THE Thames Advertiser Favour to none; fear of none; justice to all. THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 1892.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XXV, Issue 7170, 10 March 1892, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser Favour to none; fear of none; justice to all. THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 1892.

It would be a mistake to suppose that the matter at issue betweeu the Auckland Board of Fducntion and the Board of Governors of the Thames High School simply concerns Mr Bourne, of the Auckland Grammar school, and Mr Adams, of the Thames High School, in their personal or professional relations. The personal and professional element in the case is of no real importance, but it is of great importance that all the schools of this or that grade in the district should stand on an equal footing as regards the possession of the material from which the pupils have to work. It is because this, is not the case in the instance under notice that tho High School here has a grievance. The text.books for the scholarship examinations for tho year have not only been selected on the re , - commendation of Mr Bourne, but the examination has beon suddenly changed

to the extent that tlio standard portion of English and French has boon lowored, and a special 'feature made of the study of Julius Cfcaar, through a portion of his own Commentaries, Shakespeare's

play, and a not rorv delectable section of Virgil.' All this has boeu done by the Educationußoard under Mr Bourne's advice: Aiid the two resultant facta in which the public arc interested are, that nn undesirable lop-sidedness has been given to the work for the scholarships, and that the pupils of the Thames High School have boon placed at a die* advantage, inasmuch as the French text has been unobtainable, the Latin

only by some pupils, whilo all of them have had to put up with a poor edition of Shakespeare. TJuleaa it can be shown that Mr Bourne's students have laboured under similar disadvantages, the Thames High School has, clearly, a grievance in this nutter. The effectual remedy lies, of course, in getting the syllabus drawn up by competent outsiders, and always so well ahead of the examining period that no candidate can be in a position essentially better thau that of another rb regards the text or study of the various subjects, It is this view which the Thames High School Board of Governors has to press upon the Board ot Education for the latter's practical acceutauce,