The New Zealand TABLET THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1910. THE SCHOLARSHIPS QUESTION

New Zealand Tablet, 1 December 1910, Page 1975

The New Zealand TABLET THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1910. THE SCHOLARSHIPS QUESTION

—__ fT appears that the anticipation expressed in our columns last week- —based on the prediction of a usually reliable press correspondent the Education Amendment Bill would ho amongst the slaughtered innocents of the session is not likely to be fulfilled; and at the moment of writing the measure is on the eve of passing its final stages. The salient feature of the Bill is the proposal to make attendance at continuation classes between the ages of 14 and 17 years compulsory according to the discretion of school committees; and there are some important provisions also regarding technical education and other matters. But for Catholics the most interesting feature of the measure is the change made in respect to the distribution of State Scholarships. Under all previous Education Acts the pupils of private schools were absolutely debarred from even competing for these Scholarships. The hardship and injustice of preventing the children of Catholic tax-payers from competing for State Scholarships, and of not permitting such Scholarships to be taken out at approved Catholic secondary schools, was briefly alluded to at the break-up of the Sacred Heart College, Auckland, last year, and ventilated in a leader in the N.Z. Tablet'; a few weeks later came the Inspectors’ Conference, with its unanimous resolution in favor of making all State Scholarships available to the pupils of all State-inspected schools, followed by more leaders in the Tablet and in the leading secular papers; then —as the outcome of the favorable public opinion thus created—comes the Education Amendment Bill, embodying in express terms the recommendation of the Inspectors’ Conference. * Broadly speaking, there are two classes of State Scholarships in New Zealand which open the door to secondary schools for the most promising and deserving of the primary school —viz., Education Board Scholarships and what are known as Junior National Scholarships. Both of these classes of Scholarships are now made available for the pupils of Catholic schools. Under Clause 5 of the new Bill it is provided that National Scholarships, instead of being limited to pupils attending public schools in an Education District, will he open for competition ‘ by pupils in attendance at a public school, a native school, or any other school subject to inspection under the Act.’ As our

Catholic primary schools, with scarcely an exception, are examined annually by the State inspectors, this means that the Junior National Scholarships are made available for practically all our Catholic primary pupils. An even wider extension has been made in the case of the Board Scholarships. Sub-clause 3 of clause 28 of the Bill provides that ' all Scholarships heretofore or hereafter established by the board shall be open to all school children of school age.' In other words, they are to be open to all New Zealand.

These concessionsimportant and well-intended as they undoubtedly are —would be an evil and not a blessing to us if successful Catholic candidates were to be debarred from taking out their Scholarships at approved Catholic secondary schools. The Catholic conscientious objection applies not less to secular secondary schools than to secular primary schools, and the spirit of justice and fair play which has prompted the recognition of that objection by throwing Scholarships open to the pupils of private primary schools finds its natural and logical complement in making such Scholarships available at approved private secondary schools. And, as efficient educational institutions, our Catholic secondary schools are entitled, on their merits, to this recognition. The curriculum of our secondary schools coversas does that of the other secondary schools —the ground which qualifies for Civil Service and Matriculation, and every year an ever-increasing number of Catholic pupils are successfully entered for these- examinations. There is, moreover, ample precedent in various of the Australian States for the course- suggested. In Queensland bursaries and scholarships have been thrown open for competition to every child in. the country, and Catholic children are able to get the benefit of their State Scholarships in the Christian Brothers' College, Nudgee, All Hallows Convent, Brisbane, and other Catholic high schools; while Church of England or other Protestant Scholarship holders who may desire it are permitted to take out their Scholarships at the Church of England College. In Victoria the Jesuit College at Kew, and in West Australia the Christian Brothers' College at Perth are, we believe, similarly recognised. In New South Wales the new Minister of Education has just announced his intention to give effect to a similar proposal, recognising the great secondary schools in the community that arc not under the direct control of the Government. The broad principle the question was admirably expressed by Inspector Stuart, of Auckland, at the■ Inspectors' Conference held in February last:

' If a Catholic child gained a Scholarship at a Catholic primary school, and wished to attend a Catholic secondary school, he saw no reason why such Scholarship should not be tenable at the higher grade Catholic school. There was a great principle involved in the question. If a member of the community contributed to a public fund for a certain object, on no reasonable grounds could he be excluded from the benefits which that fund implied.'

The Education Amendment Bill contains no provision specifying that State Scholarships may be taken out at Catholic secondary schools; and many of those interested in the question have concluded therefore that our secondary schools are still absolutely debarred from participation in the benefits of the State Scholarship system. That is not precisely the position. The new Bill contains no reference whatever to the institutions at which the State Scholarships are to be available; and the matter is therefore governed by existing legislation. As regards Board Scholarships, the consolidated Education Act provides that ‘ the holder of any such Scholarship shall receive the amount of his Scholarship only so long as he prosecutes his studies to the satisfaction of the board, at a secondary school or its equivalent approved by the board.’ And in respect to National Scholarships, the Act provides: ‘The holder of any Junior Scholarship shall be required to prosecute his studies diligently, to the satisfaction of the InspectorGeneral of Schools, at a secondary school or its equivalent approved of by the board and the Minister.’ Practically the only stipulation, therefore, in both cases is that the secondary school at which Scholarships .are to be taken out shall be one approved of by the board. ♦ The position, then, is that there is not now, as heretofore, any legislative obstacle to the recognition of Catholic

secondary schools, and that the administrative question involved is entirely in the hands of the Education Boards. It was generally understood that the new Bill was to settle the matter once for all on clear and definite lines, and it is much to be regretted that when the opportunity presented itself the Government should have "failed to rise to the occasion. Howeveras we have indicatedwe have at least made one legislative step forward, and are so far in a better position than formerly. The obvious course would now seem to. be to allow Catholic pupils to compete for Scholarships, andwhere they are successfulto let application be made to the board to have the Catholic secondary school selected by the candidate ' approved.' There are one or two boards the smaller Education districts—in regard to which we believe such application would almost certainly be granted. In the case of the majority of the boards, however, it is quite impossible to predict what the attitude will be. All that can be done in the meantime is to put the matter to the test. If the boards fall into lineas they have now finally done in the matter of inspection of our primary schoolswell and good; if not, we will at least know where we are and what further steps to take. The one thing to be avoided at all costs is an ignoble sitting still under injustice.