THE EDUCATION BILL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15728, 1 October 1914, Page 6

THE EDUCATION BILL.

Thk Government's Education Bill j has received the same approving consideration from the Education Committee of the House as it received from the public on its pre- ; sentation. The radical changes pro- ■ posed by the Bill in the administra- j tion of education have been ac- 1 cepted without question- Altera-1 tions have been suggested, but their I purpose is to strengthen the mea-' sure ; in no case do they attack the j main principles, which have already ' been universally approved by tea-1 chers and public. The usefulness j of the proposed General Council of Education will unquestionably be, increased by the provision that one of its members' must, be an inspector. This omission from the firstdraft of the Bill was widely commented ipon. The inspectors are so intinit tely in touch with the educational system in its minutest details that no council of education could be considered soundly constituted that did not include one of their number. The most contro- j versial section of the Bill that j : dealing with the division of oduca-i 'lion districts—has been left for i settlement by commission. Itj j is not surprising that the committee j has been unable to arrive at a,! settlement on this point. Even the amalgamation of the small educa- i tion districts aroused local objec- j j tions, and the division of the larger i districts met with strenuous and sustained opposition. A commis- | sion such as is suggested will be j detached from local influences, and 1 should be able to give due weight ! to existing geographical boundaries, j and to so consider transit facilities and other local influences as to permit of the division of the whole Dominion into districts which can be economically and efficiently administered. Some regret will doubtless be expressed at the deletion of the clause providing for the popular election of members of Education Boards representing the city and suburban schools. But the strongest supporters of popular election will readily admit that the dual system as proposed in the Bill had many disadvantages. In the coun- ■ try the school committees were to retain the franchise; in the towns, where ballots can be conducted easily and cheaply, members were to be returned by popular vote. It, ' is open to grave question whether this method would have led to any improvement in our Education . Boards, which have done good work i in the past under the existing fran-

chise, and will be able, with the improved machinery provided in Mr. Allen's Bill, to do much better work in the future. The clause under which school committees are authorised to establish the Nelson system for religious education offers the least-controversial method of dealing with a hotlv-debated question, but unless it is generally accepted in this spirit it can have little prospect of becoming law. The representations of teachers and inspectors have evidently received sympathetic consideration, and from their point of view, as from the public the Bill as amended by the committee is an improvement on the Minister's proposals.