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Page 20
Parents with us have a high ideal of what upbringing should be. Every
parent wants his children to "do better" than himself. If he does not
wish to make a stepping-stone of them, on which to rise to higher social
things, he certainly wishes to give them such a "start in life" as will
give them the best prospects of keeping pace with, or outstripping their
fellows.
The toil and self-denial that many poor parents undergo, in order to
give their children a good education, is almost pathetic, and is not
eclipsed by the enthusiasm for education even in Scotland.
There is a shoemaker in a small digging town in New Zealand, still
toiling away at his last, whose son is a distinguished graduate of our
University, author of several books, and in a high position in his
profession.
There is a grocer in another remote inland village whose son is a doctor
in good practice. There is a baker in a little country district whose
sons now hold high positions in the medical profession, one at home and
the other abroad.
These facts are widely known amongst the working classes, and inspire
them with a spirit of rivalry.
With regard to the general education of the people, the
Registrar-General says, (New Zealand Official Year Book for 1898, page
164) "In considering the proportions of the population at different age
periods, the improvement in education is even more clearly proved. It is
found that, in 1896, of persons at the age-period 10-15 years, 98.73 per
cent, were able to read and write, while 0.65 per cent. could merely
read, and 0.62 per cent. were unable to read. The proportion who could
not read increased slowly with each succeeding quinquennial period of
age, until at 50-55 years it stood at 4.04 per cent. At 75 to 80 years
the proportion was 7.05, and at 80 and upwards it advanced to 8.07.
Similarly, the proportion of persons who could read only increased from
0.65 at 10-15 years to 3.66 at the period 50-55 years, and again to 9.74
and upwards. The better education of the people at the earlier stages is
thus exhibited."
Further evidences of improved education will be found in the portion of
his work relating to marriages, where it is shown that the proportion of
persons in every thousand married, who signed by mark, has fallen very
greatly since 1881. The figures for the sexes in the year 1881 were
32.04 males, and 57.04 females, against 6.19 males and 7.02 females in
1895.
For the position of teacher in a public school in New Zealand, at a
salary of �60 a year, there were 14 female applicants, 10 of whom held
the degree of M.A., and the other four that of B.A.
The number of children, 5-15 years of age, in New Zealand, was estimated
as on 31st December, 1902, at 178,875. The number of children, 7-13
years of age (compulsory school age), was estimated as on 31st December,
1902, at 124,986. The attendance at schools, public and private, during
the fourth quarter of 1902, was European 150,332, Maoris and half-castes
5,573. If children spend their useful years of child life at school,
they can render little or no remunerative service to their parents.
Neither boys or girls can earn anything till over the age of 14 years.
Our laws prohibit child labour.
In New Zealand, children, therefore, while they remain at home, are a
continual drain on the resources of the bread-winner. More is expected
from parents than in many other countries.
At our public schools children are expected to be well clad; and it is
quite the exception, even in the poorest localities of our large cities,
to see children attending school with bare feet.
During child-life, nothing is returned to the parent to compensate for
the outlay upon the rearing and educating of children.
If a boy, by reason of a good education, soon, say, at from 14-18 years,
is enabled to earn a few shillings weekly, it is very readily absorbed
in keeping him dressed equally well with other boys at the same office
or work.
An investment in children is, therefore, from a pecuniary point of view,
a failure. There are, perhaps, two exceptions in New Zealand--in dairy
farming in Taranaki, where the children milk outside school hours; and
in the hop districts of Nelson, where, during the season, all the
children in a family become hop-pickers, and a big cheque is netted when
the family is a large one.
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