Maori Colleges of To-day

Te Ao Hou, Spring 1954, Page 29

‘Many of the girls here are third generation pupils,’ said the Rev Mother Superior, ‘their mothers and grandmothers went through St. Josephs.’ Maori Colleges of To-day As the school has existed almost without interruption since 1867 this is not to be wondered at. It explains a lot about the hold of this St Joseph's Maori Girls College, and some other church colleges, on Maori sentiment. One might almost say the schools have become part of Maori tradition. Great and rightful praise is always given to the bright new schools opening up all over the country, but are they really to be compared to the strange and hallowed institution to which grandmother used to travel for three weeks on horseback? Her largely illiterate village farewelled her with hot tears as though she would never return. The story of her school years has become a favourite family topic and no efforts are too great to save grand-daughter's school fees. In recent months I have visited three of the Maori mission colleges. What do they contribute at present to the education of the Maori child? The first answer of course is that they are places where teachers and pupils join in serving God. One teacher told me that he ascribed the community spirit and personality development in his school to the influence of common worship. The arts of European civilisation were first spread among the Maori people through the Mission schools. Farming, carpentry and home science were all part of the curriculum and what was in the beginning a civilizing mission now fits neatly into the wide programme of the ‘new education’ which emphasises the same subjects. Until recently Maori mission schools specialising in secondary education absorbed the great bulk of Maori high-school students. Last year they taught 806 out of a total of 4,541 pupils. This is still a big percentage, and it includes an overwhelming percentage of the boarding pupils. The physical amenities offered vary considerably from school to school. Educationally, the

schools tend to select one or two courses in which they specialize and in which they aim to set the highest standards. At Te Aute College, for instance, the courses are professional and Agricultural, at St. Joseph's professional and commercial. It is felt that where the roll is only slightly over 100, two courses is all that can be economically aimed at and this is clearly a sound plan. Statistics show that pupils at Maori mission boarding colleges are far more likely to reach Form V than Maori pupils at public post-primary schools, (who are mainly day students), and that boarders are also far less likely to stop at Form III. There are many reasons why this should be so; one head teacher at a boarding school gave as his experience that boarders have better facilities for study, a better working spirit, and fewer disruptive influences than day children and suggested this might explain their better progress. If there is any truth in this, it is a crucial task for parents to overcome this difficulty as much as possible. Traditionally, the products of the Maori mission colleges have been leaders in their communities. That was of course before many Maoris went to the public high schools, and it will be interesting to see whether secular, schools will produce an increasing number of the Maori leaders of the future.