UNIFORM SCHOOL BOOKS.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 June 1926, Page 12

UNIFORM SCHOOL BOOKS.

In evolving a scheme for the standardisation of school books, the Taranaki School Committees’ Association has done solid work for the cause of education. Standardisation, as was explained by the secretary to the association (Mr. T. M. Avery) really means a standardising of the method of selecting the books from which the children in our primary schools are to receive tuition. The gist of the scheme is that all subjects taught from text books should be carefully studied and analysed, and the constituent factors of each subject given a numerical value, varying in accordance with the value each factor bears to the subject as a whole. A committee (presumably of experts) representative of the whole Dominion, ’,'ould be appointed every five years to so appraise and determine the text books to be used throughout the Dominion. The scheme has been submitted to various school committees in Taranaki, but not so much interest as the subject deserves has been shown by them. The school committees’ associations at both Wellington and Auckland have, however, approved the scheme, and it has now been decided to send it to the Education Department for*it,s consideration. The idea of cheapening the cost of school books to the parent is not the main factor in the scheme, though it is possible that this might be a result of its adoption. The aim is to ensure that children shall be taught out of the best text books available. No less an authority than the late Chief Inspector of Schools in Taranaki (Mr. Valentine) has expressed the opinion that there is room for improvement in this respect, and there will be few who will disagree with that opinion. If selection by a committee, who will proceed on defined methods in appraising the value of books, can ensure a better selection without seriously increasing the cost to the parents or to the educational authorities, eliminating also the difficulty which the use'of different text books by the various Education Boards now entails, there 'seems' no reason why the reform cannot be adopted by the Education Department.