Melanesian Natives

Spteps Towards Educating Melanesian Natives

PASTOR R. M. ELLISON. Educational secretary for the Coral Sea Union Mission of Seventh-Day Adventists, with headquarters at Lae, New Guinea, has prepared for all SDA mission schools in New Guinea, Papua and the Solomons. certain books and teaching aids for which missionaries and native teachers have been in great need.

Teachers’ Institutes are being held in various centres to distribute the books and aids and to instruct the teachers in

their use. As these continue we expect to see much faster progress among the students.

Pastor Ellison’s “Village School Pro gramme of Work” covers five con secutive years of school work on a weekly and for some subjects, a daily basis.

The Reading Aids, which have been pro duced in conjunction with the “Village School Number Book”, are prepared by Mrs. E. J. Gane of Goroka. These consist of a set of 120 cards and were produced on the new silk screen press at

Lae; each set has a picture card and a word-matching card printed on both sides for each word. This is a new approach to the teaching of the child to read.

The “Village School Teacher’s Library” i s a selection of 30 English and Australian books, and a set is being given to each teacher who shows sufficient ability to grasp the reading matter, In the pr i nt ing of the 1,300 programme books and the syllabli, more than 150,000 duplicated nages were produced and of this quant it y two-thirds had to be slip sheeted. This work and the binding was do " e in the office at Lae, by the regular native staff.

A “Village School History Book” has

also been prepared and suitably illustrat It includes articles on such subjects Courtesy, our Sovereign and the Ci Service, These books are printed in Ai tralia, with a tropic-resistant varnisl cover; it is possible to sell them at t shilling each and be free of debt.

The first external examination v recently held throughout the Coral S Union Mission and scores of grade ca were issued to students. It is hoped continue this scheme so that at the co pletion of each step of his schooling, native student will receive recognition the year’s work.

The Mission recognises that in tak away certain customs from the nat people something better must be si stituted. The Junior Missionary Volunt Society (similar to Boy Scouts’ organ! tion) is one answer to this proble Distinctive Honour Tokens have been i signed for the island young people rep senting such courses as Navigation, Bi House Construction, Soap Making. 1\ Making, Canoe Making, Rope and Str Making. One effect of this study a training is to encourage a continual of native crafts.

Collating and binding the books at Lae, New Guinea.