The Daily News WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1930. INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLS.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 September 1930, Page 6

The Daily News WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1930. INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLS.

Of sucli vital importance to the future of the country is the system of education that any alteration has to be considered with the utmost circumspection, not only from an academic point of view, but more especially its trend in the direction of co-or-dination and practical results. "When the proposal to establish an intermediate .school at New Plymouth came under the consideration of the New Plymouth High Schools Board on Monday reports from the three principals all coincided in the opinion that such a school could most satisfactorily be established in active conjunction with the New Plymouth high schools’ system. To those who have studied this new departure in. educational methods it m,ust have been obvious that no other conclusion could have been arrived at by specialists of ripe experience and sound judgment such as those at the head of the three departments under the board’s control. While all the reports were rightly designated as very valuable, that of the head of the boys’ school, Mr. W. H. Moyes, stands out as a masterly contribution towards the elucidation of a problem which must be examined in the light of the real aim of modern education. That aim should be to’ combine academic and vocational training in order Io produce good citizens, who will advance the best interests of the country as well as their own future. As a matter of course it cannot lie disputed that there are many localities in the Dominion where it would not be possible to establish an intermediate school in conjunction with high schools enjoying such an exemplary organisation and all the advantages essential to an amalgamation of ihe academic and vocational sides as those which exist at New Plymouth and Waitaki. It follows that Mr. Moyes is impelled to ask why why the type that is admitted to be a success at Waitaki should be departed from at New Plymouth, where conditions are similar. The department will not find it easy to give a convincing reply to that question. He rightly believes that the solution in all centres is Io create schools of ihe modern type by attaching io existing secondary schools Forms I and 11,

In that way, he claims, the academic and vocational sides could be placed together, and freed from the prejudices with which in the past one section Jias looked at the oilier. Splendid results having been achieved in this way at some of the public schools in the Old Country, where conservative views and traditions are most difficult to live‘down, it may reasonably be deduced that in such a progressive country as New Zealand the welding of a complete educational system on lines of equality of opportunity must be the ideal goal of the authorities. The elimination of artificial distinctions between the trades and the professions is a most laudable movement, and now that agricultural training takes its place as a'science there can really be no satisfactory answer to the sound, commonsense contentions put forward in Mr. Moyes’ admirable report. In the report of the principal of the Girls’ High School, Miss D. N. Allan, stress is laid on the fact that it is essential to understand what is best for the pupils, and it is quite in accord with reliable expert opinion that Ihe principal of that department emphasises the desirability of girl pupils commencing secondary work early, as statistics show that as soon as they gain sufficient proficiency in ’shorthand and. typewriting to secure employment they leave school. Under the neW scheme that knowledge would be gained two years earlier. An argument of that kind cannot be ignored or lightly put aside for it is a lesson in the kind of economics which is of much practical use at the present juncture and at all times. There is yet another among many of the arguments submitted to the board that bears evidence/ of constructive criticism, and that is the matter of control, whereon the principal of the technical department, Mr. A. L. Moore, places due stress. It is of far greater importance in both primary and secondary schools is generally considered, for it is the lever whereby character is raised to the high plane on which success, in the world greatly depends. The assertion made by Mr. Moyes that the continuity of education is essential to pricle in the school and its traditions is well founded and the effect of such an environment, the provision of . adequate playing fields such as those at the New Plymouth High Schools, and the facilities for the study of agriculture and technical work make an ideal training place for successive rising generations. Facts of this nature should surely convince the Education Department of the wisdom and sound policy embodied in the reports.