Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

17 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

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NOTES OF THE WEEK.

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

NOTES OF THE WEEK. In another part of this issue we publish a letter, above the signature of Mr J. Tertius Phillips, of Carunf, drawing attention to the decision of the Cardiff Eisteddfod Com- mittee to sell intoxicants within the Eis- teddfod grounds. The officers and members of the Cardiff Temperance association offer a most emphatic protest against the proposed sale of intoxicants, and request the friends of temperance to organise a determined op- position to the granting of license for such a purpose. We are quite m accord with the view taken of the matter by the Cardiff Temperance Association as set forth in the letter in question, and hope that the opposition which is already raised will prove successful. Cardiff, though situated in Wales, is al- most completely Anglicised,and the members of the Eisteddfod Committee, at any rate the majority, seem to have caught. the gpiat of John. Bull, who, when lie attends a public function, must have John Barleycorn fol- lowing in his wake. The Eisteddfod at Car- diff is to be brought to the level of an agri- cultural show at which intoxicants are al- most invariably sold. If in North Wales the Eisteddfod has been successfully conducted without the aid of intoxicants, surely it can L- in South Wales. We hope that the Car- diff Eisteddfod Committee will see the error of their way, and rescind the resolution adopted by them. On Saturday, Mr A. G. Legard, chief in- spector of schools for Wales, issued a very comprehensive and instructive report on the work of the past year. This is^ practically the first report for the whole of which Mr Legard is himself responsible. The previous report-, it is true, bore his name. but he had then only jusfe succeeded to the office he now holds, and, as he now points out, he was then obliged to rely entirely upon the re- marks supplied him by his colleagues. Those colleagues, by the way, are getting annually more numerous. The inspectorial sta f for the WeMi division, which comprises the whole of Wales and the county of Mon- mouth, now includes one chief inspector, nine inspectors, two sub-inspectors of the first class, 14 sub-inspectors of the AOOOud class, and one woman inspector. Mr Legard has made a survey of the Welsh education system as a whole, with the object of as- certaining how far the elementary schools are playing their part in that organisation. Mr Legard recognises the zeal of the Welsh people for education, and goes on to say that they have subscribed liberally towards the erection, of schools and college*, and have made the sacrifices necessary to enable their Sits and daughters to obtain the instruc- tion which has been brought to their doors. Unfortunately, there is a dark ade to the picture. Mr Legard, like Mr Macnamara calls attention to the irregular attendance nt the elementary schools, and points out that "practically a quarter of the elm ren on the books are absent every time the school is open." In the Welsh counties pro- per the percentage of average is onlv 75.86, and in Monmouthshire 74.7$. In the county of Pembroke the percentage is only 71.90, and not a single Welsh county ri«es to the average of the English counties, which is 81.55. One of the weakest points in our elementary system, also, is the small proportion of boys and girls who are found in the upper standards. In English county £ e proportion is 19.4; in the Welsh counties, 18.5. Allowance must however, be made, says Mr Legard, for the ctrcum- rtances that in many cases the county schools have taken awav th(V crearn of the upper standards. The proportion between the two countries, is not of much sigm- qoiiifi improvement in this respeot effected in the Welsh maght, Pf h<^i in the standard of exemp- tion. T 1 quest-ion of leaving county schools, '°^qconslUere<1 by the certificate? also .Bute to Central c teachers to scholars the low elementary rwffinft with, the question of teaching T.nSth to Welsh children, Mr Legard says that Webb children should not merely learn bookish English, but they1 should be en- couraged from the infants' school upwards to talk in the foreign tongue about things that interest them-their homes, their games, their pet animals. He also adds that for Welsh-speakin g districts explanatory in- struction should in the earlier years of school life be to a great extend given in the ver- nacular, and the children would thus be able to assimilate what they heard. This they cannot do while they are puzzled by the unfamiliar soundsof an unknown ton cue. Other interesting subjects arc also dealt with in the Chief Inspector's report. Manual training "has met with little or no favour." "Tasteful decoration of the school walls is generally wanting." No doubt the Welsh people will welcome Mr Legard's sti- mulating and suggestive comments. The report ought to be in the hands of every Welshman who feels an interest in his country's welfare.

Carnarvon County Court.

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Valley Rural District Council.

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