JOHN M'GLASHAN COLLEGE

Otago Witness, Issue 3331, 16 January 1918, Page 36

JOHN M'GLASHAN COLLEGE

A CHAT WITH THE NEW PRINCIPLE. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN VICTORIA. Last Wednesday evening Mr A. G. Butchers, M.A., the recently-appointed principal of the John M'Glashan College, accorded a Times reporter an interview on various matters of educational interest. 'Mr Butchers, accompanied by Mra Butchers and their child, reached Dunedin from Melbourne and Sydney recently, and they arc at present the guests of the Rev. G. H. Balfour at the First Church Manse. Mr Butchero is a man young for so responsible and arduous a post, but, though only 33 years of age. he haß already had nine years' experience as a head master. For the last sir years he has been in chargo of the District High School -at Ararat, and there is no disguising the fact that he ia a thorough-going enthusiast in all that pertains to his chosen profession. The greater part of Mr Butehers's teaching experience has been gained in Victoria, though he was for two years a master in Tasmania.

Speaking generally of educational conditions in Australia and New Zealand, Mr Butchers pointed out that, while the Government high school system in Victoria was of much more recent development than the corresponding system here, yet the development of secondary education on the part of the churches there had been going on for a couple of generations. Consequently the church schools in Victoria are considerably in advance of the church schools in New Zealand. Scots' College, Melbourne, for instance, has celebrated its jubilee, and has now some 700 boys on its roll. An enormous amount of money is being speni by the various churches on building and equipment for their secondary schools. Before coming over here Mr Butchers visited a number of these schools to make himself acquainted with the 'most recent developments. One of the finest schools he saw was the new Church of England School at Corio, Geelong, accommodating 250 boarders. It is across the water, six miles from Geelong, and the various blocks of buildings that constitute it have been erected at a cost of £63,000 on 260 acres of ground. The land is farmed with excellent results, but part of the purpose of having so large an, area is to enable the. idea of a juvenile model town to be carried out. The principle of self-government is widely practised in the school, and matters of discipline are mostly in the hands of prefects. Among other similar institutions investigated by Mr Butchers are the Presbyterian Ladies' College, at East Melbourne, under Mr William Gray, at one time head of the Training College at Wellington; Scots College, Melbourne, under Mr Littlejohn, who was principal of Nelson College t Wesley College, at St. Kilda; Scots College, Sydney, under Mr James Bee, also a New Zealander; andl the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney, now in course of re-erec-tion on a gigantic scale. This latter scheme involves a sum of £200.000, about a quarter of which has already been spent. Mr Butchers has already seen a great deal of Dunedin and its surroundings, and has formed the most favourable impressions. Both he and Mr Balfour (chairman of the Board of Governore of the M'Glashan College) were very pleased with the provision they found being made for the opening of the college on February 12, both in regard to. accommodation for boarders and also for the classes themselves. The site of the college Mr Butchers considers ideal. There 'are about 18 acres of land available, so that there is ample space for development. Steps are now being taken to appoint a complete staff for the institution. Of course, it is not to be expected that it will begin its career in a state of complete development, but at the same time there is every reason to believe that as the school grown ' adequate buildings will be erected embodying the best features of schools already established here and in Australia. Th« purpose of the school, Mr Butchers explained, is to provide a training for boys that will not only fit them to take, their part in the years to come in the life of this dominion as professional men, business men, and citizens in every walk of life, but to take that part primarily as Christian men. It is recognised that the secondary schools already in existence are providing a splendid education, but the Presbyterian Church proposes to make an integral part of the education of this college that training in the Scriptures and in the essence of the Christian religion that it believes to bo the basis of all that is best in the history of Britain. Since his arrival Mr Butchers has been struck by the large number and variety of educational establishments to be seen in Dunedin, and also by the magnificent buildings provided. He docs not know of any oity in Australia that takes anything like the same interest m education matters in proportion to its size. The beauty of the city, he said, could not fail to impress any visitor, and ho found that natural beauty enhanced by the beauty of its architecture. This week Mr Butchers will leave on a visit of a week or 10 days to some of the country towns in Otago and Southland. He is full of keenness and enthusiasm about the new college. " My_ heart ie in the work and for its ' ideals,' he said, " and I am quite confident that we ore going to, realise those ideals and establish a school of which Dunedin _ will have as just cause to be proud as it is of any that it now possesses."