THE PRIMARY SCHOOLS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13596, 16 May 1908, Page 2

THE PRIMARY SCHOOLS.

THE OMISSION OF GRAMMAR.

At tho conference of head teachers and assistant teachers in secondary schools, now being held in Christchurch, a discussion took place on Thursday on tho subject of tho teaching 1 of "formal grammar" in. tho primary schools. Tho results of the primary pchool system have from time to time been adversely criticised in certain directions by business men receiving lads from the primary schools for employment in offices. In this case the criticism comes from those Mho receive the boys and girls for further education. Tho discussion "was originatied by Sir J. W. Tibbs, of the Auckland Grammar School, who on the previous day read a paper in which he expressed strong disapproval of the abandonment of history and formal grammar as "subjects' in the primary schools. He said that a good deal of the first quarter of a pupil at tho secondary schools "was now taken up with acquiring Ihe essential elements of grammar, with out a knowledge of which ifc was difficult to teach French or Latin, and ho asserted that there was a deterioration of English composition under the new syllabus, which was probably due to the small knowledge of formal grammar possessed by the children. In the discussion on the paper, Miss Gibron (Christchurch Girls' High School) said that in this respect the equipment of pupiis going to the schools was almost absent. She objected to much formal tttthG shrdl hrdlu hrdl hrdl bwy mfwyw grammar, but more was needed than was taught at present. Girls wrote fluently and copiously, but they did not write much sense. Miss McLean (Wellington Girls' High School) would like to'see more formal grammar, but believed that much_ of the loss in that direction had been recovered in freedom of expression. Mr Morrell (Otago Boys' High School) said tbe reaction from an over-devotion to formal grammar had been carried too far. The president, Mr Bevan-Brown (Christihurch Boys' High School) said ifc was impossible to give instruction in a language with the use of labels—grammatical terms Mr Hogben (Inspector-General) believed that in England grammar was not regarded as a fundamental, but as an educational instrument. He defended the syllabus, and said the defect* in pupil's composition that had been quoted were also apparent when grammar received a great •leal of attention, and they wcro not to be debited to the syllabus.