EDUCATION OUTLOOK

Otago Witness, Issue 3332, 23 January 1918, Page 6

EDUCATION OUTLOOK

UNIVERSITY SENATE. THE CHANCELLOR'S ADDRESS. The chief business before the New Zealand University Senate at its opening session on Wednesday morning was the annual report delivered by the Chancellor, Sir Robert Stout. The Chancellor covered a wide field in his annual review, and expressed a number of vigorous convictions on various much debated questions in the educational world. The report was not immediately discussed, as most of the matters referred to in it have been placed on the order paper for consideration later on. The following are the principal clauses - in the report: — * Since our annual meeting last year wo have lost two of our former members of the Senate by death—Mr H. A. Gordon and Sir C. C. 'Bowen, Kt., K.C.M.B. < Mr Gordon was first appointed to the Scnato in 1903, and had therefore held office for about 'l4 years. He was a mining export and was of great service to the Senate whenever any question regarding mining or engineering came up for discussion. He took a keen interest in the work of the Senate, and the members deeply regret his demise. Sir C. C. Bowen was a member of the Senate from 1888 to 1915, and held the office of Vice-Chancellor from 1903 until his resignation of his Fellowship in 1915. Sir Charles had been connected with New Zealand since the founding of the Canterbury Settlement. Ho held many positions in the dominion; amongst others he was Residont Magistrate at Ohristchurch, Minister of Justice, and Speaker of the Legislative Council. It fell to his lot as Minister of Justice to introduce into the House of Representatives the Education Bill of 1877, a Bill that became necessary because of the abolition of our provincial system of Government. Before the Bill finally became law the Ministry of which Sir Charles was a member was defeated, but the Bill, save in one important particular, was passed as it had been introduced by him.' It was made a purely secular system. Sir Charles was an able and cultured gentleman, ever anxious to promote education and to keep the standards of life high. The War and Our University.—During the year a great many of the sons of the University have gone to the front, >nd many have lost their lives on the field of battle. It may seem invidious to mention particular names, but I may state that Mr 11. A. E. Milnes, B.Sc, the able lecturer on education at the Auckland University College, lost his life in action. The number of students attending the affiliated institutions has necessarily been affected by tho war. It is amazing, however, how soon tho younger men and women have marched forward to our University Colleges. The number of candidates this year for entrance examinations was 1914; last year the number was 1710. There was a fall in the number of candidntes for degree examinations compared with those in 1916. Tho number* in 1916 was 1293, while in 1917 the number was 1185.

. Finance.—The balance to credit in the general account is £1365 Os 3d, in the Post Office account, and a debit of £45 16s 6d at the bank, and the scholarship account £664 8s 5d in credit. Board of Studies.—The draft statutes for the degree of Bachelor of Arts and for the degree of Bachelor of Science were dealt with by the Board of Studies, and certain amendments have been proposed by the board which will come up for discussion before the Senate. The amendments made are not numerous. The Board of Studies dealt with tho subject of the teaching of Latin, and the following resolution was passed by the board—viz.: "That as Latin is no longer compulsory at the pass standard of the B.A. degree, tho Senate be asked to make a pass in Latin at tho standard of matriculation compulsory on all candidates for that degree." The Educational Outlook.—ln my report to the Senate last year I dealt at some length with the need of scientific education, and I suggested a course that the Government might adopt to provide for tho teaching of science. Nothing, has yet been done, and I would respectfully again direct attention to my proposal. Perhaps the most surprising thing during the year 1917 has boon the educational activity in the United Kingdom. One has only to read tho Educational Supplement of the Times Weekly Edition to learn how widespread is tho desire for educational progress. It has been well said that not during the past 50 years has there been such interest taken in education, or such demands made for the extension of educational opportunities. Tho demands apply to primary, secondary, technical, and university education, and it is felt that after the war, if our Empire is to maintain its present position, tnero must be many changes made in our educational institutions. I am glad to see that it is recognised that if education is to be effective it will not be wise that it should be administered by a centralised bureaucracy. What the effect of a centralised bureaucracy has been on the people of Germany this war has disclosed, and one of those who might, it may have been though';, have been in favour of centralised administration lias stated that ho and his party are not in favour of such a development. I refer to a pamphlet by Sydney Webb. In an article published in tho Cambridge Modern History (12th volume), the Social Development of England was dealt with. This article has been republished, and in the preface to the article Mr Webb says: —"What is vital to any real democracy in a densely-peopled, economically-compli-cated modern State, is that tho Government should not be one. The very concentration of authority which is essential in war is, in peace, fatally destructive not of freedom alone, but also of that maximum individual development which is the very end and purpose for which society exists. Wo need to resist tho concentration of centralisation to- which 'militarism' is prone. We ought to multiply and diversify our educational institutions, and put them, from Workers' Educatioml Association tutorial classes up to summer schools and universities, under as many (and as many kinds of) independent governing bodies as we can invent. We need to maintain and develop the autonomy, and as as possible to increase tho scope, of our county and muni-

eipal and other local government authorities, rising the 'grant in aid' as preferable , to the direct administration of a centralised j bureaucracy. The co operative movement affords a valuabU- opportunity for bringing more and more of the manufacture • and I distribution of household supplies under a de- ' moeratic control which is independent erf the j political government, whether central or local. And, seeing that our' daily work touches our lives even more continuously and more closely than most of those that we have hitherto known as political issues, it is imperative that we should bring to bear on the conditions of work in the farm and the factory, the railway and the mine—probably by some development of the i vocational organisation of which the existing trade unionism .crafts and professions sufiplios the nucleus —both that ' criticism from below' and that democratic control to which, in the coming century, industry as well as -political government will have increasingly to adjust itself. Nothing, in fact, is more urgently needed to-day in the public administration of this country than the development of an independent, outspoken, and expert criticism, as regards I departmental technique and machinery, of j the bureaucracy from within—a function j to be performed only by vocational organil sation, of which not the trade unionsalonc, j but also the General Medical Council, the | various engineering standards committees, and the present incipient Teachers' Registration Council offer models and types." This emphasises the need of our maintaining in New Zealand our separate unii versity college councils, our education i boards, our school committees, in fact local ; educational government, and perhaps it may ! bring home to some of us the unwisdom of some of the political changes that were made now over forty years ago. To make education effective the whole people must be interested in the subject, and the way j to maintain their interest is to have diverse i educational bodies of which the peoplo are j members. There is a great difficulty ahead, I the financial difficulty—which has been made little of by many who have dealt with | British and New Zealand education after | the war. Mr Webb and Mr Freeman in a | pamphlet state that the problem to which j the student of finance must address himself [ is how can the nation raise an extra one j hundred millions or more, of taxation each year , in order to defend itself against j enemies abroad, as well as from internal | foes of discord, crime, ignorance, dirt, i disease, wretchedness, poverty. The problem I has not vet been solved. It may, however, i bo asked whether amongst a people that ! spends more than £200,000.000 on alcohol j and tobacco the problem is incapable of solution. The Nxend of the proposals at ! Home is that the age of the pupil at school I must bo lengthened, some say to the age of 14. others say to the aire of 18 or 19. ] Even if the pupils from 14 to 19 have to j perform some work, steps will have to be ! taken to provide them with further educa- ! tion. This may have to bo done partially by day schools, and partially by night schools. There will also have to bo included in tho education programme some teaching of civics in order that the duties of citizenship may bo understood and fulfilled. This discussion is of use to us, for it seems that instead of our evening classes (as they are termed) of the univer-

sity being curtailed they will have to be extended. We learn tnat evening classes are now held in connection with many universities in England. In my opinion the workers' educational _ classes should be completely under university teachers, and it should be deemed a function of our university colleges to provide for these classes. There are two other matters of interest to us and they are, the demands for more scientific education and for the study of civics. A very important conference was held in London on the 3rd May, 1916, presided over by Lord Rayleigh, at which the following resolutions were passed unanimously : " (i) That in the opinion of this meeting it is a matter of urgency, in order to "promote national efficiency in the near future, that the natural sciences should bo made an integral part of the education course in all the great schools of this country, and should form part of the entrance examination . of tho Universities of Oxford and Cambridge as well as of the newer universities, (ii.) That it is in tho highest degree desirable that the Government should exercise the large power which it possesses of encouraging the study of the natural sciences and thereby increasing the efficiency of our public servants (1) by assigning capital importance to the natural sciences ' in the competitive examinations for the Home and Indian Civil Service; (2) by requiring some knowledge of the natural sciences from all candidates for admission to Sandhurst, (hi.) That this meeting is of the opinion that the method indicated in resolution 2 is the only one by which it is practicable to bring about the desired change in the attitude of tho schools and colleges throughout the country towards the natural sciences, and to make some knowledge and understanding of those sciences general. As tho results of such changes will only develop in the course of years, it is urgent that the matter should be at once taken in hand by his Majesty's Government. (iv.) That the committee are authorised to take such steps as they may consider appropriate in order to bring these views to the notice of his Majesty's Government." These resolutions were passed by leading scientific men and teachers Since then the Civil Service Commissioner communicated with the Lords of the Treasury in reference to a greater recognition of science in the highest Civil Service examinations. Tho commissioner stated that tho representations of the conference already referred to required attention, and that the young men who go up or return to tho university after the war, and desire to work for the Home Civil Service should start at once with a knowledge of the new conditions, and tho new conditions were that science should be more emphasised in examinations. For example, the following are compulsory subjects:—" (1) Essay, (2) English, (3) questions on contemporary subjects, social, economical .and political. (4) questions on general principles, methods, ■find application* .of science, (5) translation from one of the following- languages not taken in section B, namely, French, German, Spanish. Italian, Portuguese. Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish. Danish. Russian, Latin being also an option for those who take two modern languages in B." There aro not less than 52 optional subjects in

B There is one part of the report that I think will be of interest to us. namely, that which deals with examinations in science. It has been stated that there can be no proper examination work in science unless there is an examination in laboratory work. Professor E. Ray Lankester said regarding this report as follows:—"The report does not propose to continue the holding of examinations in practical laboratory work in any of the science subjects. 'Experience,' the committee says, 'has proved them to be unsatisfactory.' Some scienco teachers will be shocked by this omission; but, as a matter of fact it is not difficult to set questions requiring written answers which will clearly show whether the candidate has a real practical knowledge of his subject." • It is felt that the requirement at Home is more teachers of science. In. my opinion that is the requirement in Now Zealand as well. If all our primary teachers were able to begin to teach science to even the lower standards wo should soon see a great advance in scientific education in New Zealand. Reading- the various discussions that havo taken place in the United Kingdom, it will be seen that what is necessary abovo all is the getting of able teachers. Theoffice of teacher will have to be exalted and to be better paid. Unless there is more attention paid to the efficiency of the teachers there is little hope of educational progress. In Edinburgh there has been a discussion whether education should be one of the optional subjects for the M.A. degree. Such a proposal was opposed by the Senatus. but the demand for such an option has been approved. The other notable proposal is the granting of opportunities in the study of social questions. This has been made much of in some of the now Universities in England, such as Birmingham and Bristol, _ and in several American Universities civics is an important subject of study. Seeing that the law has been altered to allow economics to be a subject of research, some emphasis may be given to the study of civics in our University Colleges. May I conclude what I have to say on the educational outlook with one or two extracts from an article by Sir H. H. Johnstone, K.C.M.G., who has put in a most emphatic way what wo must consider. After dealing with the efficiency of Germany in science he savs:—"Therein lies, and has lain, Germany s strength. And if we aro to conquer in this war, and, having conquered with the help of our Allies, to keep the peace of the Old World henceforth against renewed German attempts at world conquest, we have to bear this dreadful lesson in mind; that we must henceforth submit ourselves to national discipline, democratically directed, if we wish to remain great nations, al! of us allotted to a co-ordinated State service. Secondly, wd must demand from those who at present misrule us n system of education which shall bfl as efficient as that of Germany and of countries like Switzerland, Scandinavia, and the United States, which have copied Germany. [Thirdly, we have got henceforth to make the British Empire dependent alone on British courage. British enterprise, and British science. In referring to the Empire, ' British,' of course, covers all persons and all races that are born under the

British flag. Prior to taie war wo were content to let Germany do a great deal ot the- work of the British Empire; yet we have expressed ourselves surprised mat aa the resuit that she should have aspired to displace us in tnis Empire ! '" Wo do not even yet know whether wo shall conepjer in the next few months of tho present war; the victory may bo deterred; there may be a truce, short or long, during which all beiigerents require to prepare tresh efforts for a further strugglo as the only alternative to expiring ot inanition, and leaving the Africans or the Asiatics to rule tho world. But if wo conquer within the next 12 mouths or two years, wo must not suppose that thereafter we can afford to put aside discipline and the practice of all the virtues ami all the economies, and tho pursuit of an efficient education. Hate the idea as we may, and justified as wo may bo in hating tho Germans for having so effectually thwarted Christianity, for having so horribly sharpened the selective processes of evolution, we have got to recognise that we have henceforth to defend ourselves and our system at all points, or consent to deposition from our premier position in the world. We can only do this through an education suited to the twentieth century—an efficient education for our statesmen, legislators, farmers, clergy, officers in tho army and navy, captains of industry, and newspaper editors. And we have also got to look closely into the sys tern of ■ empire that we defend and maintain, to be certain that it is worth dying for and living for." Military Training.—A report on the Royal Military College of Australia for the year 1916-17 has been forwarded to the University, and it is interesting to note what tho result of the education has been at that college so far as our New Zealand students are concerned. Thcro were 21 applications received in New Zealand for 10 vacancies. Twenty-one candidates sat for examination, of whom 14 qualified. The 10 who secured tho highest number of marks were admitted. Our New Zealand students have taken no second place in this Military College. Tho results show as follows: —There were 115 Australian and 25 New Zealanders commissioned for active service up to June 30, 1916. Of theso who obtained first class there were 27 Australians and eight New Zealanders, or not quite 24 per co.nt. of Australians obtained first class and 32 per cent, of New Zealanders. Research Scholarships.—l have received an interesting letter from Professor Worley, of Auckland, in reference to research scholar-, ships, which I shall lay on the table. He suggests that adequate financial means should be provided for University Colleges to appoint demonstrators or assistants whose chief duty would be the conduct of research, but they should also be required to assist to a small extent in the teaching and to deliver outside lectures. By assisting in the teaching they would gain valuable experience themselves; the students would benefit by being in contact with men actually engaged in scientific and industrial investigations, and the professor would bo relieved of a certain amount of general and routine work. By giving outside lectures they help to educate the public to the importance of science in the daily and industrial life. Members of the Senate.—The Hon. Mr Hanan was appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Mr Gordon. The term of office in the case of the following expires on June 30 next: —Appointed by the Governor-General in Council— 7 Hon. Dr Collins, C.M.G., Hon. J. A. Hanan, M.P.; appointed by tho councils of affiliated institutions—Mr J. C. Adams, 8.A., Rev. W. Hewitson, 8.A., Sir Robert Stout, K.0.M.G., Hon. J. A. Tole, K.C.; appointed by the Professorial Boards —Professor Benham, F.R.S., Professor Chilton, F.L.S.; appointed bv District Courts of Convocation —Professor Macmillan Brown, LL.D., Professor Hunter, M.A., Dr Marshall, F.R.G.S., Mr J. W. Tibbs, M.A. Workers' Educational Association (University Tutorial Classes). —-The work carried on in these classes has been as follows: At Auckland University College there were five classes in economics in their third year, and one in the second, year; one class in industrial history in the third year; and first year classes in hygiene (women), industrial law, debating, and chairmanship. At Victoia University College there were third year classes in economics, English literature, and electricity; second year classes in economics at Petone and Palmerston North, and a first year class in economics at Feilding. At Canterbury College there were third year classes in economics (2) and psychology, and a first-year class in economics. At the University of Otago there Were a third year class in economics, two second year classes in economics, and a first year class in literature.