New Guinea’S Wasteful, Feeble Record

In Native Education

Scandalous Treatment of Asiatics and Half-castes

Contributed

ANCE again that tropical question, bristling with difficulties Native Education —is to come up for discussion and if possible for solution.

The announcement was made at the close of the last stormy meeting of the Legislative Council, by the Administrator, that he had appointed a number of gentle men to tackle the question with zest. He evidently means business, this time.

As early as May, 1921, when the des tinies of the Territory dropped into the hands of General Wisdom, a policy of native education was among the urgent matters to claim the attention of the Ad ministration. Geneva wanted the natives educated, so Canberra and Rabaul must get busy.

General Wisdom had tried his hand at many enterprises, but he had no experi ence as an educationalist. The late Harry Cardew, the then Commissioner of Native Affairs, was to be the first lieutenant in the new project. Harry who was, prior to the war, an engineer, had no aptitude and little taste for such a matter as native education. However, after some hard thinking, it was deemed opportune to begin.

A start was made at Kokopo, the seat of the old German Administration, 18 miles south of Rabaul. After many diffi culties and much delay, natives drawn from different and distant villages were assembled in temporary quarters near the

town. These would, it was fondly hoped, constitute the nucleus of a future native educational system.

The first difficulty came from the native parents, who could not fail to see the lunacy of their children leaving the vil lage schools, where they were being taught by the missionaries, in the only way they ever will be taught—through the medium of the native language. By teaching the native children in their own villages, village life could be preserved and improved, while children would re main with their parents.

There were scores of large villages where missionary influence, through lack of means, had not yet penetrated, and one would naturally have expected that a Government scheme would have begun in them and worked in co-operation with the missionaries. But, no! This would have been wise, but not spectacular and the important thing at the moment was not whether the natives were being educated, but how to convince Geneva that they were being educated, which is something quite different.

When the first barrier had been crossed and a number of native children had been gathered together, the next move was to engage the services of William Groves, a Victorian State school teacher and, of course, an ex-soldier (no one else had a chance in those days). The choice was an excellent one. “Billy,” as he was affec

tionately called, was a skilled teacher, and a man of high moral qualities. He was interested in his work and was happily free from that aversion to the black men which is an unfortunate characteristic of so many otherwise good Australians. If any educationalist could succeed in the peculiar circumstances that person would be the popular Will Groves; but hopes were far 'from bright.

None of the poor homesick natives knew English; and, of course, “Billy” Groves, moving in Melbourne’s classical circles, had no opportunity of acquiring a know ledge of the native language. So ideas must pass from one mind to another through that nebulous medium, Pidgin.

Geneva, however, was pleased that a start had been made and greater progress promised in the near future.

Next, an area of land within the town

engaged and, like all young ambitious men, anxious to rise in the teaching pro fession, he retired from the Territory and area of Rabaul, and ajoining the wharf, was marked off for a permanent native boarding school. Numerous buildings were planned and constructed, much to the annoyance of the ordinary taxpayer, who rightly looked upon the sorry busi ness as a useless waste of public money.

Old missionaries, who knew the limited capacity of present day natives, laughed silently at a system of education above the present capabilities of the natives.

More teachers were brought from Aus tralia and, more promises were made each July at Geneva, and so the system ex panded—certainly in expenditure, but not in proportionate usefulness.

After a time, however, the sane and sensible happened. “Billy” Groves became

returned to his old Department in Vic toria.

Succeeding teachers —I knew them all — came, had a look around, and departed.

Birds of passage, they had no wish to become tied up in a system offering no prospects of promotion.

Criticism

Meanwhile, as was anticipated, criti cism, both within and outside the Terri tory, had grown to alarming proportions.

A wild cat system of trying to educate a handful of natives (approximately 100) through Pidgin at such enormous cost (£lO,OOO a year), was obvious to all; and yet Geneva was asking why more schools had not been established.

One day, the Administrator sent for the Head Teacher and asked if a few of the ripe fruits of the system were not ready even for light service. But he was

assured that he was rather premature in his demand.

Progress, however, could be reported when it was announced that Mr. Groves, the retiring head teacher, had taken away with him to Melbourne two intelligent native lads to continue their education at one of the Melbourne State schools. Their former teacher was now to be their guardian and was to be remunerated by the New Guinea taxpayer at £5O per boy per year, which sum, of course, was to be used partially for their maintenance.

Glowing progress reports were from time to time appearing in the Rabaul Times. Geneva was happy, but not en tirely so. What had been done was good, but too small.

A number of other native pupils were actually being measured for outfits to go to different schools in Australia when — providentially, I presume—the lamentable “strike” upset the whole plan. It was, of course, no more than a harmless -little formality taught to the local natives by West Indian natives from a visiting steamer, but it had the happy effect of reducing the extravagant and useless ex penditure. No more natives would go to Australia and the two already there must return.

Mr. Mckenna’S Visit

What next to please Geneva? A happy inspiration! Mr. McKenna, Queensland’s Director of Education, was invited to come up and report on this vexed ques tion of native education. He did actually come, after some delay, but on account of pressing duties in Queensland he had little time to spare in the Territory. Yet the two short weeks, that he spent in Rabaul and its environs soon convinced him that there was a large margin left for im provement. Mr. McKenna visited the training colleges of the missions and, ac cording to his report, was very pleased with what the missions were gratuitously doing for native education. He prepared an excellent report, clear, concise and constructive, but none too flattering, as to what he saw.

General Wisdom, with Mr. Cardew in attendance, listened with attention to the reading of the report and at its close he asked Mr. McKenna where he thought the money was going to come from to put such a scheme into motion.

Mr. McKenna retorted: “Get it from Australia! ”

General Wisdom answered: “You try to get it!”

And so the expensive proposition of bringing Mr. McKenna all the way from Queensland was profitless.

When Mr. McKenna left the room, General Wisdom remarked that he would close up what already existed as a waste of public money, if he could.

Strange to narrate, a few months after this meeting, Geneva was informed that the erection of other schools was con templated and, as a matter of fact, a start was actually made at Nodup and Kavieng.

General Griffiths’ Effort

When General Wisdom departed, a new phase of native education was antici pated.

General Tom Griffiths, keen, enthusiastic energetic, was a fine type of Adminis trator. The question of native education and the Administration’s neglect of the education of the native-born Asiatics en gaged much of his time and attention.

But, unfortunately, great arrears of work had accumulated, and Tom Griffiths was far from young. He realized at a glance the futility of trying to find anything

like an adequate supply of funds to carry on even a very limited native education system, so he sought to combine some Administrative effort with the gratuitous services given by the missions, in order to secure the maximum amount of mental development for the natives, with the resources available.

The missions are to-day freely educat ing over 40,000 native children. They purchase the land for schools, erect the schools, train and afterwards pay teachers, in order to provide for education of native children.

Tom Griffiths realized and appreciated their contribution but, unfortunately, he did not remain long enough for his schemes to mature.

And Now—What?

We arrive at the beginning of 1936 and, estimating matters by the usual stan dards, we must admit that an enormous amount of public money has been wasted on a wild-cat scheme that can never, according to present methods, yield any thing like an adequate return. The gain •to the natives has been negligible. How long will the waste continue?

Native education has been the grave yard of reputations. Will the new Ad ministrator build one up on the ruins of the past? He has had years of teaching experience and will have the assistance of H. H. Page who has likewise been a teacher.

Mr. Editor, the deliberations of the next few months will be interesting. If the general public are admitted, I shall keep you in touch with events. What we all are hoping is that the real issue—that is, finding money to finance a scheme —will not be evaded or avoided.

In my opinion a crying shame on the Administration of this Territory for years has been the criminal neglect of provid ing education facilities for the local-born children of Asiatics and half-castes, who are becoming more numerous every year.

The parents of these poor children are full contributors to the taxes' paid into the Treasury, out of which an extravagant system is provided for the children of the Europeans, who can benefit by it, and a useless and expensive system is offered to a few natives, who cannot respond to it. But the poor Asiatic or half-caste, after being forced to pay his share to wards the free education of white and black, must provide for himself as best as he may, with the assistance of the missions.

Only ignorance can permit the con tinuance of this injustice in a Mandated country.