FUTURE OF EDUCATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25801, 23 March 1945, Page 6

FUTURE OF EDUCATION

INSPECTOR’S OPTIMISTIC VIEW

An interesting survey of the multilateral educational facilities available to the children of the present day was given by Mr R. R. Hunter, senior inspector of schools, at the meeting of the Otago School Committees’ Association last night. The demands being made on the department were becoming more and more complex, Mr Hunter said, and although it was realised that the system was as yet far from perfect, he was proud of it, and he could safely say that the new way was a vast improvement on the old way. “In the old days the subject was more important than the child, but not so now,” said Mr Hunter. At the present time £5,000,000 a year was being spent on education in New Zealand, and in .years to come the amount would have to be considerably augmented. That should be possible in a country in which £11,000,000 had passed through the totalisator during the past year, apart from other betting transactions. Referring to the much-debated influence of radio andi films on the children, the speaker declared that “it was a maryel to him how people put up with it.” As it appealed to him it was not the children’s morals which were being affected, but their speech, and at the rate things were going the teachers were fighting a losing battle. It was unfortunate that inventions which should be for the good of mankind always had to be commercialised, and the “ almighty dollar ” placed first. Mr Hunter dealt at length with the various spheres of the Education Department, some of which were little known to the public. The correspondence school in Wellington, he said, was doing an invaluable job, and many who had made a success in life had never seen the inside of a primary or secondary school —they were indebted to the correspondence school for their tuition. Fine work was being done by the occupational centre in Dunedin, and even the parents in many instances were astounded at what their children were accomplishing. There were also the vocational guidance organsations, and facilities for adult education, all of which contributed to the rapidly-growing educational structure. It was essential that people should be interested in things outside their work. Mr Hunter said, as once the child’s aptitude was ascertained it could be guided into a bobby. In regard to the intelligence tests which the schools had now adopted, the speaker said that as one of the old school he had entertained doubts, blit they were now vanished, and he could safely say that the tests were probably correct in 95 per cent, of the cases. Children were not driven now, he said, and they were taken only to the limit of their ability. The matter over which he was concerned, however, was the lack of sufficient competition for the brilliant child. It was a well-known fact that the “plodder” was the one wh<J reached the top in most cases, and this was really due to the fact that the bright scholar at school had no incentive to reach greater heights. A plan would have to be devised to drive the brilliant children to the limit of their capacity.