EDUCATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27388, 13 May 1950, Page 9

EDUCATION

Fortnightly Review By Mentor Teachers will be interested in the statement made this week by the Minister of Education that, in spite of the financial situation, he is asking for an increase of £1,000,000 in educational expenditure for the ensuing year. Nor will they disagree with his order of priorities—e.g., the status of the teacher, class rooms and the provision of proper playing grounds and facilities. One of the most urgent reforms in primary education, as was forcibly pointed out by Mr D. M. Jillett this week in his address as president, NZEI, is a further reduction in the size of classes. “ More than a third of the classes in our town schools have more than 40 pupils for each teacher,” he reminded us. Improvement in the size of classes can be achieved only when there are sufficient classrooms available and sufficient teachers to occupy them. In neither case is the supply adequate today, and Mr Algie has in mind, we hope, improvement in these two aspects as a forerunner to the greater reform. There is much talk of weakness in our system today. The NZEI has long claimed that the greatest single improvement that could be effected in primary education would be a reduction in size of classes. Post-primary schools get an additional teacher for each 28 pupils, while primary schools continue to be staffed on a basis of one teacher for every 40 pupils. Primary teachers, as Mr Algie has himself recently indicated, are earnest, hard-working people, imbued with a sincere desire to do their best for their pupils. It does seem to them rather unfair that they should almost invariably have to bear the brunt of any criticisms going, and at the same time have to teach, in general, in much poorer buildings, with less equipment and more pupils, for less remuneration than their postprimary colleagues. There is a tendency, too, on the part of the uninformed to lay the cost of any substantial increase in education at the door of the primary school. To-day we are providing an increased measure of pre-school education, much wider post-primary education, and much more free university and adult education than ever before. Many specialist branches, especially for maladjusted and handicapped children, have been established. In addition, there is a growing school population. All this materially increases the total education vote, and primary education is still somewhat of a Cinderella as compared with other tranches of the service. As Mr Jillett indicated, primary education today costs only £l9 per pupil, while post-primarv education costs £39 per pupil. We were informed the other day that university education was costing aDproximately £7O per student. Parents, comparing these figures might be prepared to admit, whatever the deficiencies of the primary service, that it is giving at least £l9 per annum worth of service, with a little extra for good measure. On a purely commercial basis, one would not expect the ’-est for a fee of £l9 per annum. Possiblv the Minister may yet be persuaded to agree to the renewed reauest of the president, NZEI, for a “ thorough survey.” _ Perhaps, also, such a survey might indicate the desirability of one united education service. united professionally and administratively in every respect. At least we imagine that it might be more economically administered than the present “ fri-partite ” system united only at the highest level—by the Director of Education himself.

A correspondent sends the follow- " I came across the enclosed report this morning. The amusing feature of this report is that John Hislop promised to write an article on how reading should be taught, but there is no evidence of his ever having honoured his promise. It seems that the reading problem has baffled all attempts to solve it for the past 90 years.” Then follows the extract from report of Otago Education -Board, 1861-62, compiled by John Hislop, inspector of schools. “ In several of the schools the reading lessons were gone over in a slovenly manner. Too little importance appears to be attached by some of the teachers to this important department of school instruction. Even when the pupils seemed to be well acquainted with the sense of the lessons, the reading was often characterised by a want of distinct enunciation, fluency, and expression. It may be unreasonable to expect that a pure English accent should be generally acquired in our district schools but there is an accuracy of pronunciation and a distinctness of enunciation which distinguish the well-educated from the uneducated main or woman, and this accuracy and this distinctness it should be the object of every teacher to secure.” The above extract suggests that imperfections in reading, as in other subjects, are no new thing, and suggests further that still more research —and much has been made—is desirable if we are to solve the problem of the best way of teaching reading. A 90-year-old problem should not be allowed to remain such. Tale-piece “Mummy, when I grow up, will I have to marry a man like daddy? ” “Yes, dear.” “And if I don’t marry, will I be an old maid like Aunt Mary? ” “ Yes, dear.” “ Oh, Mummy, it’s a hard life for us women.”

More than 300 types of products from 30 countries have passed through the foreign trade zone at the west coast port of San Francisco, ir. the United States, since the zone was established in June, 1948. The San Francisco zone is one of five such areas in the United States where goods are processed, packaged, stored, and handled for transhipment without payment of duties.