AIMS IN EDUCATION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22398, 20 April 1936, Page 8

AIMS IN EDUCATION

An interesting indication of his ideas of what the objectives of education should be was given by Mr. Fraser in his address to the Workers' Educational Association. The Minister is wisely taking time to formulate actual proposal's, but was able to discuss general aims in 'terms that compel attention. His opening statement, "I would not like people to attach too much importance to education," seems provocative until Mr. Fraser proceeds to explain what he has in mind. The future aim of teachers. he believes, should be to train people to think. That is a true objective. It has never been more necessary than in these modern times. Much that is learned out of books to-day is outdated to-morrow. The manual skill so painfully acquired may be made obsolete by the discovery of new processes or the invention of new machines. One of the chief businesses of the schools, therefore, should be to train and develop the adaptive qualities, physical and mental, of the pupils. When they go out into the world, they should be ready and able to meet new situations and fit themselves into them. One of these, Mr. Fraser notes, may be the increase of leisure, a boon that will prove a burden to many unless they have within themselves the resources to use it. Mr. Fraser has that in mind when he says, "Education is not enough if it teaches us merely to earn a living. Education must teach us to live." On other occasions the Minister has showed he is not unmindful of the importance of vocational training. It is his responsibility to shape policy so that a fair balance is struck between education for living and for making a living.