SECONDARY SCHOOLS.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4515, 16 November 1901, Page 7

SECONDARY SCHOOLS.

REPORT BY THE INSPECTOR. GENERAL. A report to the Minister of Education by tho Inspector-General (Mr George Hogbou), on the subject of sec. ondary schools, contains the following: My remarks upon the defects to be observed in much of the teaching now seen in the secondary schools must not bo taken as a sign that I underrate the mental value and (what is of vast importance) tlie moral value of the earnest efforts put forth from day to by teachers; nevertheless, it would be idle to omit to point out that tho whole - of our secondary education would bo far more useful to the State if it were more natural, moro practical, and less abstract than it is at present, and to ex’, press my conviction that the time has come when all concerned should seriously consider the expediency of recasting, not hurriedly or inadvisedly, but after due discussion and deliberation, the whole framework of our higher education-

I do not fear that we shall lose anything by bringing education into closer relation with tho every-day experience of the pupils; for it has always seemed to me a fallacy to suppose that remoteness from the common facts of life constitutes an essential element in true culture.

I would give utterance to one further note of warning, and it relates to a matter that somewhat affects my remarks upon the instruction given in various branches of the school course. The secondary school programmes are framed to a large extent so as to lead np to the matriculation and junior scholarship examinations of the Udiversity, and yet one boy or girl in twenty does or can go to tho University. I leave tho corollary to be deducedAt the end of 1900 there were 2792 pupils enrolled in the public secondary schools of the'colony. Besides these, some— it is difficult to say how many—arc receiving secondary, instruction in denominational and other private secondary schools. There are doubtless many others who might be willing to/reoeive secondary instruction if they had tho opportunity of doing so. The grants made to Education Boards on account of pupils at district high schools enable the Boards to give free secondary instruction in such schools to those who have passed Standard VI. This meets the wants -of those living in or near places where it would not be expedient to establish fully equipped high schools, hut where there are sufficient secondary pupils to form one or more classes for secondary instruction. It would not ho desirable to establish district high schools in towns that have already high schools proper, as such a policy would entail unnecessary and expensive overlapping. But, in order to insure to boys and girls in such places equal opportunity with those in places where district high schools are estab. listed, it would be necessary either to extend the present system of scholarships or to offer an increased number of free places in secondary schools to qualified candidates from primary schools, the latter being the less expensive method. These free places, or ex. hibitions, need not be open on quite such easy terms as tho free places offered in district high schools, for in the larger towns continuation classes and technical classes will for some time to come be probably more generally established than in the smaller towns, and these must be considered as forming part of tho machinery of secondary edu. cation, inasmuch as, if tho question be looked at in a broad light, no real distinction can be drawn between seooudarv and technical education. There still remain those deserving pupils who live in places where neither high schools proper nor district high schools exist. To the best of them free places in the high schools would be open on the same terms as to those residing in the towns, and, if scholarships could be provided for them sufficient to meet the cost of hoard and lodging, they would be able to take advantage of such free places. The others could take some_ secondary work in Standard VII., and it is hoped that before long there will be very few places, even in the country, where con. tinuation classes and classes for technical instruction suited' to the wants of the several districts will not be found-

At present there are about 350 scholarships given by the Education Boards of the colony, about 130 of which are probably sufficient to provide board and lodging, and may be regarded as coup. try scholarships, the remaining 220 be. ing more likely to be held by those children living in or near towns. The governing bodies of the various secondary schools give free education to 326 boys and girls, 279 of whom are not holders of Education Board scholar, ships. Out of these 279, 43 receive money in addition to free education.

tho amounts given being in 11 cases sufficient for board and lodging. Moreover, in some districts scholarships, some for country and some for town children, are offered by the School Commissioners- The existing provision, therefore, apart from district high schools, allows for the granting of free secondary education to about 650 child, ren from primary schools —namely, about 500 from the towns and 150 from the country. The district high schools provide free secondary education for about 600 more, and it is probable that in a few years this figure will be increased by at least 50 per cent. Now, we find from returns recently collected by the Department that each year there are in public schools within reach of secondary schools about 2200 children qualifying for some degree of free secondary education, if we may take the passing of Standard VI. under the age of 14 as roughly indicating such a qualification; but from the same returns it has been gathered that only about half of these children would in gny case attend a secondary school; in other words, provision would not re. quire to be made for more than, say, 1100 boys and girls Within reach of secondary schools. It would probably not be drawing the line too strictly if free tuition were offered only to those who had passed Standard VI. with distinction—i.o., in all subjects, and were not over 13!,- on' the 31st December of the year in which they passed. About 350 per annum would be so qualified. Tho supply of 350 candidates per annum qualified for free secondary instruction, if each free place or exhibition were tenable for two years, would imply 700 free places open at any given time in tho secondary schools to those whose homes are within reach of such schools. If no fees were charged to qualifield children, and free railway tickets were granted to them, almost the whole of the present scholarship grant would be set free for boarding scholarships for country children: in that case the money now voted could give, say, 125 to 140 country scholarships, each ten. able for two years; 250 free places would have to bo provided for these children, or 950 free places in pll; or, say, roughly, 1000 free places. Hardly more than 150 per annum in addition to those attending district high schools would be likely to qualify and be willing to attend a secondary school. The secondary schools are already giv. ing free education to 326 children, or about one-third of the number qualified under the test set up. If it were desired to go further, an. other 500 pupils per annum, who fell somewhat short of the suggested test, might bo admitted at half fees. To complete the scheme it would be necessary to give continuation scholarships or exhibitions—say, 200 each year, or 400 in all. I should like to point out here that by falling a little short of the test a child loses not the whole value of an exhibition, but only one half; also, that the tests are qualifying tests, notcompetitive tests, and that - no child need be excluded by another who happens to geb a mark or two more in a given examination. It remains to be considered how the money should be provided to pay the additional staff required in the second, ary schools, and whether the increase of free places would seriously affect the number of pupils who pay fees. Both questions, I consider, can be answered in a satisfactory manner, but their discussion would involve a long examination of details otherwise uninteresting. It may be enough to remark that at present in our smaller secondary schools there is a great waste of teaching power, and when this is taken into ■ account the extra staff would be found -to involve a very moderate in. crease in the expenditure of the secondary schools. There is a certain element of doubt about tbs effect of the suggestions upon the income derived, by the secondary schools from fees. Ido not believe from past experience that the loss would he very great; in fact, I am inclined to think there would be no appreciable decrease in the income from fees, q To sum np, the scheme suggested would give: 1. Free secondary education to 1000 boys and girls (500 per annum). 2. Secondary- education on payment of half fees to 1000 boys and girls (500 per annum). 3. Continuation exhibitions to boys or girls selected by further test from those who have been in 1 and 2. 4. Boarding scholarships for 250 (125 per annum) in 1 and 3. _ 5. A degree of free secondary educa. tion to 700 boys and girls in district high schools. 5 has already been edIt is not, I consider, a disadvantage that tho scheme could be introduced a step at a time. lam indebted for the idea to the Paris Scheme of Municipal Bursaries, which has been, I believe, for many years in successful operation; the details, however, are my own. All the above figures are necessarily rough, but some of the most important are founded on returns recently sent in to the Department by the Boards of Education, who are to be thanked for the inquiries made by them and gener. ally for the care exercised in drawing up the returns. 1 ' , As increased facilities are being given for technical instruction the demand for secondary education other than technical will necessarily be kept from growing too rapidly beyond the bounds of such a reasonable expenditure as I have indicated above.