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68 V THE NATIONAL DEMOCRAT June, 1907 .
20.
22.
23.
25.
26.
poor must co-operate to engage a teacher.
Are the parental rights of the poor any less
than those of the rich? If not, must not
the school teacher be regarded as in the
fullest sense the delegate of the parents ?
If the State is not by right the master of
education, is the teacher properly to be re-
garded as the servant of the State ?
Is not a system under which the State
assumes complete control of education and
makes the teacher its servant a feature of
Socialism as opposed to Christian civilisation
based on the monogamous family P Does
not such a system postulate the Socialist
doctrine that the child is born into the State,
in contradistinction to the Christian doctrine
that the child is subject to its parents P
Since when has the doctrine of State control
over education come into elfect 3
Have noti the advocates of Christian educa-
tion been acquiescing latterly to a large extent
in the doctrine of State control 9
Is it desirable or conducive to sound progress
that the whole education of a country should
be forced into a common mould? Is not
this the natural tendency of State control .9
Have bodies elected or constituted for general
Governmental purposes any special aptitude
for the administration of education 5 ‘Is
there any such body in Ireland, local or
central, to which theglrish people should or
would willingly concele the charge of edu-
cation ?
Does not education come from the more
educated to the less educated ? Is not
therefore the highest attainable education
the root and basis of all i
Is not all education properly a preparation for
life E
iVIust not our c<)nc::ptio11 of education there-
fore depend on our conception of life? If
so, must not our view of education he domi-
nated by our attitude towards religion and
philosophy ?
If we regard this life’ as chiefly a preparation
for eternity, must we not also regard re-
ligion as an integral part of education i
VVould it not then be a lying mockery to
advocate freedom of, religion, and at the
same time to prevent the i‘.S>()Cinti011 of re-
ligion with education E
Is there any evidence that the people of Ire-
land as a whole, or any large section of
ihem, av .liscontcnted with the existing
system of htal eilucatioiiril coiitroh? .
If that system is considered faulty, is it not
beside the mark to attack and pillory those
who are fully entrusted with its administra-
tion P Should not the attack in all sincerity
be directed against public opinion ?
27. Are not those who advocate radical changes
in the system a very small number? Do
they not sometimes allow themselves to
speak as though they truly represented a
suppressed democracy ?
28. Do they not habitually dwell on instances
that have specially offended them as typical
of the entire system ?
29. Is not this manner of argument calculated to
make others consider them unfair and un-
reasonable, and to prevent a serious and self-
possessed consideration of the issues F
aJVuAlV-AlVvvV-
A TEACHERS VIEW
By E. S. WATsoN.
STANDS Primary Education where it did? This is
the question that is forced on us now that the Irish
Council Bill has been so eontemptuously rejected by
the National Convention that there is no proba-
bility of its being proceeded with.
Of all the eight boards of which it was proposed
to give us control, the Board of Primary Education
is the one most needing reform. Mr. Birrell, when
introducing the Bill in the House, referred to the
Clause dealing with Education as the most impor-
tant feature of it, and so it was-or would have
been, if the Bill had been acceptable financially and
otherwise. But the Irish people have refused to
take tlie control of these boards under the condi-
tions on which it was proffered, and they have
advised the Government to waste no more time
over the Bill, but to bring in the University Bill
and the others promised at the beginning of the
Session.
This sounds good advice, but it is beginning at
the wrong end. If Mr. Birrell would try his hand
at a third Bill-this time to abolish the National
Board as it stands, and to put in its place something
more in touch with teachers and people-I think it
would meet with more favour than his former two,
provided that funds be allowed sufficient to dispense
with the economy practised at present. VVhen the
Chief Secretary asked the teachers at their annual
congress if this was what they desired, there was no
doubt left in his mind as to their wish. There was
not one disscntient voice in the hall; and of the
various classes who stiffer under the Boards petty
tyranny, the teachers, without doubt, are the
greatest sufferers.