1856 - Proposed Scheme of Education for the Province of Auckland - [Text] p 3-24

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PROPOSED SCHEME OF EDUCATION FOR THE PROVINCE OF AUCKLAND.

THE necessity of making due provision for the education of the people has lately been admitted by the Legislature in most of the Provinces of this Colony. Educational measures have already been enacted in Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury and Otago. And in this Province, legislation on the subject has been delayed, only because of the supposed difficulty of framing a suitable and satisfactory measure.

Under these circumstances, a few individuals of various religious persuasions, whose names are subscribed to this Document, lately met together in Auckland for the purpose of considering whether this difficulty might not be overcome, and a measure be framed which would meet the wants of this Province, and give satisfaction to a large portion of the community, without offending the conscientious convictions of any section of it. They soon found that, by making mutual concessions which did not involve the sacrifice of principle, they were happily enabled to come to an agreement upon this much vexed question; and after due deliberation they drew up the following scheme, which it is intended to submit to the consideration of the Provincial Council at its next session.

Grants from the Public Revenue.

1. As no sufficient provision exists for Education in this Province, it is expedient, that voluntary efforts for this purpose should be aided by grants from the Public Revenue.

2. Such grants from the Public Revenue shall be given in aid of secular instruction only, and shall be awarded to all well-conducted schools, in which the provisions hereinafter mentioned shall be complied with.

Board of Education.

3. Commissioners of public instruction, not less than five or more than nine in number, shall be appointed by His

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Honor the Superintendent; such Commissioners to constitute a Board for the administration of the proposed system of education.

4. The Board shall annually submit to the Provincial Government a report of their proceedings, containing an account of all applications made to them for aid, whether granted or refused, with the grounds of their decision, if refused; also the quarterly and yearly average attendance in each of the schools aided by them, and the amount of money granted to each school, together with such other information as they shall think fit to communicate.

Inspection of Schools.

5. An Inspector of Schools shall be chosen by the Board, subject to the approval of His Honor the Superintendent, and shall receive a salary of not less than . . . . . per annum. The Inspector shall not exercise any control in the schools inspected by him, or interfere with the religious instruction given in them, or with their discipline or management. His duty shall be to ascertain whether the required amount of secular instruction is satisfactorily given, and whether the regulations of the Board are carried into effect, and to report accordingly. He shall also be ready to assist in the organization of new schools, to suggest improvements in the teaching and discipline of schools, and to give any advice or information in his power, to the Managers and Teachers, if invited by them to do so.

6. Every School aided by the Board shall be at all times open to the visits and inspection of the Board, either by themselves in person, or by their Secretary or Inspector, or by any one authorised by them for that purpose.

Religious Instruction.

7. The managers of all schools receiving aid from the Public Revenue, shall be at liberty to make such provision as they shall think fit, for the communication of religious instruction in the schools under their charge, without any interference on the part of the Government; provided, however, that those children shall be exempted from attendance at the time of formal religious instruction, whose parents or guardians shall signify their desire to that effect by a written application to the Conductor of the school; provided also, that such an amount of secular

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instruction shall be given in all such schools as shall satisfy the Government.

Secular Instruction.

8. The following branches of instruction shall be required in all Schools aided by the Board, except Infant Schools: Reading, Writing, Spelling, Arithmetic, Geography, History, English grammar, and the theory and practice of Vocal Music, according to the age and standing of the pupils. And in mixed and girls' Schools, provision shall also be made, if practicable, for the teaching of plain needlework. If the Teacher be not competent to give instruction in vocal music, the services of a Teacher of Music shall be secured by the Managers of the School, unless they can prove to the satisfaction of the Inspector that such cannot be procured at a reasonable charge in the neighbourhood.

9. The Board shall exercise no control over the choice of the books used in the School, but shall reserve to themselves the right of excluding any book which they shall conceive to have an immoral tendency.

Qualifications and Salaries of Teachers.

10. Aid granted by the Board to schools shall be applied exclusively to the payment of Teachers and Assistant Teachers, and shall be at the rate of £2 per annum for each scholar, up to the limits hereinafter mentioned; the number of scholars to be reckoned by the average attendance.

11. Before such aid shall be granted to any school, the Board must be satisfied with the Teacher's moral character and fitness to conduct a school; and they shall cause each Teacher to be examined in their presence either by their Inspector or by such other person or persons as they shall appoint for that purpose.

12. Teachers with whose qualifications the Board shall be satisfied, shall receive certificates of the first or second degree, according to the order of merit.

13. The salary granted by the Board to Teachers receiving a certificate of the first degree, shall not exceed £75 per annum for a Master and £50 per annum for a Mistress; and the salary granted to Teachers receiving a certificate of the second degree, shall not exceed £50 per annum for a Master and £35 per annum for a Mistress.

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14. The salaries of Teachers, who have received a certificate of the first degree, may be lowered to those of the second degree, if, through their inefficiency, the schools under their charge do not succeed to the satisfaction of the Board.

15. Teachers who have received a certificate of the second degree, may, after the termination of one year's employment in connexion with the Board, receive a certificate of the first degree, if, upon examination, they shall be found deserving of it, and if they shall be recommended by the Inspector for their diligence and efficiency as Teachers, and for their careful and judicious management of the schools under their charge.

16. The foregoing Regulations shall apply also to Teachers of Infant Schools.

Qualifications and Salaries of Assistant Teachers.

17. If the average attendance in any school shall exceed 40, or in Infant Schools 60, £2 per annum shall be given by the Board for every scholar beyond such number up to the limit of, £30 per annum, provided that such money be applied to the payment of an Assistant Teacher; and if the average attendance shall exceed 80, or in Infant Schools 120, £2 per annum shall be given in like manner for every scholar beyond such number, up to the limit of £30 per annum, provided that such money be applied to the payment of a second Assistant Teacher, and so on for every additional 40 scholars, or in Infant Schools 60 scholars, as the Board shall see fit.

18. An Assistant Teacher shall not be under the age of 15, and shall not receive aid from the Board, unless recommended by the Inspector for moral character and fitness for teaching.

19. A Female employed for teaching needlework to girls in a mixed or girls' school, and for rendering such other assistance as may be agreed upon by the Managers, may, if recommended by the Inspector, be regarded as an Assistant Teacher, and receive the usual salary as such, in accordance with Regulation 17.

20. The salary granted by the Board to an Assistant Teacher shall not exceed £30 per annum.

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Salaries of Teachers liable to be withdrawn in whole or in part.

21. If any Teacher, or Assistant Teacher shall be found incompetent, either from want of skill in conducting a school, or from any other cause, the salary granted by the Board to such Teacher, or Assistant Teacher, may be withdrawn, if the Board shall think fit.

22. Teachers or Assistant Teachers who shall be guilty of any moral offence, or of negligence in their duties, may be punished by the withdrawal of the whole, or of any portion of their salaries, for such time as the Board shall determine.

Appointment of Teachers.

23. The appointment of all Teachers and Assistant Teachers to Schools receiving aid from the Board, shall rest with the Managers, subject to the provisions herein mentioned.

Local Contributions.

24. The Managers of all Schools aided by the Board shall contribute by children's payments or otherwise, not less than an equal amount to that granted by the Board; which contributions shall be applied to the payment of the Teachers and Assistant Teachers aided by the Board, and in the like amount. Any further sums contributed for the use of the Schools beyond this equivalent, may be appropriated by the Managers as they shall think fit. In case, however, the sum contributed by the Managers of any School shall fall short of that granted by the Board, the Board shall be at liberty, as they shall think fit, either to withdraw their grant altogether from that School, or to reduce it to the amount contributed by the Managers.

25. In districts in which, from the paucity of the inhabitants or from other causes, there may be difficulty in supporting a School, the Board shall be at liberty, if they think fit, to make an additional grant to the School beyond the £2 per annum for each pupil; such additional grant not to exceed £30 per annum; and the Managers of the School to be required or not to be required, as the Board shall think expedient, to contribute an equivalent to it.

26. The payments of the pupils in Schools aided by the Board, shall not exceed one shilling per week for each pupil.

27. To entitle a School to aid from the Board, a sufficiently large and well ventilated school-house, supplied with the necessary furniture, together with an open space attached

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to it for play-ground, and the requisite out-buildings, shall be provided by the Managers of the School, and as long as such aid is continued, the buildings and furniture must be kept in good order and repair.

Miscellaneous.

28. A Register shall be kept in every School aided by the Board, shewing the daily attendance, and the average attendance for each week and quarter, according to a form which shall be furnished by the Board.

29. Any Teacher knowingly making false returns of attendance, or evading the spirit of the foregoing regulation by procuring a mere nominal attendance, shall it deemed incompetent ever again to receive assistance from the Government as a School Teacher.

30. A Superintendent shall be chosen by the Managers of every School aided by the Board, whose name shall be submitted to the Board for their approval. The duties of the Superintendent shall be to visit the School from time to time, to examine the Register, to enter his name with the date of his visit after the last quarterly and weekly averages, to certify to the correctness according to the best of his belief of all school returns required by the Board, to see that the Regulations of the Board are carried into effect, to receive from the Board whatever sums the Teacher or Teachers shall be entitled to, and to pay them over to those to whom they shall be due.

31. If any School shall be closed for a longer time than the Board shall conceive to be requisite or desirable for vacation, the salary granted to the Teacher or Teachers of such School may be stopped during that time.

It would be unreasonable to expect that this, or any other scheme of education, should meet with universal approbation. For, although the voice of the public may be said to be almost unanimous as to the duty and advantage of educating the people, there is, nevertheless, a very wide diversity of opinion as to the best mode of doing so. But there is reason to believe that the plan here proposed will be accepted by a large majority of the people of this Province.

All who have considered the subject of public instruction, will be found to lean to one or other of the following methods of providing the requisite funds and machinery.

1. The voluntary plan, which discards State aid altogether, and leaves the education of the people entirely to voluntary exertions.

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2. The Government, or central plan, which, on the contrary, throws the whole responsibility upon the Government of the country, who devise the system and administer it, providing the Teachers and school buildings and defraying the expenses.

3. A system combining the two former, recognising and encouraging voluntary exertions, and at the same time admitting of State aid and supervision.

1. Much may be said in favour of the first of these methods. Many and unquestionable advantages are derived from the encouragement and growth of voluntary exertions; and if the voluntary principle were sufficiently strong to bear the burden, it would doubtless be the wisest course to leave to it the responsibility and honour of educating the people; But in no civilised country is it thought safe to rely exclusively upon it, while in this Province its manifest insufficiency has led to an almost universal demand for State aid.

There are, however, some zealous advocates of the voluntary principle who maintain, that the State goes out of its proper sphere, in granting aid to education out of the public revenue. But if the State only fulfils an acknowledged duty in suppressing crime by penal enactments and coercive means, it cannot surely be going beyond its legitimate functions, in aiming at the prevention of crime by aiding and encouraging education. Would it not seem too, not only more economical, but also much more consistent with the Paternal office of the Government, as well as with the freedom, honour and happiness of a Christian people, to use the proper means for preventing crime, than to wait until it manifests itself in acts of violence, and then to suppress it forcibly by the degrading penalties of the law?

The annual expenditure in the mother country upon prisons and convict establishments, upon criminal prosecutions and police, exclusive of all judicial establishments, exceeds two millions. Five millions are annually absorbed in England and Wales in the maintenance of the Poor Laws, and nearly half that amount in Ireland and Scotland. Immense sums are also spent upon Hospitals and Lunatic asylums. But it is well known, that far the greater portion of all the crime, indigence, and disease, which render these establishments necessary, is occasioned by the neglect of good training in early youth. Can it be inconsistent with the duties of the State to aim at removing these gigantic evils by promoting the education of the young?

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The tenth part of the expenditure now required in the mother country by the machinery for the suppression of crime, or occasioned by wilful improvidence, or recklessly wasted in the indulgence of intemperate habits, would cover the country with schools of a far superior character to those which now exist; and if the managers of those schools were placed by the liberality of the State in a position to secure the services of Teachers of a high standard as to religious, moral and literary attainments, who can estimate the benefits that would accrue to the country, whether we regard the ultimate saving of its resources, or the peace, prosperity and happiness of the people?

In this new country, in which we have the moulding of all its institutions, we shall profit but little by experience, if we are not led to make timely provision against evils which have grown up through long neglect in the mother country, and which all the benevolence and Christian philanthropy of the present day are unable to remedy. In England, overburdened with taxation, every addition to the expenditure, must be met by additional imposts; there is therefore much difficulty in making due provision there for the education of the people. But in this country there is no such difficulty. The Government has it in its power to make the most ample provision for educational purposes, without burdening any one, by simply carrying out the plan already so wisely sanctioned by the Provincial Council, namely, that of reserving a sufficient portion of the waste lands for these objects.

2. Next to the voluntary comes the Government or central plan, which throws the whole responsibility of educating the people on the Government of the country, who devise the system and administer it, providing the Teachers and school buildings,, and defraying the expenses.

However well such a system might work in countries under despotic rule, it is ill suited to a people who have been trained up under free institutions, and it is certain that it would not be acceptable to the British race in this country or in any part of the world. Such a centralising Government system would also inevitably extinguish all voluntary exertions. Of all plans therefore for promoting public instruction, it would be the most expensive to the State. But this is not the most serious evil that would attend it.

It would encourage a spirit of dependence injurious to our national character. And by extinguishing voluntary effort and all the zeal which it brings with it, such a system of education would always be in danger of degenerating into dry mechanical routine, or into a cold intellectual process for sharpening the intellect without reaching the heart.

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3. The third plan, which is a combination of the two former, recognises and encourages voluntary exertions and at the same time admits of State aid and supervision. This is the plan which has been adopted in the foregoing scheme, and it is obviously the one best suited to our national character and institutions, and best adapted to the circumstances of this country.

The voluntary principle alone is insufficient to meet the wants of the country. Government influence alone would utterly fail to secure the activity and zeal, the benevolence and love, which, in a great moral work of this nature, are the most valuable of all ingredients. We cannot dispense with the help which the Government is able to give, but still less can we dispense with the moral influences which the voluntary principle can develope and infuse into this work. "We have happily found it practicable in England," says Mr. Gladstone, "to associate together in the most perfect harmony these two principles--the principle of voluntary exertion, through which you get heart and love and moral influence infused into your school instruction, and the principle of material aid from the state, by which the skeleton and frame-work of your education are provided. But, associated as these two principles have been, it may be superfluous for one man or another to say what he would do, in the event of its being necessary to sever them one from the other. I am convinced that the harmony which has hitherto been maintained between them, even in times of doubt and difficulty, will continue and if possible increase; but if I were driven utterly to abandon the voluntary principle, or to place exclusive reliance upon it, I would not hesitate a moment in making my choice. In such an emergency I would say at once--give me the real education, the affection of the heart, the moral influences operative upon character, the human love, that are obtained through the medium of the voluntary principle carried out by men whose main motive is one of Christian philanthropy, rather than throw me upon a system, which, whatever the intentions of its first mover may be, must sooner or later degenerate into hard irreligion. --We here touch the question of the difference between education and mere instruction--between that which only touches the understanding of man, and that which acts upon his heart, purifies his sentiments, elevates his thoughts, and raises him to the standard of a Christian life. It is that which we expect from the voluntary system, but its spring is found deep in the human heart, in the heart of Christian philanthropy; and you cannot supply by any legislation that which comes from a different source. Aid it you

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may, strengthen and invigorate and enlarge it you may; you have done so to an extraordinary degree; you have every encouragement to continue in the same course; but always recollect, that you depend upon influences of which you get the benefit, but which are not at your command--influences which you may, perchance, in an unhappy day extinguish, but which you never can create." 1

What is required, therefore, in this Province, is some system of education in which so much of government aid and control shall be secured, as may be necessary to call out, stimulate to the utmost, collect and bring into use all the private energy and zeal that are ready to be thrown into this work, without materially impairing that freedom of action which is essential to voluntary exertion. It is hoped that this object will be attained by the foregoing provisions.

The chief difficulty in every system of education, in which Government aid and supervision are admitted, is undoubtedly the religious element in the school.

There are four principal methods of meeting this difficulty:--

These, with some slight modifications, are the principal methods which have been suggested or adopted in different parts of the world, for disposing of this long vexed question.

1. The first of these, namely, the exclusion of religious instruction altogether from the school, although advocated by some whose conscientious convictions are entitled to respect, yet seems so inconsistent in a Christian country, that the marvel is, how any one who acknowledges the Divine authority of the Christian Faith can be found to advocate it. Happily such a measure

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would not be acceptable to the people of this Province, who are not disposed to relinquish the great moral power of religion in training the young, and if forced upon the country, it would necessarily exclude a large majority of the community from all participation in the Government grants for education. It will be unnecessary therefore to spend time, in showing the many and insuperable objections to this method, not of solving, but of escaping the difficulty of the religious question.

2. The next method of settling this question, namely, admitting religious instruction under certain restrictions, which is usually adopted with the hope of combining all Denominations together in the school, generally finds more acceptance with the public than the first. But however plausible and practicable it may seem, at first sight, to choose a common ground in religious teaching, on which all Denominations of Christians may meet, yet when the State endeavours to reduce this idea into practice, it is found to be impossible to do so, without virtually excluding religion from the school, at least during the general school-hours.

For if it be attempted to pare down the Christian Faith, until some common ground is reached, it is obvious the State cannot consistently stop short in this process until all sects are satisfied and included, that is, until almost every feature peculiar to Christianity is effaced from it, for scarcely any truth can be named which is not objected to by some sect or other. Even the Holy Scriptures, if this attempt be impartially carried out, must share the same fate with the chief truths which they contain, and be excluded from schools aided by the State.

It is doubtful too, whether this novel expedient of eliminating from the Christian Faith every truth which may be objected to, and separating what God has joined together, would not be still more offensive to most men, than the total exclusion of religion from the school; for however painful it might be to see religion, in a Christian country altogether excluded by State enactments from schools for the training of the young; it is questionable whether it would not be still more painful to many persons to see that "One Faith," which has been given to us whole and undivided by the "One Lord" whom we worship, cut up and defaced, and, under the plea of presenting it in a shape acceptable to every possible form of human ignorance and error, divested of almost every feature peculiar to it. Most men, too, would feel that the State was going beyond its legitimate functions in thus dealing with the Christian Faith, and pronouncing what portions of that

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Faith may be taught, and what portions of it shall be excluded from the school.

Again, if the expedient of finding a common ground in religious teaching be resorted to, who is to determine what that common ground shall be? Who is to define the line beyond which teachers may not pass? And who is to be the judge of what may be supposed to be transgressions of that boundary line? It would seem scarcely wise for the State to adopt a provision of this nature, which from its very vagueness must prove a source of constant jealousies and suspicions, and out of which endless questions might arise, which no State Board or Civil Tribunal on earth would perhaps feel itself competent to decide. Some indeed think that this difficulty may easily be solved by simply enacting, as in the United States of America, that all "Sectarian teaching," or as it is in the Bill lately passed in the Province of Nelson, all "Controversial" teaching shall be excluded from the school. Experience fully proves, that Teachers have no inclination whatever to dwell upon points of controversy, strictly so called, with the young or to make the distinctive differences between one Denomination and another the subject of their religious teaching; such teaching they know to be wholly unsuited to the minds of children. But it is obvious that these words "sectarian" and "controversial" when applied to religious instruction in the school, must admit of a much more extended application than this, and, if they mean anything at all, must include all tenets, which may be objected to, or controverted by any sect of Christians in the country.

But whatever might be the original intentions of those who should adopt such a provision as this, it is almost certain that the final result of it would be, that Teachers discouraged by the restrictions imposed upon them, and uncertain, whenever they touched upon religion, whether they were not treading upon forbidden ground, would at last abandon all attempts at the religious training of their pupils, and the schools under their charge, would become therefore mere secular schools. And this is found to be actually the case in the United States of America, where a provision of this nature has been adopted. Upon the subject of education in America the testimony of Mr. Edward Baines, of Leeds, will perhaps be regarded as unexceptionable. In his evidence before the Manchester and Salford Education Committee, Mr. Baines said, "I would wish to speak with great respect of the American schools as to their secular character, I would wish also to say that there is something exceedingly peculiar in those schools, as

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they profess to be what they are not:-- they pretend to be, as they were originally, schools for teaching religion, and yet the teaching of religion is almost altogether banished from them." And according to the testimony of Dr. Edgecombe, quoted by Mr. Henley in the House of Commons "that which was originally set up in the United States as a religious system, had slipped down into a system of mere secular instruction, and was attended with results which were deeply to be deplored." It might therefore be expected, as was stated in his evidence by Mr. Tremenheere, "a man thoroughly acquainted with the educational system adopted in America," that, "that system of education was loosening the hold of definite Christian principles on the minds of the people." 2

It would be impossible to estimate the evil effects of such a deplorable system of education. It is much to be feared that the religious principles of the American people, under the baneful effects of this system, however favourable it may be to intellectual growth and activity, will eventually become too feeble to influence their conduct, or to restrain their evil passions, and that the shortsighted wisdom of man in banishing religion from the school, will sooner or later lead to the usual results, infidelity and anarchy. How much better it would be, in this matter, to adhere to the plain injunctions of One Infinitely Wiser than man. "These words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and risest up." 3

3. The third method of settling the religious question, namely, by requiring the religion professed by some one Denomination, to be taught in all schools aided by the State, is obviously unsuited to the circumstances of this Colony, and therefore it is unnecessary to do more than mention it.

4. The fourth plan which has been suggested, that of non-interference, has been adopted in the foregoing Regulations. According to this plan the State leaves to the Local Managers the responsibility of deciding on the nature and amount of religious instruction in the schools under their charge, and does not interfere in the religious question at all, either for or against, but takes cognisance only of secular instruction.

This seems to be the fairest and simplest of all methods of

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settling this intricate question. It might easily be shown that most of the difficulties which have embarrassed statesmen in dealing with the subject of education, have been occasioned by injudicious attempts to adjust the religious question. Any provision of interference in religious teaching which the State could possibly adopt, whether it so far forgot its duty as to prohibit religion in the school, or whether it imposed restrictions upon it, or required the religious teaching of some one Denomination, would of necessity be obnoxious to a large portion of the population, and would exclude many from the benefit of its aid, forfeiting their sympathy and co-operation in a work in which it is of the highest consequence to secure the largest possible amount of both.

Let the State therefore deal with the religious training of the young in this Colony, as it does with religious worship, neither prohibiting it, nor insisting upon it, nor prescribing its form, nor interfering with it in any way, but leaving the responsibility with the people themselves, by whom this duty is much more likely to be discharged for the good of the whole community than by means of State enactments.

This wise abstinence from interference on the part of the State will secure freedom of action to all parties, on that point on which men are most of all sensitive to restraints upon their liberty, namely their religious belief, it will leave it open to all, whatever may be their religious opinions, to throw their energies into the common cause of education, and it will also relieve the State from much painful embarrassment. "There are problems," says Mr. Gladstone, "with regard to religious teaching which are insoluble by laws, but which melt away insensibly, when handled by the common sense of private individuals acting in their private spheres, with their private sympathies and responsibilities. If you takeaway those private sympathies and responsibilities, if you substitute for them the iron conditions of the law, you entirely do away with the only means you have of solving those difficulties." 4

It cannot be justly objected to this, that, by allowing any religious instruction which the Managers think fit, to be given in the schools, the State thereby exposes itself to the charge of teaching or sanctioning religious error. According to the plan proposed in the foregoing Regulations, the State being unable from its position, to decide satisfactorily upon the religious question, leaves that decision with the Parents and Guardians of the young, simply contracting with Teachers for a certain amount

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of secular instruction, and, as in every other contract, paying according to the amount and quality of the work done. But it cannot be justly said to become responsible for religious error in the school, any more than in Public Worship, because it declines to interfere in the religious teaching, or to prescribe its nature or form, and simply protects the people in the exercise of that liberty of conscience, which, whether in school or out of school, it wisely accords to all alike.

As, however, in some cases it may happen that persons residing near to a school aided by the State, may object to the religious instruction given in that school, and yet desire to avail themselves of the other advantages of it, it is provided, that, "those children shall be exempted from attendance at the time of formal religious instruction, whose Parents or Guardians shall signify their desire to that effect by a written application to the Conductor of the school."

This provision is designed to secure to every individual the utmost amount of liberty which is compatible with the freedom of the school. No conscientious Teacher will, it may be presumed, seek to prejudice the minds of his pupils against the religious Denomination to which they belong, or take advantage of their dependence upon him in order to lead them away from the Communion in which they have been brought up. But if there be any danger of such proselytism, it must be at the times of special religious instruction, from which the children of those who object are exempted by the above-mentioned Provision, if they so desire. There can not be much reason to apprehend any such danger from the general use made of religion at other times, in the moral training of the young, unless indeed there be a wilful and dishonest attempt to proselytise on the part of the Teachers or others; but no State provision that could be devised, under any scheme, could guard against this. With the Managers of the schools who, it may be hoped, would in no case countenance such practices, would rest the duty of providing against them.

Those, however, who are unable to place confidence in the conductors of a neighbouring school, may, if sufficiently numerous, establish one under their own management, and obtain Government aid for it; but if too few to maintain a school, the utmost evil that could in such a case arise from this freedom of religion in the school, would be, that in certain cases, it is to be hoped of rare occurrence, and in Country districts, some parents might possibly be obliged to forego the advantages of secular instruction in a neighbouring school. But to provide against this possible disad-

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vantage to some, by imposing offensive restrictions upon religion, would be to inflict an immeasurable injury upon the Education of the whole Country, and increase the very evil sought to be remedied tenfold, by excluding from the benefit of the schools aided by the State, a large portion of the community, including the chief Religious Bodies in the Country, among whom would be found all those who are now most active and zealous in the work of educating the people.

It is clearly the interest of the State to secure, if possible, the sympathies and co-operation of the various religious bodies in the Country, who have an organization and machinery already provided for the purpose, who can therefore bring much material aid to the work, and, at the same time impart to it a high moral and religious tone, which could not be otherwise obtained. It is no disparagement to the value of instruction in Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Geography, Grammar, and such like, to assert that it is of far greater consequence to the order, peace, prosperity and happiness of the Country, to elevate the moral condition of the young, to instil into them a just sense of the practical responsibilities of life, to teach them to be obedient to parents, to be obedient to the laws, to be good citizens, and to fulfil their duties to God and man. For this, the Teacher should have the free use of all the means which have been provided for reaching the hearts of his pupils, and should be encouraged to bring to the work all the best and holiest feelings of his nature.

The plan proposed in the foregoing Regulations will, it is believed, be found in its working, free, open, and expansive, as every system of public instruction ought to be. It will be observed that considerable freedom of action is secured to the Local Managers of the schools, while at the same time so much central control is provided as will enable the State to secure efficient teaching in the secular branches of instruction. By the first, the active benevolence of those who are interested in the cause of education, will, it is hoped, be secured. The second is necessary as a guarantee to the State, that the material aid afforded by it, will be dispensed to the greatest advantage. It will also be observed, that, as it will be open to all religious bodies and private individuals under this system to follow out their own conscientious convictions with regard to religious teaching, all without exception may avail themselves of its provisions and throw their zeal and exertions on behalf of education into the common stock. Those too, if any, who prefer schools for secular instruction only, may, if they can obtain suf-

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ficient support from the public, establish schools of this character and receive their share likewise of State aid. Again, if the inhabitants in any district, either in town or country, should desire to combine their resources and strength in one central school, it will be in their power to do so, or, on the other hand, they may establish separate Denominational schools, if they should prefer them. Nor will this separation add materially to the cost, for the State will pay, not according to the number of schools, but according to the number of scholars receiving instruction.

The probable amount of State aid that will be required to carry out the foregoing Scheme may be estimated by the following methods. The subjoined Table contains a list of the Common Schools in this Province which applied for participation in the Grant of £1000 made by the Provincial Council in the year 1855 for the support of existing schools. The cost to the State of those schools, if the plan here proposed had then been in operation, will be seen by this Table. Although the form of Returns required by the Superintendent at that time from each of the schools, gave much more than the actual weekly average, and therefore the true total average attendance of all the schools was much under the number 888, which was erroneously given as such in the "Provincial Gazette," yet these Returns will serve nearly as well for ascertaining the cost to the Government of each scholar. The mean of the salaries to be granted by the Board to first and second certificated Masters and Mistresses under the foregoing Regulations is taken in this Estimate, that is, £62 10s. for Masters, and £42 10s. for Mistresses.

It will be seen from this Table that the total cost to the State of the schools then existing, if the average had been correct, would have been, under the Regulations of the system here proposed, £1196, which divided among 888 scholars, the supposed average, would give £1 6s. 11 1/4d. per head.

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COMMON SCHOOLS in this Province in 1855, with the average weekly attendance, and the amount that each School would be entitled to under the Regulations of the proposed Scheme.

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Most of the schools in this Return were in the town of Auckland and its vicinity. The attendance in remote country districts would be smaller, and the cost per head greater, as there would be fewer schools having an attendance beyond the number required to entitle the Teachers and Assistant Teachers to their full salaries. We could not be far wrong then if we took £1 10s. as the average cost to the State of each scholar in the Province, under the system of Education here recommended. The number of children in this Province between the ages of 5 and 15 at the last census was 1776. Out of these ten years between the ages of 5 and 15, the average number of years that children will be in attendance at school will certainly not exceed six, if we take into account deaths, sickness, and the non attendance of some.

Six-tenths of, say 2000 children.. 1200
Average attendance of 1200 children
(about three-fourths). . . 900

The cost may be estimated by another method,--

The number of children in attendance at school in Prussia, Denmark, Saxony, and in most of the northern States of America is 1 in 6 of the whole population. In Holland, Sweden, Norway and in 5 Departments of France from 1 in 6 to 1 in 7. In England, Bavaria, 1 in 8. In the Southern States of America, from 1 in 8 to 1 in 10. In Van Dieman's Land 1 in 15.

If therefore this Province were well provided with schools, the number of children in attendance at school, would not, it may be presumed, owing to the scattered population, exceed 1 in 10. The population in this Province in March 1855, if the census can be relied on, was 11,919.

1 in 10 of, say 12,000 . . . . . 1200
Average attendance of 1200 children . . . . . 900
900 children at £1 10s. 0d. per head . . . . . £1350 0s. 0d.

the same as before-

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The expenditure up to £30 per annum, allowed for schools, according to Regulation 25, in districts in which there may be difficulty in maintaining a school without additional help, is not taken into account in the above Estimate, but it would be much more than counterbalanced by the number of children attending schools which would not come within the terms of the above provisions, and which would not therefore be entitled to Government aid.

If this Province therefore were fully supplied with schools, the cost to the State according to the foregoing Scheme, would not probably much exceed at the present time £2000 per annum.

The salary of the Inspector in the above estimate is set down at £500. This may seem to some large, but upon the Inspector will depend, in great measure, the efficiency of the whole scheme. It will be his duty to influence the inhabitants to establish schools in districts in which they may be required, to give advice as to the organization of new schools, to suggest improvements in the teaching and discipline, and to raise the schools under his inspection to the highest possible standard of proficiency. It could scarcely be expected that a person possessing the very high qualifications required for an important office of this nature, could be obtained at a salary less than that mentioned; accordingly in England Inspectors receive a salary of £600 per annum. As, however, in the present population of the Province, though it were to be fully supplied with schools, the Inspector's time, if he were to inspect each school twice a year, could not be occupied more than about four months out of the twelve, he might also for the present fill the office of Secretary to the Board, and in the discharge of the various duties of that office give a great stimulus to education in this Province. Inasmuch as the Inspector will have under his supervision schools belonging to most of the Religious Bodies, it would obviously be a wise precaution, to avoid all suspicions of partiality, by appointing a layman to this office.

£50 has been set down in the Estimate for a Depository. It would be a great advantage to public instruction, if the Board of Education would always keep on hand a sufficient stock of the best school books and school apparatus, and sell them at cost price to the Managers of the various schools. This would involve some trifling expense, but the benefit to the country would far outweigh the cost. Uniformity in public instruction would thus, in great measure be secured, and at the same time a want would be supplied which is now sorely felt by all schools, and which is a serious obstacle to efficient teaching.

It will be seen that by the foregoing provisions, the Local

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Managers are required to give to the Teachers and Assistant Teachers in their schools, an equal amount to that contributed by the Board. Upon the Local Managers also will devolve the expense of providing the school buildings, books, furniture, playground, &c., so that much more than half the cost of the schools will fall upon them.

There is but one case in which the Managers may not be required to contribute an equivalent to the amount granted by the Board. In districts in which from the paucity of the inhabitants or from other causes there may be difficulty in supporting a school, the Board are at liberty, if they think fit, to make an additional grant to the school, beyond the £2 per annum for each pupil, such additional grant not to exceed £30 per annum, and the Managers of the school to be required or not, as the Board shall think expedient, to contribute an equivalent to it. If, for example, in a district containing a thinly scattered population, a dozen children could be got together, the £2 per annum allowed by the Board and the equivalent required from the Managers, would amount only to £48 per annum, which would be quite insufficient to maintain a Teacher. But it would be most desirable to prevent these children from growing up in ignorance, and by this provision the Board would be at liberty to contribute an additional £30 per annum, which would probably place it within the power of the inhabitants to procure a Teacher for their children.

There are three principal sources, from which the funds required by the Government for educational purposes may be supplied.

I. Local rates or a general school rate
II. Grants from the Provincial Revenue.
III. Endowments in land or otherwise.

I. Of all these the Local rate seems to be the most objectionable.

1. It would be certain to dry up the whole current of voluntary contributions and with it all the private energy and zeal that are ready to be embarked in the work of education.

2. It would force men of various religious persuasions together, and compel them to choose some one scheme of education for all, the result of which would be, that whatever was determined on by the majority of rate-payers, though it were but a majority of one, would be forced upon the minority, however offensive it might be to them. But this is not the only evil. In a new Colony like this, subject to perpetual change, the majority would fluctuate from year to year, and as each Sect acquired the

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predominance, it would carry out its own views as to religious instruction; the system which had been determined on one year, would be thrust out to make way for a different system the following year, and the school district would become the scene of a perpetual religious feud. Or else, as in America, to avoid such an unseemly contest, religion would be altogether banished from the rate-supported schools, and the people would be taxed to support a system of so called education, to which a large majority of the community might object on conscientious grounds. A general school-rate would not perhaps be open to the same amount of objection as local rates, yet it would be scarcely less offensive to the people of this country.

II. Grants from the Provincial Revenue for educational purposes do not seem to be exposed to any serious objection. This method of supplying the necessary funds, has this great advantage, that it enables the Government to assist all parties alike, whatever may be their religious belief, without placing unwise restrictions upon any one.

III. But in a new country, in which the land is still unoccupied, the plan already sanctioned by the Provincial Council would seem to be the simplest and wisest of all, namely to reserve a sufficient portion of the Waste Lands for Educational purposes, thus avoiding the necessity of future heavy taxation for these objects; and in the meantime, until such lands shall become of sufficient value, to supply the requisite funds out of the Provincial Revenue.

DAVID BRUCE, Minister of the Presbyterian Church, Auckland
THOMAS BUDDLE, Wesleyan Minister, Onehunga
JOSEPH H. FLETCHER, Wesleyan Minister, Auckland
JOHN FREDERIC LLOYD, Minister of the Church of England, St. Paul's, Auckland
JOHN MACKY, Minister of the Presbyterian Church, Otahuhu
ARTHUR G. PURCHAS, Minister of the Church of England, St. Peter's, Onehunga
ALEXANDER REID, Wesleyan Minister, Three Kings School, Auckland
FREDERICK THATCHER, Minister of the Church of England, St. Matthew's, Auckland
JOHN B. BENNETT, M. D., Chapel-street, Auckland
ARCHIBALD CLARK, Shortland-street, Auckland
G. ELIOTT ELIOTT, Wakefield-street, Auckland
WILLIAM PHILLIPPS, Barrack-street, Auckland
ANDREW HAMILTON RUSSELL, 58th Regiment, Auckland.