LACK OF INTEREST

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11423, 20 January 1923, Page 9

LACK OF INTEREST

APATHY OF GRADUATES. “MISSIONARIES OF CULTURE.’* “There is one matter that I think should be pointed out, and that is oar New Zealand graduates do not seem to me to take a sufficient interest in the University. A court of convocation if it meets, rarely does so, and when it meets it does not seem to discuss any educational subjects. Graduates who are. not teachers or -engaged in University work seldom take any interest in onr Senate. We have had few who have become members, and onr graduates do not seem to consider it their duty to act as xniwomiries of culture amongst our people. “What has made Scotland so successful in education and in -the production of a great number of trained men, is that education was a popular* subject throughout that kingdom. . "This has been well illustrated in a famous address that was delivered on May 3rd, 1922, by the Rector of St. Andrew’s University (Sir J. M. Barrie). May I quote a few lines from his charming address. He —id:—. ‘Mighty are the Universities of Scotland, and they will prevail. But even in your highest exultations never forget that they are not four, but five. The greatest of them is the poor, proud homes yo>g came out of, which said so long ago: "There shall be education in this land.-” Sim, not St. Andrews, is the- oldest university in Sootßnd, and all the others are her whelps.’ “The fifth University College has not yet been founded in New Zealand.”— Sir Robert Stout, Chancellor of the New Zealand University.