E.—ls.
62
The following explanations will help to make the matter clear : — 1. All children in primary schools should receive instruction in natureknowledge (nature-study). 2. All country primary schools (and as many town schools as possible) should have school gardens and a course of elementary practical agriculture. (At present about 450 schools in the Dominion have this.) 3. Attendance at school during the next period (roughly, from the age of thirteen or fourteen to the age of sixteen) should be universal—namely, at high schools, technical day schools (not shown in the diagram), district high schools, or at afternoon or evening classes for those compelled to go to work. Either attendance should be compulsory, or inducements should be held out to boys to attend. Junior free places are now available at all these schools and classes. (For girls at this and other stages there should be courses in domestic science, with the option, for part of the time, of taking, say, dairy-work or horticulture, or bee-keeping). In all district high schools, except, perhaps, some of those in mining districts, a junior course in agriculture should form part of the programme. Attention should still be given to other branches, especially English, arithmetic, and practical mensuration, drawing (of plans and of diagrams to illustrate the work in agriculture), simple book-keeping, physical geography (from the point of view of the farmer —really a part of agriculture) ; while civics and military and physical drill should not be neglected. Eural high schools and most of the high schools in the smaller centres, which have really a greater interest in agriculture than in any other industry, should include similar work in their programmes. The time-table in these schools would be somewhat as follows : English, 6 hours a week ; arithmetic, bookkeeping, and mensuration, 5 hours a week the first year, 4 hours the second year ; agriculture, 4 hours a week the first year, 5 hours a week the second year ; drawing, physical geography, civics, military drill, physical instruction, each 1 hour a week ; other subjects (woodwork, &c), 3 hours a week : total, 23 hours a week. In the high schools, if a foreign language is taken, English may be cut down to four hours, and one hour or one hour and a half taken from the supplementary time of three hours. The classes for those who have had to leave school should, if possible, be held in the afternoon —say, twice a week for three hours during thirty weeks in the year, avoiding the busiest times of the year. The holding of these classes during the afternoon may involve a little sacrifice on the part of the farmer, but the gain in efficiency in comparison with evening classes is recognised all over the world as so great that I am sure the sacrifice is worth making. If two afternoons a week cannot be given, perhaps one afternoon can be spared, and the remainder of the work done in the evening, or all the work may be done in the evening. There seems to be no special reason why, for part of the year, at all events, agricultural classes should not be held, say, from 4 to 7 or from 5 to 8. Where there is a district high school within reach, these clasees should be held there so as to make use of the laboratory and equipment at hand. 4. In the next period of life (about sixteen to eighteen years of age) the work in agriculture (senior school course) would be continued, and become more specialised. Even the high schools in the large centres might give some of their boys the option of taking it. Senior free places are tenable during this period at all the schools. I think there should be some addition to the grants now given to district high schools, high schools, and to afternoon or evening classes —say, in the shape of bonuses on all pupils who take complete courses in agriculture. 5. There should be two agricultural colleges, one for each Island, affiliated to the University of New Zealand, doing more extended work than is now being done at Lincoln. Each of the colleges should make it possible for a student to take : — (a.) A full four-year course, (6.) A three-year course, (c.) A two-year course, (d.) A special one-year course for teachers. A general course in dairy-work should be given in one of the departments of each of the colleges. (a.) The four-year course should be taken by students coming from high schools or district high schools, after four years therein. Many of them would wish to become agricultural experts or directors of
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