A WARMING NOTE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18162, 9 August 1933, Page 11

A WARMING NOTE

EDUCATION REFORM PROFESSOR’S .VIEWS Various aspects bearing on the proposed establishment of . intermediate schools were dealt with by Professor W. H. Gould in an address given at the inaugural meeting oi the Masterton branch of the New Zealand Federation of Teachers. Mr. H. B. Tomlinson, the Dominion president, occupied the chair. Professor Gould stated that he suspected' the origin of the movement for the establishment of intermediate schools, and this made it difficult for him to make up his mincl on the question. They could not, he said, import the machinery of education from one country to another without very radical modifications. Nevertheless, he considered that in this country they had been only too ready to accept without modification, not merely the proved directions of other countries, but even their tentative experiments. Ho was" of the opinion that they had been altogether too ready to adopt what had taken place in England and to accept the particular practice without modification and without regard for their own conditions. The education system of one country could not bo more than inspirational; it could never be. an exact pattern to fit into the mosaic of their organisation.

Eeferring to the work of tho consultative committee to the Board of Education in England, Professor Gould mentioned the need of full inquiry in New Zealand before- a. new system was adopted. An adequate tribunal should have heard evidence and reported before this system was adopted. However, tho scheme of intermediate schools had been inaugurated, and it behoved them to do their best to assist the department to .make it a success.

Professor Gould observed that there were three alternatives for the establishment of intermediate schools—intermediate departments attached to primary schools, intermediate departments attached to post-primary schools, or separate intermediate schools. There might be room for all three, _ but a separate school appealed to him more strongly. The intermediate schools to do their real work, lie said, must be more,liberally equipped and housed than were the present primary schools. The following / motion was carried unanimously:—“That this meeting, while not expressing any opinion as to the best type of intermediate school, strongly urges the Minister, not to stultify .the scheme by failure to provide adequate staffing'and equipment.”