TRAINING BOYS AND GIRLS

Taranaki Daily News, 11 September 1934, Page 29 (Supplement)

TRAINING BOYS AND GIRLS

EDUCATION BOARD’S POLICY TEACHING IN AGRICULTURE. VALUE OF CLUB MOVEMENT, “Mr. S. G. Smith, M.P., in his fore,word and introduction to the suggestions on the course of agricultural education in Taranaki schools says, 'Over a long term of years it has been the policy of the Taranaki Education Board to lay special stress on the teaching of nature study and agriculture as an integral part of the instruction of boys and girls'alike.’ The board has watched with particular pride the growth of the Boys and Girls’ Club movement in Taranaki and there is now scarcely a school in the district where the pupils have not the opportunity of joining one or other of the competitions. The work is of great educational importance. Whether the child is to find his life work on the. land or elsewhere, this training in resource and husbandry, along with the acquired love of growing a thing—plant or animal—will stand him in good stead. “All recent developments in our education system tend towards a broad, well-balanced curriculum and the board looks, to its . teachers to carry on rural science work in all its ramifications. Comprehensive schemes have been laid down , providing instruction in nature study, agriculture (indoor and outdoor studies), dairy science, agricultural clubs and other home projects including stock rearing, - calves and lambs, field crop raising,, vegetable plots, home gardens, * domestic science competitions, bee-keep-ing and pig-rearing, forestry, etc. By this means.' it is expected that gradually the experiences gained in this work will have a real meaning, and in ..time it will begin to dawn on pupils that there is behind everyday things, a reason, a

cause and effect, which he himself can work-out. Even if the child in adult life does not graduate into farming itself, he will he serving a farming community. Hence 1 the choice of agriculture for the foundation of science work in Taranaki. “For the more advanced years of the course, elementary dairy science can be chosen, and of utmost importance (Oh, ye farmers who hate pen work and filling in forms!) pupils are trained to keep accurate records, diaries and note-hooks, and elementary book-keeping. Plants, grasses,, clovers, soil, manures and fertilisers are studied so that at the end of his primary school life the average girl or boy is. able to think intelligently, and, perceive more ' clearly the why and wherefore' of common occurrences. “Thus it is hoped that by first interesting children through the Boys and Girls’ Club movement in farming occupations; giving them opportunities to take actual part in its activities,. and encouraging them to do actual competitive work, they will be imbued with a love of the country and a desire for improvements and progress. “Established first in .South Taranaki in 1920 with a root-growing competition, and a calf-rearing competition the following year, good progress has since been made in the Boys and Girls’ Club movement. In 1933 there was upwards of 1400 competitors in this district. With the' spread of the movement the two main executives, South Taranaki at Hawera, and North Taranaki at New Plymouth, have been added to by the formation of. executives to control the work in the Ohura, Tainui and Marakopa districts. These executives vary. from district to district, but the representatives

of the various interests have always cooperated most harmoniously. A. and P. societies, the Farmers’ Union, the teachers, school committees, and the instructors of the Department of Agriculture and the Education Board are represented, while on the South Taranaki executive, representatives of the Women’s Division of the Farmers’ Union and the Women’s Institutes also sit. In North Taranaki the movement is fathered by the Taranaki Agricultural Society, which appoints the executive from the above interests and from the various districts served. The executives appoint one or more farmer-supervisors in each school district who guide and encourage the competitors with practical advice on feeding, selection, health or work on the plot;' who further interest in the club movement, particularly among parents; make arrangements for identification of animals and see to the distribution of seeds, manures, etc. “School forestry has earned for itself an important place in the scheme of agriculture. In the ten years that have pass-1 since its introduction upwards of 58 acres of plantations in small areas around schools have been. established and tens of thousands of trees distributed among settlers and other schools. “High value is placed on the school sections of the local Agricultural and Pastoral Winter Shows. Apart from any stimulus the children may get as exhibitors, the competitions are a means of bringing school work under the notice of the public whose sympathetic support, goodwill and understanding mean so much for t’e smooth working and progress of education. These shows are a “pooling place” for ideas, and an*inducement to pupils and teachers alike togive of their best. “The Taranaki Education Board hopes by thus instiling in the pupils a good, sound elementary knowledge of the rural life of the province that they have sown seeds which on maturity will not only raise the status of dairy farming as a whole, but provide the future dairy farmer with a better mental i equipment and wider outlook.” H. W. INSULL. Secretary, Taranaki Education Board.