EDUCATIONAL CHANGES

Taranaki Daily News, 18 July 1930, Page 11

EDUCATIONAL CHANGES

HOUSE RECEIVES REPORT VIEWS GENERALLY FAVOURABLE. ’ * y® DRASTIC REFORMS PROPOSED. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. Initiating the debate on the education report in the House of Representatives to-day the Hon. 11. Atmore said every recommendation had been unanimously reached. He paid tribute to the splendid work of the members of the committee, who had rightly realised that education was a subject above party differences. The first recommendation in the report dealt with the termination of the primary school period at 11 years of, age. This had been reached after a study of the conditions in Britain, where such a course was being very largely adopted.' The theory of the scheme was that every child .about that age had reached the stage , when it was time to discover its aptitudes, after which the remainder of its education should be devoted to developing those aptitudes. It would not be necessary for' legislation to be passed to permit the adoption of the greater part of the recommendations of the report. After outlining other proposals Mr. Atmore went on to stress the necessity for making farming more popular in Now Zealand, and said it must be made attractive through the education system. It should take a prominent place in tho curriculum of every school. It was an absurdity that in the present marking system much more importance wa? attached to Latin than to agricultural science,, which ,was entitled to a milch more important place. A few years ago a technical school was looked upon as a “poor relation” of the high school, but to-day it was a.rival. Thus there was need for unified control. If the two systems were kept in watertight compartments there would be growing antagonism. There was no complete education without practical education, and a unification scheme would cut down administrative expenses which were very high when compared with those of Australia. He believed £50.000 to £66,000 could be saved annually through the elimination of overlapping. By this means it would be possible to increase capitation grants to committees, and money formerly spent on administration would be spent on educating boys and girls. Other phases such as medical inspects of pupils, the dental clinics system and instruction in schools would be the subject of further sections of the report to be presented later. COMMITTEE COMPLIMENTED. Mr. R. A. Wright complimented the Minister and the committee on the painstaking manner in which the report had been prepared and agreed that the problems had been approached in a nonparty spirit. The report was a revolutionary one and he anticipated that some of (the high school boards and other administrative bodies whose powers were affected by the report would take exception to it. He was in favour of the post-primary system. Great credit for tho movement in this direction must be given to Sir James Parr, who had introduced it.

Mr. Wright said he thought tho proposal to have different types of junior high schools was a sound one as it gave country children a chance. The idea of. consolidating country schools was also l und and he looked forward to voting a sum of money for this purpose. Children at small schools where a teacher instructed several standards were seriously handicapped, and this was one of the reasons why people were coming to the towns. Forms of transport such as motor buses could bo used to convey children to the schools. Mr. Wright expressed opposition to raising the school age.

Mr. C. Carr stated that hitherto 'education in New Zealand had' amounted to a fortuitous conflict of discordant features. Mr, Wright had described the recommendations as revolutionary, and Mr. . Carr declared that revolutionary changes were needed. In the past there had been no opportunity to develop any particular aptitude. Pupils had been instructed on a “mass production” principal and had been expected “to swallow the curriculum whole.”

With regard to junior high schools Mr. ■Carr said it had been contended that these would create two breaks instead of one between the primary and secondary instruction, but he was of opinion that ■ instead of creating a break the junior high school system would bridge the gulf. He believed unification of control would meet with general approval. The work of technical and high schools could be unified and correlated. Technical instruction was essential to any education, and cultural instruction was just as important in any course, . THE COST INVOLVED. ’ Mr. W. D. Lysnar said he regarded tho report as a valuable one but 'he thought,members should bo given more information as to the cost involved in itlfe proposed changes. There should be A limit both to the cost and'to the extent of education; He was of opinion that unnecessary work in schools had been the cause of many children wasting pome of the best years of their lives. Ho hgreed that aftei* the age of 11 years education should proceed according to the child’s aptitude, but he did not like fho idea of compulsorily keeping children at school after that age. Parents should have some say in the question of the continuance of education. The hardship provision required to be liberally provided for and administered. • Mr. K. S. Williams hoped that country children would be given facilities as nearly as posssiblo equal to those of town children. It was the lack of facilities in the country at the present time that was driving people to the towns to educate their children.

Mr. W, A, Bodkin, chairman of the education committee, said the evidence in favour of increasing tho compulsory school age to 15 had been overwhelming and had fully justified the committee’s recommendation in this respect. There was .every indication that post-primary education would introduce a typo of School distinctly advantageous to the Community. The committee had thoroughly. . explored every possibility and lie was satisfied that the change would be appreciated by the people.

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education was the expense, and after investigating the position fully it had satisfied itself that tho proposed system would not involve any more expenditure than that devoted to the present primary and secondary schools, and would possibly cost less. With regard to the consolidation of country schools the committee had considered that any extra expenditure would he more than justified.

Mr. F. Langstone advocated the total elimination of education boards. Ho believed a greater amount of efficiency could bo obtained if all primary, secondary and other schools in a district formed an association to undertake tho administration of that district. As tho services of such an association would bo voluntary there would be an added saving of expenditure. He thought the report might have done more for children in the backblocks, who were entitled to the best education the country could provide. There were some of these schools which because of -bad roads and other reasons it would be impossible to Consolidate. * Mr. T. W. McDonald commended the recommendations of the report. He considered it would be a great advance to Jtave women inspectors of schools, because they were .more able than men to understand the difficulties of the children and to ascertain the best means of instructing them. THE NATURAL APTITUDE. Mr. J. A, Young said the recommendations were designed to open the door of opportunity to every child. He stressed the importance of the two years , after 11 years of age in exploring the natural aptitude of pupils. Raising the school age would increase school attendances, and as the .new system would probably bring about smaller classes more teachers would be required, thereby increasing the expense, but this would be balanced by a reduction in administration costs.

Mr, R. McKeen applauded the provisions of the report in the main but said the Minister had not indicated when it was intended to put the recommendations into operation. Mr. MeKeen die not think tile whole task could be achieved in one year, but it could ba done in five years. New schools would have to be built but no estimate had been made of the number required.- He favoured raising the school age to 15 year., as a means of reducing unemployment.

Mr. J. S. Fletcher said there should be no bias in primary education; alb the faculties should be trained so that (.everyone could enjoy life to the. full. At the •same time then, was, perhaps, a good 'deal of ground for the attitude of the committee because the primary industries had been neglected. Representatives of the teaching profession and of ths administrative side should be sent abroad so that the standards in other countries could be gauged. Mr. G. C. Black said vocational guidance and open air schools would be discussed in the second 'section of the report. Tho committee had had its eyes all the time oi. the country schools. Mr. 11. Holland (Christchurch North) cited examples of extravagance under the present system. Mr. C. H. Chapman said he hoped there would be no attempt at economy at the expense of the teachers or of the children or by enlarging the classes. Mr. W. E, Barnard congratulated the committee on the report. Mr. P. Fraser said tho committee believed that under the new system there would be a saving in expenditure, but even if there were an added cost it would be justified by the added efficiency. ■ The Minister thanked tho members for the manner in which they had received the report'. The Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Amendment Bill (Mr. H. G. R. Mason) and the Magistrate’s Courts Amendment till (Mr. Mason) were read a second time! pro. forpi a, and z_; ref erred to- the ■Statutes Revision Committee. ; i The House jmsfe at 10;30 p.m. till 10.30 (i.m 1 . 1 Tomorrow.' .