LECTURE.

Western Star, 23 April 1920, Page 4

LECTURE.

EDUCATIONAL REFORM. Mr H. A. Parkinson, M.A., delivered a very interesting lecture in the TWn Hall, O'tautau, on. Thursday evening on education reform. H© said that throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand at the present day education waa receiving more attention than formerly. Thai education system was in great need of reform and extension. As far as New Zealand is concerned education dates back to 1877 when it was a much smaller matter than is believed to be necessary at the present day. The compulsory standard was the IV, and nearly every boy and girl left school when they had passed this standard!. The only exceptions were the children of well-to-do parents, whe went on for another year of two. In 1877; the system took no account of the physical conditions of the children, which are now required for the basis of Education. There was, at that time, no preparation for civic duty. Wince then the franchise has been made universal, and every boy and| giirl has been burdened, when coming of age, with a share in the government of his, or her, town and country. There are also other matters in which, life is changed. In the olden days the home provided most of the training, but this is not now the case. Previously we had practically no communiI cation with the outside world, but uow-w-days, owing to business and diplomatic relations, wars, etc., it is necessary to know what is going cu in all parts of the world. In order , to, meet the additional responsibility i of civic life the education system, re- ' quired to be reformed and extended, i The speaker had been told! that the : education that was good enough for j the parents was good enough for their ! children, but this was not true. Had j the system grown with the growth of the country we would be much better off to-day. It was a good system in 1877, but since that date other countries have left us far behind. The only advances made have been a few high schools, technical schools, and the compulsory standard had been advanced to the VI. He considered . that the amount of knowledge required now could not be implied in a; child in the time allowed. A ohildV ■ character is formed between the ages of 14 and 18, and it is not physically capable of receiving a proper education at 14 years and under. Our occupations are becoming more and more techuicalised. Farming, and many other pursuits, are becoming more scientific and required better education. Education is not schooling required to earn a living, but ia the preparation for life. A boy can, by a proper education, find out where his real interests are, and his life will be a great deal better for him than if he were turned out at 14 to take his chance, as many are. During the war w© have incurred a debt which it will take us many years to pay, andj we have lost thousands of our best young men. To make up for these great losses the country muist produce a very much larger amount than previously. To do this we are not giving our young people the training that is necessary. Less than half of our young people gain a scholarship, and nothing is don© for the remainder after their fourteenth year. The ones who gain the scholarships are the : ones with literary cleverness, and the ' others are the ones of whom it has been said, “He is not very good at school, so he can go to work.” Most of these children have capacities which our schools fail to discover because at 14 years they have not found their feet. For instance, there is no chance of finding out those who are clever at doing things with their hands. We are, therefore, losing every year hundreds of young people with an immense capacity undeveloped. Children who are underfed cannot use their lessons to advantage, and the same applies to those with cold bodies and in cold schools. In Southland the school buildings were much better than in other parts, where the conditions were unhealthy. Tile physical health of children - was the foundation of their happiness and they cannot learn to advantage if they arc unwell. The Institute proposed smaller classes, as many a child leaves school having lost his chance through large classes. In a class of a hundred the teacher must be a strict drill sergeant, keeping the duffers in line with the clever ones. If the classes are reduced to about thirty the clever ones would get a chance to go ahead and pass two standardis in a year, while the duffer would get more attention. At present there itere 1300 to 1400 uucertificated teachers employed in the Dominion, many of whom were unsuited for the work. These unsuitable teachers drift into the small, out- of the way schools, where the children do not get a fair chance. Tire teaching services needs making more attractive, in the matter of salaries and! just in ■appointment and promotions. The salaries are so small that there is not sufficient inducement to get enough new teachers to fill up deficiencies. Ihc administrative power should bo in tiro hands of the local school authorities, as every town should know what was best for itself. The electors had the power to remedy these deficiencies by putting into Parliament a member who would see that this was done. On the motion of Mr E. Harrington Mr Parkinson was accorded a hearty vote of thanks for his interesting and instructive lecture.