JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20028, 18 August 1928, Page 12

JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS.

POSSIBILITY OF EXTENSION.

ADVANTAGES TO PUPILS.

DISCOVERING SPECIAL TALENT.

[BY TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL REPORTER.] WELLINGTON. Friday.

' Remarks on the junior high school system made in the House of Representatives to-day by Mr. E, P. Lee (Oamaru) are interesting in view of the fact that the Education Department is giving close attention to the possibility of extending the scheme within the near future.

Mr. Lee said some years ago leading educationalists of various nationalities went into the question of the transfer of pupils from the primary to the secondary schools, directing special attention to the age at which the transfer should take place. The secondary education system was not peculiar to the Old Country or to the British Empire; it was the subject of observation and action all over the civilised world. In 1924 a commission sat in England on tho question, continuing its deliberations until October, 1926. The report, which was known as the Hadow report, recommended the establishment of a system of secondary education to come into general effect in 1933.

Mr. Lee said it would be recollected that on the return of the rector of the Waitaki Boys' High School, Mr. F. Milner, from America, where he had made a personal inquiry into the system of education in operation there, Sir James Parr, the then Minister of Education, established one or two junior high schools, with the object of testing the new system, which seemed to bo the subject of attention in various parts of the world. One of the new schools was run in conjunction with the Waitaki Boys' High School, and it was significant that while there was some adverso criticism of the proposal at the time, the rector had reported very favourably on the experiment.

It could not be said that the education of a pupil who had reached the fourth standard and had been transferred to a junior high school had in any way been injured. On the contrary, it could be argued that the transfer had resulted in the pupil securing advantages which it otherwise would not have gained. In the junior high schools there was an opportunity to discover the special talents of the children. It had been rightly said by the authorities that the fourth standard under the present primary education system was a dead end; there was not much to look forward to after passing the fourth standard, and there was to a certain extent a monotony in the teaching. It had been found the child who, after passing the fourth standard, went to a junior high school derived benefits over the child who continued in the primary school until passing the sixth standard. The junior high school lent itself to the development of the child in a way which was impossible under the present system. " In view of the united and almost undisputed opinion of the educational authorities, it is impossible for any country which wants to advance to resist this change in the system cf education," said Mr. Lee. " One recognises the difficulties in the way of its adoption, but after all is said and done there will be no more children to educate under the new system than under the old. I hope the Government will keep up to date so far as this new scheme is concerned. It is a change not only for the benefit of the present generation, but, I think, undoubtedly for the benefit of the future of the Dominion."

SECONDARY SUBJECTS. INTRODUCTION NEXT YEAR. Indication of a coming change in the primary school system in New Zealand is contained in a passage in the Education Gazette for August. The paragraph reads as follows: — " Teachers who have studied the majority report furnished by the Syllabus Revision Committee will have noted the important recommendation that was made to transfer the pupils of standards V. and VI. (or, as they may be called, forms I. and II) to secondary schools. As any movement of this kind would necessitate the establishment of a larger number of secondary schools, a close investigation into the proposal is at present being made by the Education Department. A report will be presented to the Government, and thereafter teachers will be informed what decision has been arrived at. This recommendation of the Syllabus Committee was apparently based very largely on the findings of the Hadow Report, with the contents of which all teachers should be familiar.

" Whether the above change is made or not, an advance will be made, as teachers are already aware, in the direction of the earlier introduction of secondary subjects in the primary school curriculum. No suggestion has been received by the department that this change should not be made, so that teachers in charge of the higher classes would be well advised to make preparations for this alteration in the syllabus next year. It will necessitate on the part of some an investigation into the modern methods of teaching mathematics and of teaching French. Those whose knowledge of these subjects is not as fresh as it once was are advised to renew their own studies of secondary subjects."