EDUCATION.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13655, 25 July 1908, Page 3 (Supplement)

EDUCATION.

IX EUROPE AND AMERICA. "At Dunedin last Saturday Mr G. /Hogben gave a lecture on his impressions of. the schools of Europe and America. The "Sliir" .says: he In-spector-General 'look hist- of all the cost of'education, in New Zealand. Aecord- . hi" to his figures, primary education m New Zealand costs approximately the same amount, per head as in .Europe, Italy and Switzerland being the two countries he selected for comparison .with New Zealand. As to secondary education, however, Mr Hogben demonstrated the fact that there is a great, difference between the amount expended under this branch, New Zealand only spending onethird per' head of the amount spent by Italy and Switzerland. In the case of technical and continuation education the disparity was even greater, New Zealand spending 4d as against Is lid per head. Somewhat -contrary to the generally accepted belief, Mr Hogben maintained that the secondary schools of Italy and Switzerland (especially the former) were the best he had visited. He emphasised the fact that although the Germans had the name, the Italians had the secondary schools. The feature of the whole of the school work of Italy he found to be much on the same principle as in Germany—i.e., by demonstration work. The teacher performs all experiments, while the pupils carefully observe and afterwards describe the operations and enlarge on the inferences, deductions etc. In Switzerland also Mr Hogben found a feature of the .work was the pupils' ability to express their ideas, but what most impressed him there was the interest shown by the ■ general community in education; consequently the whole of the system amis at making the pupil a good citizen, interesting him in his work, and teaching him the trades and industries of his town or country. In country districts all the work is directly or indirectly co-ordinated to or correlative with agriculture; while in the towns the work has reference to the trades and industries of the particular town. 'Shortly put, every workman in Switzerland has the opportunity of learnin™ h r s trade in a. continuation school or a " school of industry." Further—unless he has learnt the particular branch which he professes, and has obtained a diploma or certificate for 6uch. he is practically unable to follow up his trade or his profession. . Evidently from the attention Mr Hogben gave to the French system he was not much impressed with it, especially as regards the- country schools. He dealt at 6ome length with the schools of England and the endeavour to make the work bear upon the life of the child as far as possible. Mr Hogben seems to have given a given a good deal of time both in England and America ,to schools for the mentally deficient, also to schools wherein the difficulties are augmented by the fact of the children being of different nationalities. He gave a detailed account of the work of an American school wherein 68 per cent, of the pupils could not speak a word of English on enrolment. The schools of Chicago —which, by the waiy, the lecturer considered to be on the large side in point of size—were specially referred to as regards their staffs and Wie salaries paid them. The lecturer was entertaining, as well as instructive, Mr Hogben relating, among other experiences, how he visited an Arab school at Port .Said, and how the teacher beat down the cupiditv of the pupils, who asked for ." bacsheesh" when the foreigner entered the school.