THE Temuka Leader TUESDAY, AUGUST 29th, 1922. JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 10358, 29 August 1922, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader TUESDAY, AUGUST 29th, 1922. JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS.

A good deal lias been said lately on the subject of Junior High Schools, and the average reader is no better informed than the average member of Parliament. In educational, as in other matters, a nation cannot afford to be so conservative as to think that) .vital is, is best. Experiments j have already been made in many' countries of tbc world, the I’nited Stales, Canada, Australia. Scotland, Wales and other countries, with children from twelve to fifteen years, in the direction of recasting the syllabus of instruction for children of these years. J'or this purpose children are grouped in special schools, designated .Junior High Schools. It has been thought by eminent edit- 1 cationists that the period of eight ; or nine years is too long to he j spent on purely elementary edn rat ion. Thi>. it is I hough! should 'inish when a child is approxi : nialely twelve years of age. with j . attainments equal to our Fourth!; or Fifth Standard. The idea I < thereafter is to have an inter- 1 mediale school, called for want of a better term a .Junior High S.-lioo! between the elementary

school and our High Schools as we have them at the present time. The scheme in i\ T ew Zealand is at present wholly tentative. The Minister of Education proposes to proceed cautiously and experimentally, and it would be unwise on the part of our High School Board authorities to assume an attitude antagonistic to the Minister's tentative scheme. No one can successfully argue that a child’s education should end with the Sixth Standard, and yet that is the position with from | SO (o DO per cent, of our children j at the present day. In fact half | the children Avho enter the ele- i mentary schools never pass the Sixth Standard. Can we claim, on (his score, that our children are as well educated as they ought to lie for the battle of life, or that we arc getting an adequate.return for the money which we spend on education? It is fair for inquirers to ask if a better education and a better return will be produced under the new system. The Minister’s reply is that the Junior High School is an experiment iii that direction. This type of school will continue a child's education until the age of lifteen, and while being in no sense a vocational school, will yet be a trying-out period to determine what a child may be best suited for in after life. The period after fifteen years of age could then be more profitably devoted To an academical training for one’s work in Grammar Schools or Technical Schools than is the ease at the present time. That is the position from the educationists’ point of view, and we must admit that a strong prima facie case has been- established. The working - ont of details is now being done, but we strongly urge parents not to be foolish enough to be antagonistic before the system is given a fair trial. It has gone beyond the experimental stage in several countries and has proved successful, and there is no reason to think that it will be otherwise in New Zealand under wise administration, and with patient sympathy on the part of parents.