EDUCATION

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11653, 18 October 1923, Page 3

EDUCATION

THE BUSINESS SIDE HR H. AMOS ADDRESSES THE COUNCIL OF COMMERCE. REFORMS URGED. Mr H, Amos, director of Banks College, addressed the Wellington Chamber of Commerce yesterday ou the subject of the business of education. Mr J. Myers presided at the gathering. Remarking on the largeness* of h.« field, Mr Amos said: “I must confine myself to a very narrow portion of the total field and deal with that narrow portion only in the most cursory manner. My standpoint, then, is that of the business man, whose criterion is efficiency, as shown in an increased return for a given outlay. Education from this point of view is an investment, a strictly capital investment, and the worth of a system of education is to ba judged by the returns received from this investment.

“I am not suggesting for one moment that the worth of the whole of the national investment in education is susceptible of estimation in pecuniary terms.

“The education vote has increased by 'leaps and bounds during the last few years, until now it amounts to over .£3,000,000 annually The question arises, are we receiving an adequate return for such an expenditure? Many business men make no secret that the primary education of the average' schoolboy is not as good as it used to be—that his writing, spelling, composition, and arithmetic are unsatisfactory. The Education Department, on the other hand, maintains that the general level of education is higher. Who is correct? DEFECTS IN PRESENT SYSTEM. “If the educational expert is correct, he has still to prove that the general level of education is as high as it ought to be, considering the cost thereof. It ia impossible to arrive at any exact conclusion. The full resuits of education are not to be calculated in pounds, shillings, and pence. Yet a survey of our education system in New Zealand must reveal that it is defective in many serious respects —defects which would at once be obvious to a business man if the problem rose in the course of hia business. I wish to draw your attention to a few matters which appear to call for amendment. In the arithmetic of the upper standards of the primary schools there is still too much time wasted in impractical problems. Granted that 6uch afford a certain amount of mental training and discipline, would not more satisfactory results be obtain ed by making accuracy in the fundamental rules the main objective. One of the most necessary and common types of calculation in a busTr.ess man’s office is the fixing of the selling price of an article to return a certain percentage of gain on that selling price. Yet in schools the majority of the so-called profit and loss problems require the ascertainment of the profit and loss on the cost price.. Again, a great deal of time is expended in showing how true or theoretical discount differs from bankers ; or commercial discount. Yet, as the name implies, it is the latter calculations that are commonly in vogue—tor [ obvious reasons. MATRICULATION SUBJECTS. I “Further, taka the compulsory sub- j ! jeets required for matriculation: —l, a. : r foreign language; 2, mathematics (arith- 1 (metio, algebra, geometry); 3, English. ! The average candidate has to spend i about half his time in obtaining a very inadequate knowledge of a foreign language that is generally of little u»e to . him in New Zealand after passing the examination. If he had this time to i devote to the study of Etaglish literature | —admittedly the greatest in the world—how much hotter equipped would a boy be for the business of life. Many boys j have no aptitude for foreign languages ! or mathematics, whereas they have the necessary ability end liking for the study of the social sciences; yet because they cannot satisfy the university in a ■ foreign language and mathematics, they ! are deb irred from entering a profession. ' I do not suggest that candidates should not be allowed to take foreign languages, etc., if they desire, but why make these subjects compulsory to the neglect of tho study of their mother tongue? If the schools were run more on business lines, ; teachers would be brought more into contact with business men, a better appreciation of their important duties would result and the teacher would gain a status at least on a par with his other professional brethren. PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS. “Now, consider some of our public examinations. If a man wishes to qualify as an accountant or a lawyer certain professional examinations must be passed and also a preliminary examination. But the preliminary examination may be passed bofoie or after the professional examination. In all other professional examinations the preliminary must be passed first. A man over 30* desirous of qualifying for the legal profession is exempted from all the subjects of the preliminary examination excepting Latin, but the same man wishing to enter the accountancy profession must take the whole of the preliminary examination. Again, to enter the accountancy profession a candidate may take os the preliminary examination either matricncation or the accountancy preliminary. In the case of the latter the examination may be passed in sections of throe subjects at a time, while for matriculation all the subjects 'and tho compulsory subjects are harder) must be taken at the cno examination. Sectional passes are allowed in all university, professional and teachers* certificate examinations, because it is recognised, and rightly to that a candidate by concentrating on two subjects must learn more about those subjects within a limited time than he can about six or seven subjects.

SECTIONAL PASSES. “Why could not sectional posces be allowed to those boys at least who aro engaged in earning thoir living? At the present time there is no public body in New Zealand conducting shorthand and j typewriting examinations, and yet there is an ever-increasing demand for competent shorthand typists. In England many of the Chambers of Commerce are conducting such examinations, and I suggest it' would bo mere helpful to business men if the Wellington Chamber of Commerce or the Associated Chambers of Commerce were to arrange for those. There is also a need for an examination in bookkeeping to test tho work of technical and secondary schools. The examinations of thj New Zealand Society of Accountants < ro much too advanced and suitable only for senior students.” On the motion of Mr C. B. Norwood Mr Amos was heartily thanked for his address, which Mr Norwood described as of great value.