SCHOOL AND LIFE SHOULD BE MORE CLOSELY RELATED.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18640, 18 December 1928, Page 11

SCHOOL AND LIFE SHOULD BE MORE CLOSELY RELATED.

ADDRESS GIVEN BY COLLEGE RECTOR. “ The view is general in Europe that post-primary education should begin earlier, and that the work of both the primary and post-primary schools should be made more real and brought more into touch with the life of the child out of school. There are alternate courses for the practical and for the literary and scientific. It is held that primary education should finish at the end of the twelfth year. If education is carried on on the old and traditional lines the pupils are stultified. New and practical subjects should be introduced, making for a wide variety with a common core of general subjects for sound culture.”

Modification of the education of the child so as to provide more practical subjects, to bring the school curriculum nearer to that of the life of the child, was urged by Dr J. Hight, rector of Canterbury College, in his address at the annual prize-giving of the Boys’ High School last night. After tracing the early history of the high school, Dr Hight said that the curriculum had changed vastly since 1880. Much stress was still placed on academic training, as far as instruction and the imparting of knowledge were concerned. Criticism had been voiced that there was too much secondary education in New Zealand, and that too many pupils were entering secondary schools. The speaker did not agree with the criticism, which, however, might be right if the construction were put on it that the system of teaching was wrong. Business men would say that secondary school boys did not receive a training fitting them for responsibility. Making comparisons with his experiences abroad, Dr Hight said that in the last ten years' there was keen interest shown in education, which, it was felt, must be a preparation for life in all its aspects. Life was becoming more and more complex, and we in New Zealand were drawn into the intricacies of world politics, to cope with which proper training was required. It was being increasingly recognised that the fate of nations depended on the character of the mass of the people. The age was a revolutionary one, with rapid changes in ideas and ideals. It was necessary to mould educational institutions to give expression to changes of outlook.

“In the countries of advanced thought, such as Great Britain, parts of Western Europe, and America, one finds that the age limit for secondary education is higher than in New Zealand,” continued Dr Hight. “ The education svstems in those countries are better adapted to the stages of the child's life, and have a view to his or her future path in life. There is a greater interest in education generally, and this is due to the greater power and responsibility devolving upon the town, county or province abroad. “ A variety of subjects gives the child many avenues of study and activity, and enlarges the field for his or her choice of a vocation.

“ The cost of modifying the system in this direction would not be excessive. I welcome, therefore, the proposal that a junior high school be established in Christchurch. The Board of Education in England declares that a definite break in the life of the child should be made at the age of eleven years, when he or she should pass on to a different school. “ The Minister of Education in this country has an opportunity for great work. It has often been said in New Zealand that we stand in need of the best education the world can offer. We are far removed from the intellectual centres of the world, but are in a fine land peopled by fine stock; and we owe it to the young people to allow them to work out their effects to the full. We can do this only by providing the best type of education available.”