Wairarapa Daily Times [Established Third of a Century.] WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 1911. STUDY OF ARITHMETIC.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LXIII, Issue 9979, 3 May 1911, Page 4

Wairarapa Daily Times [Established Third of a Century.] WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 1911. STUDY OF ARITHMETIC.

A very interesting discussion has beeu going on at the Education Conference, which is now aittiug iv Loudon, una which is being attended by teachers and educationalists from all parts of the British Empire, as to ttio best way of profitably employing the time of young children, so as to ground them in knowledge which will not only be lasting, bat will be of real benefit to them in their subsequent scholastic career. One of the speaker., Mr Jaekman, au ex-Presideut of the .British National Union of Teachers, openly advocated the abolition of arithmetic as a standard or compulsory subject to bo taught to children under

uiue years of ago, basing his argument on the fact "-hat in later years they

cau acquire iv a .few weeks as nmeli knowledge as before that age can bo

crammed i.ifco them in as many months; aud he suggested that their time as youngsters could be much more profitably employed iv increased attention to the learning oi' how to road and write. 'Though, as far as we know, this is the first time that, trie point has been raised publicly, there is no doubt that a large number of parents will cordially agree with Mr Jackman; for neither readiug nor writing tire the brain appreciably, aud to small children are much simpler aud more interesting to acquire than any subject winch deals with puzzling figures; in point of fact, there are not a few growu-up people who have both forgotten all they ever learnt of arithmetic at fioiiool, and have never troubled to since acquire more thau such elementary rudiment, oi' it as will safely carry them through their daily business needs. And all over the world wo rind commercial people deploriug the ignorance o" young men aud women iv their teens, and their inability to accurately add a dozeu columns of figures, an ignorance winch Mr Jackman would no doubt put dowu to their having had arithmetic taught to them at an age when they were unfit to benefit by it, and when it would naturally be difficult for the teacher to sufficiently interest them in their work to induce them to. make any

special attempt to apply themselves to

Its mastery.

It is certainly easy to believe that it would be more profitable in a child's earliest years to devote such time as can be given to study to the teaohing thoroughly and completely of readiug and writing—both being most important subjects, in which a very considerable number of modern children are singularly backward; indeed, in the long ruu ,of life, it would undoubtedly become less important to know even any anthmetio at all, other thau what is picked up naturally, than to be thoroughly well up in reading and writing; and, taking the average child of nine, it is very doubtful, notwithstanding the comparatively long proportion of hours now devoted to figures, whether the amouut ot arithmetic acquired prior to that age is in auy way commensurate to tho labour expended upon its acquisition. There are not a few educationalists of distinctiou who have from time to time averred, and not without much show of reason, that the whole system of modern education is based ou unscientific linos; and who consider that the teaching to the young of what, * cau necessarily bo but a slight aud superficial veneer of kuowlodge on a great multiplicity of subjects in the end ouly leaves their little minds more confused than they were when they started. It is certain that the experieuce of most well-inforuieu aud widely-read people Is that their real kuowledge has been almost wholly acquired since their schooldays were ended : aud that, of all they learut during the long years of tuition to which they wore subjected, reading and writing were almost the only subjects which were of auy real help to them in their own pursuit of knowledge, as they were the only two which they acquired completely aud (lid not have to re-learn in later life. Of course, we do not mean to suggest that schooling is useless—it is undoubtedly most necessary, aud the longer the time which cau be devoted to it the better aud easier are likely to be the final results of the later self education ; but its value is to be fouud, perhaps, more iv the discipline and the formation of character than iv the amount of acquired knowledge instilled into the learner— and the pointing out of the ways aud methods of deeper study and how to effectively pursue them, rather thau in the study itself.