EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26289, 22 October 1946, Page 4

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME

The statement of the Government’s policy in respect of education, which has been made by the Prime Minister, is to be welcomed as a much-needed detailed pronouncement on this most important subject. It is a comprehensive enough policy, though of a rather pedestrian nature. It meets basic requirements—which are heavy—without giving the inspirational lift the demand for which has been shown in the activities of the educational organisations themselves and also in the recent growth of parents’' associations. It is, indeed, no more than the head of any Government might be expected to put forward at such a time, though, since educational affairs in general in New Zealand have fallen so far behind in many respects, it does appear to be a highly constructive programme. The pattern of education in the Dominion was laid down very completely at a fairly early stage of the country’s development, but the very j importance which was given to the subject had unfortunate results, in that a tradition was created which gave little scope for flexibility or for extensions. Not one Government alone, but the succession of Governments, has been responsible for the condition in which education is today. Accommodation is out of date and in many cases actually out of repair. Classrooms are overcrowded and schools are under-staffed. The teaching profession itself has been hampered by inadequate salaries and by a grading system which is arbitrary and deadening in its effects. The Education Act is long overdue for a radical reform. One indication that education has not received due attention is the fact that the annual expenditure has been only 2 per cent, of the national income. In the face of this there is no room for 1 a complacent attitude to things as ! they are. The Government’s intention to overtake some of the lost ground was revealed by the addition in the Budget vote of about £1,050.000 for | education and education building, an | increase of 14i per cent, on the ; 1945-46 Estimates. The recent salary j increases are recognised by the . Prime Minister as a step towards a { unified salary scale, but it was to ; have been expected that there would have been some reference by Mr ! Fraser to the need for unification ' of the control of primary and post-

primary education. This has become an urgent matter since the removal of the barrier against pupils passing from the first to the second stages. Until this problem is dealt with the effects of the raising of the school leaving age must be partly nullified. The decision to extend the training period of teachers by one year and to make further provision for refresher and special training courses represents steps in the right direction, but the anomaly still exists that only basic training is provided, and those wffio desire specialised university qualifications must pursue them largely by night study and without assistance.