EDUCATION

Te Ao Hou, March 1960, Page 61

EDUCATION A small number of Maori men were already scaling the academic heights over fifty years ago. Similarly today, men are aiming for and achieving greater success in the universities than the Maori women. This is probably quite normal and one would expect men to outnumber of the women among university graduates elsewhere. However, in other aspects of education it is often the girls that make better progress. In primary schools at Form I and II level the girls frequently show greater interest and make better progress than the boys. This is so, not only in the 3 R's, but also in the social and general affairs of the school. In schools that award a Dux cup each year, the best pupil is more often a girl than a boy. I know of one school where in six years no boy's name appears on the trophy. It may be that girls at this stage are more receptive than boys; it may be that the requirements of school have more attraction for the girls (neatness, quietness, doing your best work, con-

sideration for younger pupils and so on), while the boys need to assert themselves in boisterous behaviour and even in occasional resistance to the teacher's guidance and authority. Whatever the reasons may be, teachers have noticed that it is easier to persuade Maori girls to go through post-primary school and on to a career. In recent years this feature was noted in the Training Colleges. Inspectors remarked that numbers of promising Maori girls were joining the teaching profession and they wished to see similar numbers of capable Maori boys. When we remember that numbers of these same Maori girls are being absorbed into nursing, dental nursing, commercial positions and other highly skilled careers, it does appear that Maori girls are entering the professions in greater strength than their brothers. These remarks have not been heard so frequently this last year or so and it may be that the trend has been reversed. I would hope so, for I feel that the future of Maoris in the various professions must depend largely on our menfolk.