, 1908-09-02

amount expended on these grants in 1907
was G125 10. g., respecting which the IN
spectors remark, o great sum for what
may be called higher teaching among such
a large number of elementary school chill
dren." The sum is a very modest one. But
what else IS to be expected in the higher
subjects, when such poor results are being
obtained i'll the 3 RS? The Inspectors go
on to lament the inability of the graduates
Of the elementary schools to write an intel
Dgible letter. This is an accusation which
could be successfully laid against a great
number, if not the most, of those who have
proceeded from our First and Second Grade
Schools. We believe, however, it may safely
be said that, in the case of those referred to
by the Inspectors. the defect is most glazing.
Many of the products dignifed by the nam
Of letters are not decipherab.e, and those
which, by the aid of some special assistance,
are decipherable, prove to be little more than
n tumble Of words from which the meaning
Of the writer may be guessed at, but which
does not clearly express anything. For our
part, we are satisfied that the cause Of these
unsatisfactory results may be traced to the
insnffciency Of the Legislative grant for eie-
mentary education and the consequent de-
vices to which teachers are obliged to resort
to earn q living. SO much Of the time and
ability of teachers has to be devoted to the
business Of winning a portion of the lmi;od
grant, that the teaching of the children is
overlooked. Children are not taught, they
are prepared to m ct the h0spec orS and earn
tho s~choolmaster or schoolm stress o pal ~
fee. Increase tie grant to elementary edu.
cation and pay the teachers fixed salaries,
then will the children, we are persuaded, be
taught and an end be put to the present
waste Of money. The remarks of the In
spectors, made respecting the miserable fail
IRE IN the teaching of English Grammar and
Composition, rs also those with reference to
the poor progress being made in Aglicultu-
raj Instruction, deserve special attention.
They are as follows - owe would urge
strongly on teachers the desirabiliiy Of Civ
ing more attention thar seems 10 have been
given in recent years to the teaching of En-
glish Grammar and Composition to the chill
dren of their upper standards. We remark
cd in our last report on the general failure
that there is in these subjects. 1t is not
creditable that pupils who have spent eight
years or more III an Elementary School
should be unable to write a fairly intelligiUle
letter. In these days OF much emigration
everybody must write letters, and everyone
should be able to write his own, and to write
1T SO that it can tie understood by those into
whose hands it may fall. The failure in
Grammar afec!S the school system itself.
One of the requirements to qualify a boy or
girl to fill the Office Of pupit-teacher is that
he is able to write easy composition in the
9th OF 9TH Standard. Most of the boys who
are examined in these Standards fail in this
important subject the girls, as a rule, do
better. Hence there ie a deficiency in he
pumber Of boys eligible to be pupil teachers,
and some schools which, by their large at
tendance, are entitled to have an additional
pupil-teacher, are unable to procure one, we
have made but little progress under the
head of Agricultural Instruction, and we are
not likely to make much until the Legisla-
ture makes a special grant for the subject.
1t is not reasonable to expect that teachers
will turn their attention to the study of sub
jects about which they had no previous
knowledge, and which have been added to
the syllabus without any increase of the
Grant. We have, how yer, not ~retlogaded.
About the same number of schools took up
the subject as in the year before, and the
number of passes is about the same. Some
OF the school-gardens that We're less salts
factory than others have been given up, but
the work in the better gardens has been inn
proved. At the A~pplewhaite's local show in
December, the exhibits, 1922 in number, were
distinctly better than at any former show,
I'M