at ■ the experimental * farms will ; be 'of I little; avail, ■; and at K the most the ''- whole" of A them could only accommodate a limited number of pupils. It is obvious to the most careless thinking of farmers that the educational authorities aro not favourably disposed toward agricultural instruction, and that this feeling permeates 1 the whole Jof the educational 1 system; $ from • the University ; College - down? to the secondary school. Apart from this, the pre- j? . sent system of!■ capitation grants : gives Hr«--: I mendous advantages to the city as against the country. -;.. While the people of the provinces .: tamely submit to such an unfair distribution' of what is j principally a their sown i money the present state of things will continue, but if. ; they would only realised the true position of affairs and ' work unitedly if is absolutely I icertain that they could' soon demand for agriculture as : great an \ amount of . ! attention as ■ is i given - , - to s instruction lin 4 the various trades and professions; - and" claim : for,. the country as great an amount per.capita a* is given to tho cities. - - ' ■ ■ .'■: ::.- . ... ■.' ■ ... ■:'..-.- ■ ■;. -: -....:.'-.- ..... .. - - --■:,-' , -::. '■'■ r ',-:'.-.'.:. ' '-:v;..'-;:.;..■-::..-^*-=::;ms;-■:..:.■ ,"-■ :■ i:- ":.:'; '-:-'-.*:';:- ■■■.■■:;■'.* 11 ' "'" ' 'ii I— — -'..'. :"?:■:,'.':> ; v:-:-.J . -/: Kiti: > ..-..:,.., ' ————— ■ ,:,..,:-,.. x, y ~