THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 1950. EDUCATION TODAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27385, 10 May 1950, Page 6

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 1950. EDUCATION TODAY

In his presidential address to the New Zealand Educational Institute , Mr D. M. Jillett properly gave emphasis to the importance of primary schools. “It was,” he said, “ upon the foundation of the primary ■schools that all other educational ■institutions must build.” The 'fundamental truth which this remark expresses has been given all v- too little observance in the recent advance of education in New Zea-

land towards a “ progressive ideal. The primary school years are the

V formative period in the character - development of the child, yet such , ,is the obsession in this country with , . advanced education that the amount devoted to the tuition of the postprimary pupil is twice the sum spent on the child at primary school. Unless we are to be guilty of paying only lip-service to democracy, Mr Jillett said, we must apply a threefold test to education: What of the whole man; what of the citizen; - what of the worker? The ideals of education have been fixed afresh with the object of inculcating the virtues of this perfect trinity into

the product of the modern educational system, but between , "theory and practice there has arisen ' a confusion of interpretations which y 'are at once denying the concept and obstructing the method of true •education. Admittedly there are, at ■ the present time, particular difficulties—the product of the war and the depression years—confronting ■.'[educationists, but the rueful fact *>iemains that neither by statistics nor by results in the competitive business of earning a living can the present educational system claim to have inspired a markedly greater sense of endeavour or a fuller realisation of the responsibilities of ’lull citizenship. It will be the duty of the new Minister of Education, Mr Algie, who takes office at a critical stage of educational development, to consider whether there should not be more realistic approach to the aims and purposes of education. v . Realism, as the guiding factor in . applying the three-fold test to .feducation, does not mean retrogression, but does imply sober appraisal of a situation which requires prompt attention. It _•’.encourages the survival of what was best of the old system and imposes [ a check on the extreme tendencies [. ‘of the new. Mr Algie has already - given evidence that he holds firmly- ■ "defined opinions on the relative im.portance of the many branches of the service which come under • his direction. He has given, the assurance that grants to boards and other educational authorities will ’.-■.not be reduced, but he has signified jiis intention to eliminate unneces:sary expenditure by dispensing with '’’-the lavishly-produced _ booklet - /‘Education” which is circulated

free to teachers. Perhap? this is an augury of the introduction of the [ "realism that —commencing in the primary schools —is so urgently •■ required ip New Zealand today, and Is still urged by educationists who '■ have resisted the transient delight of experimenting lightly with human . material.