BOOK-KEEPING.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9714, 11 April 1899, Page 2

BOOK-KEEPING.

DISCUSSION AT THE EDUCATION * ' BOARD. At the Education Board last evening' tho following report was read from Mr H. Vereker Bindon, Chief Inspector, with reference to book-keeping being taught in Class X. (Standard VII.): — I oiimlol say that I am in favour of bookkeeping being taught in Clasß X. I am convinced that if the teaching of bookkeeping wore taken U]) in the majority -At not all— of the schools ilt which this 1 class is represented no results comlndnsurdte with the time thai; would ltd Va f o lie devdldd to attempting to instil tllo very rudiments of tho subject would bo obtained, while— : and I make tt point df thin— general , Arithmetic would .materially suffer. It ajipcjtrs to.mo rlidt the pilpils would employ their time to advdntago in. securing a lnbre accurate knowledgo than Is .generally obtained in Standard Vj: of othcr i Branches of,technical arlihmo,tic, such as building, pajjer 7 ing, painting, and carpefjjug. ropinsj glazing windows ; invoices, bankruptcies, commission, partnership, investments, etc., and such like. The most, I think, wo can expect in the way of book-keeping — if I may call it by such a name — is that pupils should know how, when given a few items, to place them severally on the proper sides of a ledger, and show correctly a balance on either side. I may say that when somo twenty years ago I waa headmaster of one of tho largest schools in the colony, in Auckland City, tho teaching of .book-keeping was compulsory; and many of my old boys, slnd those of my brother headmasters in thd city, are now In high intiralntiiti positioh&i But in tho&d dilyd 1 noVcr knew One buslnCdß inttn In whose employ boys woro who did not say some such words as these: — "I wish you would lcavo your book-keeping alone. Send your boys to us well ground in the principles and the practice of arithmetic, and wo will Boon teach them what book-keep-ing wo want. At present our general complaint Is that they are_ not accurate and quick enough; your time would be better spout in improving them in these respects, rather than in dabbling m book-kcepiiigj Und thereby causing no trouble in 'unteacliing' them what they had learned) for their knowledge, while correct enoiigh in itself, does not suit our motilods." "Technical education" is, no doubt, just at present a voi^r nice catch, cry, but I should like to point out that;, owing to the number of subjects in tho present syllabus, the most important onos are suffering thrdiigli not receiving sufficient time. In English alone, for instance, wo could dd with at least threo liourß more per week, if wo are to imbue our pupils with any taste for solid educative reading and culture without which, it appears to me, there can be no true technical training. Tho Chairman (Mr Bridge^ moved that the syllabus prepared by the Inspector for Class X. be adopted, to come into force at once, and no one to bo examined in these subjects before Ist of January, 1900.

Mr Baker, while agreeing that book-! keeping ohould bo taughf in tho public schools, said ho did not think it should be commenced in Standard VII, fiR only the childron in the townß remained in that standardj and no" country children would bo taught, even the simplest rudiments. Therefore ho favoured the relegation of tho subjoct for the consideration of the meeting of Education Board representatives to be held in Wellington. ' Sir Spurdle moved, as an amendment, that book-keeping be added to the syllabus for Class X. He said that, with all duo respect to the inspector's report, ho thought the experience o^practical men of business was of equal value, and tho general feeling was that it would bo a most useful subject to teach in our schools. While they were unable to introduce book-kooping into tho lowor standards, owing to tho present overcrowded condition of the syllabus, there was an opportunity for making it one of the subjects to bo taught in tho new standard. With regard to tho lowor standards, he believed a groat deal of time was devoted to subjects of less importance, such aB map drawing, which waa of little practical uso for pupils. Mr Adams seconded the amendment. Ho said ho thought the inspector had considered tho matter with an idea in his mind that all boys when leaving school wont through a. courso of office- exporioncc, whereas such was not the caRO, especially in country districts. Under the present law it was necessary for everyone to have somo knowledgo to make out thoir returns under tho Land and Income Tax intelligible. It would bo simply impossible for an average settler to mako out his returns with the knowledgo that ho gained from Board schools. Tho^ inspector hnd told them that tho teachers wore not competent to teach book-keeping. If that was the case, ho thought thoy ought to have that knowledge. Ho did not think they ought to teach book-keeping in the lower standards, because it would interfere with the present syllabus, but when in reality tho primary education wbb finished at Standard VI., Class X. was the only practical standard whoro this subject could bo taught. .Air ltobbins said that, while agreeing with the amendment, yet ho did not consider it would do a great deal of good by including it in Standard X., as very many children who ought to be. taught book-keeping would havo left school, especially the very children referred to by Mr Adams, viz., the country scholars. Ho considered that it was very necessary that book-keping should be taught in the schools, ft scoing that the bankruptcy laws at present laii Mich stress upon proper books being kept. He considered that to make it effective it should bo introduced into Bay Standards IV. and V., and therefore it should be one of tho subjpets whicli should be recommended by tho Board to the 1 Conference of Board members to be held in AVollington, when revising the syllabus. ,lle did not consider that too much stress should bo laid upon tho opinion of tho Board's inspector^on. this inattor, as. to a great extent, it was based upon an experience gained 20 years ago, and circumstances had altered greatly since then. Besides, tho same objections were being continually raised against the writing ta\ight in our school. How often did they hear from mercantile firms complaints about tho writing taught, and yet there was not a greater supporter of the present system of writing than Mr Bindon. Ho did not sec why some subject could not bo left- out of this new standard and this this one put in which would be a beginning Thero were 'some things upon which an expert's opinion should carry great weight, yet in a matter like this laymen were in a position to be fair judges. Mesbrs Pirani and Sanson also argued in favour of tho subject being relegated to tho Conference of Education Boards, with a view of its introduction into the syllabus for the lowor standards being considered. Tlio motion was put and carried, Messrs Spurdlo, Bobbins and Adams opposing it.