784 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION J. 



ordinaiy business, surely those blank records betray a certain lack of 

 interest. Of course, the ordinary parent in a general way wishes 

 his children to " get on" well at school, feels properly proud when they 

 win prizes, and rejoices when their education enables them to obtain 

 remunerative employment. But he is little concerned with the process 

 of education, and still less does he realise that he himself plays an 

 essential part in it. He considers that he has done his duty when he 

 has sent his children to school. 



Unfortunately, even that duty is often discharged very imper- 

 fectly. And here we come to a region where exact statistics ai'e 

 available. In New South Wales the average attendance of pupils is 

 only a little over 70 per cent, of the quarterly enrolment, and barely 

 80 per cent, of the weekly enrolment. Compared with England and 

 some European countries w© are backward in this respect, and the 

 reason is not to be found in the sparseness of our population, for the 

 school attendance in our towns is no better than in the bush. Some 

 improvement may be effected by more stringent compulsory legisla- 

 tion, but complete reform in the attendance can only be hoped for 

 when the people become more fully alive to their responsibilities. 



If we seek for further evidence of public interest in education, we 

 shall not gain much encouragement from our experience in regard 

 to evening schools, the small proportion of our young people that 

 receive secondary or higher education, the condition of our countiy 

 schools of arts and similar institutions, and the difficulty of persuading 

 people to accept university extension lectures. All these topics would 

 afford scope for interesting discussion, if time permitted. 



The interest in technical education needs to be stimulated, 

 especially in the country districts. The Superintendent of Technical 

 Education in New South Wales has made canvassing tours through 

 the State, urging upon meetings of the citizens the advantages of 

 technical education, and offering to appoint teachers if only classes 

 were formed ; but the response was so poor that it was frequently 

 found impossible to find twelve students to form a class. 



In our partial and cursorj^ survey of the educational field we 

 have seen enough to prove that public interest in education does not 

 reach a very high pitch. This is the more disappointing when we 

 remember that most of the grown-up people of today have themselves 

 passed through our schools, and might, tlierefore, be presumed to 

 appreciate the value of education. 



What is the explanation of the phenomenon? For one thing, 

 the school systems of Australia have not encouraged local interest and 

 local activity. In some States school boards are appointed, but the 

 unimportant functions assigned to them possess little interest for the 

 members themselves, and none at all for the rest of the community. 

 In England and other countries the local election of boards, local 

 levjdng of school rates, and a real measm-e of local administration 

 have aroused a good deal of local interest. OVir more centralised 

 systems have their advantages, but have not fostered popular interest. 

 The example thus set by the State has been widely followed in tlie 

 schools ; as a rule little inducement has been offei*ed to the parents to 

 visit the school except on special occasions, such as a picnic, a concert, 

 or a distribution of prizes. 



