THE SCHOOL SYSTEM.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20499, 29 August 1928, Page 5

THE SCHOOL SYSTEM.

A COMPLETE OVERHAUL. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL. (Special to Dailt Times.) WELLINGTON, August 28. A complete overhaul of the school system of New Zealand with the principle of equal opportunities for all as oue of the chief aims in any reorganisation formulated, was foreshadowed by the Minister of Education (Mr R. A. Wright) in the course of his annual report which was presented to Parliameu’ to-day. The report states that the report of the Primary Schoils’ Syllabus Committee will receive the careful con sideration of the Government, and that it is hoped that a further step forward in the organisation of educational facilities will result. At the same time, it must not be thought that the Government considers the existing organisation ineffective in the primary school. The Minister adds: “ There are not lacking opportunities for boys and girls to show the best of their talents, whether towards the type of education provided in technical schools or towards the more literary type provided in the secondary schools. No fewer than 68 per cent, of the pupils who qualify for free secondary education avail themselves of the privilege. The number of secondary pupils who qualify for university education, and particularly the number qualifying for free university education, has increased year by year. In 1912 there were only 64 secondary pupils who gained higher leaving certificates, and last year there were 756, of 'whom 459 embarked on university courses. While it would be unfair to those who have built up the education system to ignore what it has done and is doing Tor the people, it would be foolish to be blind to its imperfections, j and to neglect opportunities for improvement.” The report declares that with the tendency of all schools to follow the lines of study that grow more and more divergent from the actualities of life, a periodical stocktaking is indispensable. The time is ripe for an overhaul of the whole school system, and this will be undertaken with due regard o the needs of the community as a whole, nd to the importance of not sacrificing the good features c. the present system. Undoubtedly primary school educatio i might be made more practical, and should a. the same time give greater prominence to the fostering of the reading habit and the study of good books. The cesthetic side of education might well receive more attention in all types of schools, ' -bile there ; are few who do not agree that the second- | ary schools should provide a broader cur riculum than has been usual in the past. The rapid growth and increasing popu j larity of technical high ichools show the j tendency of the people to realise that education should be closely related to life’s activities, and that suet a type of education may be as truly cultural as the traditional secondary education. There is a growing conviction that a constructive piece of handwork may have a more potent influence m the development of character and on the formation of high j cultural ideals than has the translation j of a perfectly good piece of English prose I into somewhat indifferent Latin. Educa- I; tion has no royal road to offer. Some i pupils develop best through the manual ■ arts, and others through lb rary sludies. It is for the schools o provide equal ; ' opporunities for all, and this will be one . 1 of the chief aims in any reorganisation of ' the school system that may be formulated. ;