TIMARU HIGH SCHOOL.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 4574, 20 December 1887, Page 2

TIMARU HIGH SCHOOL.

SPEECH DAY ADDRESS OF THE RECTOR. The Rector's report was as follows : “At the close of another year, I have to report no change in our numbers. The attendance of this year is like that of last year. We have simply kept our own A stationary attendance is generally an unfavourable sign, but under certain circumstances it may be taken as, perhaps, even a symptom of progress. From the Report of the Minister of Education presented to Parliament this year I find that “ on the whole the attendance at secondary schools has fallen off during the year.” This, of course, refers to 1886; but from what I can hear from unofficial sources, the decrease has continued this year. The High School of Otago is, perhaps, the sole exception where there has been an increase—and for that increase certain special causes sufficiently account. I fear I cannot suppose the attend* ance next year will be a whit better: indeed, it may be much worse. We have not yet seen the worst of the great economic changes we are passing through. I fear parents are inclined to economise in the matter of higher education. I fear in some few cases higher education is regarded os a luxury in the case of girls. In good times the attendance of girls is high; in bad times, low. In Australia at the leading ladies* colleges there is a concomitant variation between the price of wool ,the amount of the clip, and the numbers on the registers. With boys it is not so much so, as the professions are open to them, and money expended on a boy, wisely, may prove a very remunerative investment. In these doys of falling prices, the giving a ;boy a profession or a special training may prove the very wisest com se a parent could follow in the case of a boy worth educating. I will give a case in point. A few years ago, I had a rather clever and promising boy whom I thought his parents should educate for some profession. The mother decided for the profession, the father, for putting the boy on land. The father’s opinion prevailed. A few thousand pounds w< re expended on a farm, worth to-day not one-third what was given for it: financial difficulties supervened. Today,(the land is gone; and the money Is gone; and the young man, who by this timo would have been almost qualified to enter a lucrative profession, hod the mother’s advice been followed, has nothing to rely upon but the labour of his hands.

“So far as one can judge of the condition of this school from University and other examinations, one mast form a rather favourable judgment. Last year fourteen pupils of this school passed the University entrance examination. Of these, one gained a Junior Scholarship—one of the eight which the University has been able so far to give to encourage scholarship in the secondary schools, but which are far from being sufficient for the wants of the colony, and which it would be a wise policy to increase as soon as possible. Another of our pupils passed the Medical Preliminary Examination. One pupil of this school headed the list in Latin and in history and geography : another pupil was first in English and second in history and geography. Now I do not moan to affirm that such results are to be taken as altogether conclusive respecting the condition of the school in any but the higher classes; but this I do say, that no school can go on year after year producing such results unless the whole school from the lowest form to the highest, is in a satisfactory condition.- The very superior tuition of a year or two in the highest classes could not (produce such satisfactory results unless the teaching of the lower classes was effective and good. . I know I can very confidently praise the various members of our st-iff for zealous and painstaking labours. Compared with teachers in more liberally endowed high schools, they are poorly remunerated j and one cannot wonder that very frequently we must submit to part with highly successful teachers as we had this year in the case of one of our masters, because other foundations are able to offer better salaries. If the revenues from the Secondary Reserves were thrown into hotch-potch-as perhaps in fairness they ought to be throughout the colony, and .High Schools were paid a capitation on their attendance, we, in Timam would be decided gainers. “The question of the systematic earnfaction of High Schools has been receiving some attention during the past year. A scheme formulated, I believe, by the Inspector-General of schools and approved of by Sir Robert Stout, was sent down to the various headmasters. A few assented, three or four gave in their qualified adherence to |t, but thegreat majority of the loading schools entirely disapproved of it. It is quite unnecessary for me here to state the objections we enter lamed to it, but I may say ip a word that the question presents a two-fold aspect Practically, it amounts to this, should wo have inaugurated a scheme of examination special to High Schools, or should we extend, improve, popularise, and render more gener*. ally useful the present public examinations in the colony as a test of our beet and highest work. The latter view is the one I hold, and as to-day I speak to a wider audience than those who hear me within these walls, I intend, if you will bear with me for a few minutes, to give you my reasons for my opinions. We have in the colony examinations of various characters for matrjcqln-

tion in arts, science, and medicine, for law, for civil service, and for teachers and Military cadetships. It is a pity we have so many. This unhappy country suffers from an excessive multiplication of different agencies which ' perform work whicli one Board of Examiners could more effectively and more economically discharge. Well, this is by the way. I say we have these public examining bodies which are recognised by the Government both here and elsewhere. The examiners are the best to be procured in the colony. The standard is well defined and understood. And best of all—the lest is a comparative one—that is, a proper test, for without comparison, results, or opinions about results, are We want to know, for instance, what is the standardof a New Zealand High School We can only arrive at this by comparing the High School pupils from Auckland College to Invercargill High School. Without this, how easy would it be for us on the one hand to commit the mistake the blind community committed who considered the man with one. eye a perfect man, because' he was'king among them ; or on the other hand, without knowing the commonplace of other centres to expect the smnmmn Swjmhi of scholarship among ourselves, and bo disappointed because we did not find it. ■ But the main argument in favour of utilising these public examinations is, after all, this, that our pupils must take advantage of them whether they will or not. Our pupils cannot shirk these public examinations. They are the gateways of the various professions. “ Now lot us put in contrast with these well known public tests of our work two or three possible tests - (a.) A general examination of the various High Schools throughout the colony, and (b) some local examination of the High Schools.in the various centres. There is the general objection to be urged against .both, that it is an aggravation of the evil, this colony suffers from—the excessive multiplication of separate agencies—a system which means weakness and expense. Moreover it rims counter to a growing opinion that consolidation of authorities and agencies is imperatively demanded for economical reasons. ' But th -re are other objections of I oven a more serious character. If the (a) scheme were inaugurated it would involve the establishing aprecise'y uniform course of study in our various high schools—similar authors read, similar text books, and similar methods. In fact, there would be a complete break down of that individualism which I look upon as still the best feature in the secondary schools of most Anglo-Saxon communities. Again with the (b) scheme the objections arc of a more formidable character. Here we are met with-.the difficulty of obtaining proper examiners who know what to expect in the High'School, who have had any experience, and who can be perfectly- free from any tinge of prejudice. It is difficult to get competent and good secondary teachers; how much more difficult is it to get competent and good examiners. The teachers must haxe full confidence in the examiners ; so must the Boards; and then the masters of both Boards and teachers and examiners (I mean the sovereign people of New Zealand) must be satisfied. Only experts can give this satisfaction, and so again we revert to the necessary conclusion that only the most fully qualified persons, who from their acquisitions which are guaranteed by a degree in honours, and from their experience may be said to bo experts Men who have undergone a special course of study with a view to their particular work, and men who have had years of experience in examnation work, can give this satisfaction. We have a few such men in the colony, and they ere the men who examine the Matriculation, Junior Scholarship, and teachers examination papers.” , “But! have even a more serious charge against any mere local examination as a satisfactory test. That there is difficulty in getting compotonfc examiners is serious enough : that the teat is not a comparative one and therefore useless, is of course a heavy indictment: hut worse remains. The one examination militates against the other. In; scheme (b) and indeed it applies with equal force to scheme (a), the examiners would be anxious to knpw what the pupils have been doing during the year; that is, the examio- - ation papers would not go outside work actually done in the school. What would this lead to ? Evidently a small amount of ground would be covered during the year. The authors or portions of them would be read minutely and critically with a view to the examination. The better up a pupil was forthelocal examination,the less able would he be to cope with the necessarily general papers set by the public examiners in law, arts, ecienco, and medicine. Where no text books are set as in the case with the highest class of examinations, but only certain subjects, an extensive, even if cursory readingis promoted. The student in preparing for one set of examinations would be losing or jeopardising his chances in the other. “ These are some of my reasons for thinking that the present system is the best one provided it were improved upon, cheapened, and rendered more popular. In Mr Haben’a summary of opinions, which were I was represented as saying I was satisfied with existing arrangements. To a certain extent that isJtrue.Hbut it is not the whole truth. In the first place I think.it is wrong to charge as much as two guineas for the that amount is necessary to pay the various expenses, it would be advisable for Gove-nment to vote certain sums annually to the University so as to lighten the cost —Make it say ten shillings and then there would be no excuse for anyone going in. In the second place I think it should be made almost compulsory for High Schools to send in their highest classes to Junior Scholarship and Matriculation The feeling ought to be encouraged that it is disgraceful to have been any length of time at a High School without obtaining a University certificate, If a man has been at a University and leaves without a degree that man generally has a. history be does not care to have written : let the same thing grow up in connection without our High Schools. On this subject I will just add one word—the great colony of Victoria, with its great colleges is

■content wiintne course xunvo urau »u.uv«ting, why should not we ? “During the year one important step has been taken by Governors. They have wisely resolved to give free education to four pupils from public schools who come next in order of merit to the successful competitors in the scholarship examinations, at the beginning of next month. A school like this, the only one in the district which can be said properly to be a link between primary and University education, must ever be most deeply interested in the success of these scholarship examinations. They are the cream separators from the educational standpoint j or if not, they ought to be such. I venture to say that they have fallen far short of what they ought to have been. Not only has there been a poor attendance of competitors, but the after results haw been small, I understand we have some 3500 children attending our public schools in South Canterbury. This gives for scholarships an annual revenue of about £260 and yet the number Of candidates for the substantial prizes at the disposal of the Board of Education is comparatively speaking About one out of every 200 children

compete! But this is not all. From the last report of the Education Board I find that Waimate and Temuka supply threefourths of these candidates, and Timam only two. In other words the competition is being restricted to those schools where to a greater or less extent those extra subjects are taught which constitute so conspicuous a - feature of the scholarship requirements in this district. It is not for me to make any suggestions, far less to state what I know, as a practical schoolmaster, is to blame for this unsatisfactory state of matters. Ap Eector of this school, which in this district ought to he the link between the lower and the higher education in the colony, it is my duty to say that I am far from satisfied. When I came here eight years ago I felt that if 1 was to succeed in ipaking'Jho Timuru High School anything like what a High School ought to be, I ought to, I must, get tho best pupils of the district ns discovered by those scholarship examinations. My efforts were accordingly directed'to this end, and -■ after much private endeavour and some newspaper correspondence, I have been able to secure most of the scholarship holders. This year I believe I havo had most of them. Parents have come to feel that if children are worth scholarships they are worth educating, with some well-defined object in view j and go, in not a few, cases, country parents hare

succeeded in inducing the Board of Educaj tion to allow their children to be educated j here. In this they have acted wisely. But 1 I wish to call particular attention to the j to the remarks I am now going to make to I show that the success of this school has not j been owing very much to the scholarship holders. The school has been in operation eight years, and I cannot do hotter than institute a comparison between ordinary High School'pupils a-d their fellow pupils who have been • holders of scholarships from the Board of Education. Wo have matriculated no less than 45 students. Of these no less than 34 are ordinary pupils, leaving 11 who have been holders of scholarships. It has been said of some High Schools and Colleges —Oh! they only matriculate the clever pupils they get from Board Schools who get scholarships. In the face of the following facta is that true of us, I shall mention names. In my first register of girls in 1880 I find the following: Miss Korah Cooper, Miss Edith Cooper, Mies Ethel Lovcgrove, Miss Edith Hassell, Miss Margaret Bowkor, and Miss Jessie Crammoud. They all have matriculated, and one, Miss Bowker, is in her second undergraduate year. Nett year I find the names of Miss Ettio Wood, Miss Mee, Miss Hart, and Miss Partridge. The latter became headmistress of Kangiora High School, but—the fate of clever bright girls—she, like Miss Cooper, got married. Next year I find Miss Edith Fussell, who is now an undergraduate in her - second year. And then we have had Miss Nellie BUton, who has all but completed her College course, and but for sickness would have been now a B.A. In 1884 Miss Bessie Ballantyne and Miss Margaret Billon entered the School, and have since distinguished themselves. Afterwards I find Miss Hennah and Miss Ida White, the latter being now in her second year as an undergraduate. Nor should 1 omit mentioning Miss Lily Campbell who has matriculated in Glasgow and gained a scholarship - £4O a year —a large sum in Scotland. This is a list of seventeen young ladies arid they st-ihd in comparison with the three girls the scholarship examinations have given us, Miss Mary McLean, Miss Joan McDonald, and Miss Eliza Pearson. There are seventeen—somewhat more than one to six ! The meshes of the scholarship net are not properly adapted for catching good hauls. I must not forget the boys. In my first register of boys, I find the names of Robert Ward Tate, John Campbell, Gustav Jones, Earnest Jones, Francis Foster and Frederick Poster. Of these the first is now a solicitor, John Campbell, after graduating 8.8 c., with honours (which means something at a Home University) is now Chemical Demonstrator in the Glasgow and West of Scotland technical College while the two Fosters, after passing their Medical Preliminary Examination in Edinburgh are distinguishing themselves by carrying off various prizes in their classes’ In 1881 in the register first mention is made of Curtis Plante, Guthrie Plante and Robert Stuart Plante, of Percy Cook, Robert Ross Sutter. Edward Cotter, and James Kelman, Of the Plante family it is needless to say much. They would succeed no matter what the teachers, no matter what the school. Let’ it suffice to say that Curtis last year gained a Junior Scholarship and is doing splendid work at Canterbury College. Perqy Cook is a successful student of medicine in Dunedin, and James Kelman passed the Preliminary Law Examination; The other pupils I have mentioned as entering in 1881 will yet be heard of. In 1832 I find the names of Walter Fnssell and Albert H. Jones. The latter is now an undergraduate in his third year. Then follow the two Baileys, one of whom is now studying law in Victoria and the other is intended for a military career. Curiously enough, as in the girls’ case so in the boys’, it is a list of seventeen. Against this list I must set the Board scholars who have matriculated : William F. Ward, who gained a Junior and a Somes Scholarship, Ashton Kay, Herbert Barclay, James Goldsmith, John McKenzie, Alfred Stubbs, Chas Bourke, Joan McDonald. Mary McLean Eliza Pearson, and Alex. Bell. Of these only three have gone beyond matriculation. Of the ordinary pupils of the school, to summarise, ten are prosecuting their studies at some one or other of the various Universities. Glasgow, Edinburgh, Melbourne, and New Zealand: and four of our girls have advanced certain stages beyond matriculation. “In the list of scholarship holders published about a year and a half ago by the Board of Education there are thirty-three names. Of these thirty-three, eleven only have matriculated, or one in three.- And these eleven have all passed two or three years at the Timaru High School. What about the 22?

“ I cannot omit consideration of the position of art in this school. As most of you are aware we are about the only secondary school in the colony that has attempted by means of the ordinary staff to give instruction in painting and drawing. In Dunedin and in Christchurch pupils of the High Schools who take up these very important branches are systematically and regularly taught in the Schools of Art of these towns. These Schools are of immense importance in fostering the taste of the communities in which they are situated. In Timaru we cannot have such advantages for many a long year. Well for eight years this school has been doing something to foster taste among the young people here, and those of you who have been at the various Speech Days we have had have seen for yourselves what we have been doing. I have on previous occasions said that our show of work of this kind was good, and I gave this opinion after having seen what was done mother places. lam pleased to think also that some of our former pupils who distinguished themselves here in our painting and drawing classes are. turning to some account the taste and culture formed within these walls. The other day I observed in one of our booksellers some nicely painted Christmas cards, done I understand by some old pupils, and done remarkably well. This is as it should be. Pupils should if possible turn their talents to practical account If, however, any should criticise the work of our pupils, and there is plenty of room for criticism, let that criticism bo generous and en-

couraging. If it is censorious, I ask you to remember where you are—in a small town ; I ask you to remember that our funds are small; I ask you to remember that we are doing what many other secondary schools dont even attempt. But I intend to go-a step further, and find some fault with that colonial rush and haste to make a show, a spirit which militates against what I should call first-class work. Pupils will shade before they can draw straight lines j pupils will commence to paint before they know much about the scientific and technic bases of the art. Dont these Speech Day exhibitions encourage this haste and hurry ?. Dont parents encourage it themselves. “My daughter has been such and such a short time at school, and see what she can do.” This remark applies to instruction in all the Fine

Arts in this colony. If we inaugurated a different system —we should have little to show you at Speech Day; in too many cases with pupils who remain, only a short time at school— a year or two—tedium and weariness -would supervene and the study would probably be abandoned. “ The position of the physical training department - is not satisfactory in this school. An optional subject, or a subject for which a separate fee is charged is never in a wholly satisfactory condition. Of course it is quite right that some subjects should bo optional, and that separate fees be charged for such subjects, but this should never be the case with subjects which arc regular branches or departments c?f the curriculum of the sphool. Physical education is or ought to be a regular branch of bur curriculum, and yet our excellent drill instructor is paid by a few small fees. On the girls’ side tjie attendance has been fairly satisfactory: some twenty-five, but on the boys’ side only four or five have been receiving systematic instruction in the gymnasium. Of course, you will say why not give Mr Jones a salary and be done with it. Then every boy must attend the gyoastjc class and you will he satisfied; But you must bear iq mind that the Eector proposes the Board disposes. I applied this year for this change. Next year 1 shall do the same thing, and if it is not granted then I can only re apply at such a reasonable space of time intervening that the Board cannot well vote mo a bore. Our cadets are continuing to flourish, and I hope they will, continue to give a good account of themselves. I have just a word to say about our cricket and

football. I know that in some quarters an idea seems to exist that the public schools, and I reckon I must include this High School dout give sufficient time or attention to these time-honoured games. But those who think so cannot have carefully considered how unfortunately we are, circumstanced. Our p’ayground is so narrow that in our matches we often get into trouble by kicking the ball over the fences into our neighbours’ gardens, and scores of cricket balls have been lost. What is wanted in Timaru, and it is wanted very badly is a good cricket ground in the town. The very excellent Athletic Grounds are too far away and perhaps they are somewhat exclusive.