EDUCATIONAL.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1664, 20 January 1904, Page 15

EDUCATIONAL.

THE NEW SYLLABUS

Special to zus “Mail.” No. 1.

Tho president of the New Zealand Institute of Teachers, in his opening address at Nelson, referring to the new standard syllabus, said “'history had repeated itself. Pastalcazi’s coach had been turned .round and started in a new direction.” The new syllabus, according to the Order-in-Council, came into force at the opening of the year, and tho fir-fit examination under the new conditions took piace last week, when Standard V. pupils were examined by tire Gove-rum cut for the national junior scholarships that have been allotted to each education hoard under tho Act that was passed just before the adjournment of .the session. Your remarks -'on the questions set f orth at examination are very much to the point, as it .must he evident to those who can read by the way that those who set the questions aimed at showing originality and smartness of a kind that is foreign to a knowledge of young children. You pertinently recommend the Minister of Education to give thesolution of the three questions you publish. I dare assert that tho Minister would sooner- give a three hours' Budget speech than, bo called upon to carryout your suggestion. As for tho geography, the questions are an insult to common sense. How is it possible to suppose that children who havo just passed the Fifth Standard could understand a question that men of wide knowledge and experience would hardly dare to answer? As for making a comparison of New Zealand with some unknown country, the thing is preposterous, and would bo laughable but for the fact that scores of young children well-grounded in their Standard Y. work, and anxious to stand, even fairly well in this national competition, are rudely thrown aside by tho senseless sets of questions that have been set. How can children compare New Zealand, of which they can know tho merest elements, with some imaginary land? Could stupidity, could the “Bookful blockhead, ignorantly read, with loads of lumber learning in his head," go further than this in bookishness and display of ignorance of children? You might havo given information on the “general paper,” a perusal of which has interested me very much.

But this leads mo to the que-non. of the new standard syllabus. Have 3"<> u seen this precious^cixment? L*- L “S ■■'' had to pay £4O-privilege fine lor publishing it.—Ed.] If you have not,, may I suggest that you obtain a cop/ aim publish the contents for the enhgutonment of your readers? At the same time, it would be well to publish the syllabus of work of some of the sceontlurv schools in this country, and we may then discover what is likely to be the outcome of this “paint-pot” process of preparing the children in the public schools for the business of life. Let mo explain. Under the new plan standards have disappeared and promotions c an be made upon a scheme that bodes badly for the future efficiency of the schools. Mediocrity is the aim, superficiality the end, of this now process of school classification. It is needless to go into details. These will s [L c J w themselves in the course of time. The great' point to notice is the supervision and classification and mystification that goes on in the way of examination. The principal of a school is charged with the classification and the examination of pupils/ He is paramount in all matters relating to his school, and his promotions may not he called in qucstiot}for the inspector can only examine uryder certain conditions, and his judgment

affects a pupil for three months and no more. “Such modified classification shall thereupon for three months, or such shorter pericy:! as the inspector may prescribe, be substituted for the classification of the hew head teaoher.” So runs the regulation. : i B}ut how the inspector is to discover the weaknesses of individual pupils is a mystery oniiyknown to those responsible for the regulations. Thus regulation 9 says:— “In order to satisfy himself of the general efficiency of the instruction . . . he shall devote the major portion of his time to tho investigation of the character of the teaching . . . and shall examine a duo proportion of the pupils in each class . . - . but ho may only examine ‘all the pupils of any school or of any class,” if the circumstances seem to call for such exceptional accion. Here it is evident that examination is at an end as for as inspectors are concerned. Every school will have its own basis of classification and. every school will have a different standard of promotion from one class to another. >

Hitherto the aim of education has ibeen to keep the standards of schools 1 in the same district as, nearly .alike as 4 possible, so that pupils leaving one school for 'another could be placed in the same class in any. district. This, will be a difficult matter under tho new conditions, because the interpretation given by teachers as to what constitutes a standard for promotion will be 'always varying, and inspectors are not capable of judging the attainments of individual pupils by looking into their faces or seeing them go through (some “free •exercises,” in physical drill, to the tun© of “Oh dear ! What can the matter hep* • such as regulation 48 prescribes.

But this is only a small matter. What I wish to point out is the kind of w ork that is best- suited to the preparation of children in anticipation of manhood and womanhood. * School life is preparatory for something. , What is it? /Aro all children to he put through the same preparatory process before leaving school, "and do parents carry out what the standard system of education controlled by Government has attempted for more than a quarter of a century ? "Why, let 'it he asked, does tho Government insist on the sam© work for all the children attending tho public schools? It determines, a difference in the relative standard of attainments in the requirements, but it insists- that all pupils shall eat the same kind gf sohao'l food without regard to physical mental differences. This is tho fundamental weakness of tho system. The changes proposed begin at" tho wrong end, for no one who is acquainted with -the_ large majority of teachers would concede the right t-o them to pass pupils on and on . through standard classes without some supervising control. The teachers are not yet ready for such a change. They have been trained in the past as ma-ohines, and to give them all full control of promotions and judging attainments for standards is to confer rights that would have been hotter hold until the question of choice of subjects has been decided.

This country has varying physical conditions, such as are bo be met with in a latitude of 2000 miles or mare, and the people will vary just as their environment varies. Why, then, if education is to be anticipatory, do the education authorities of the country require all pupils to have the same subjects for preparation? You cannot unify a system by merely requiring that the same land of work shall be done. Unification carries with it adaptation, equality of attainment, equality of opportunity, and unless these are conferred the nation does not receive a pro-pe-r return for the expenditure it undertake®. But in what respect is provision made for adaptation, for equality of a/t----tainment and equality of opportunity P The authorities reply by giving out that the standard regulations set down the work for each standard in a school. They certainly do so after the manner of the story of the “Stork and the Fox,” as told by iEsop. The feast provided may suit a few and be sreat-to .enjoyed, but a national scheme of - I --»a~ t-iiou should'provide supplies in a r ■; xmai way sin table for national • greatness. Does this country, mid does every district in it. grow the ■•sain© cereah, the same root crops, the same fruits, and- are ai Iti i e peopi c occuplet l in the &a io e x arm. of employment? Assuredly not, yw, the people’s children, irrespective of environment, of capacity, of tastes, are put under similar working conditions the colony over, and yet the Parliament, Ministers and the authorities prate in season and out of it that we have a grand scheme of education; and so it might be made were heed given to the scientific aspects of this vital question.