Fáiltím roimh an mBille agus déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Aire as ucht an mBille agaus freisin as ucht na hóráide a thug sé dúinn inniu. Óráid an-mhaith a bhí ann ó thús go deireadh.
I very sincerely welcome the Bill. I welcome the thinking behind it. This is an age when, as the Minister stated in his speech, barriers are being broken. I will quote the last sentence on the first page of the speech:
This will facilitate the development of co-operation in many centres and help further to break down the barriers between the secondary and vocational systems.
So far, so good. In the fullness of time, we hope it will also break down the barriers that exist or seem to exist between the secondary, vocational and primary systems.
Education is a continuing process and it would be very foolish for a person to believe or to attempt to believe that education can be put into water-tight compartments. Unfortunately, this has been the tendency for far too long. We have had what people like to think of as a primary system, a secondary system, a vocational system and a university system. It is unfortunately true that the great majority of our people still look on education as being in one of these compartments. Nothing could be further from the truth because from the day we are born until the day we die we are learning. Unfortunately, too often we forget what we have learned.
Education, then, cannot be divided up even into age groups. At the various ages in a person's life, changes occur in the development of the mind. Certain sections of the mind will develop at certain stages of a person's life and later other sections of the mind will develop. Psychologists and we educationists in general are aware of this. We are also aware that those developments do not come in any particular individual at any fixed time, because, as individuals vary, individual minds vary.
Therefore, it is disastrous for anyone to believe that we will give a child primary education up to a certain age and then, when he reaches the age of 11 plus, 12 plus or 13 plus, that he will be transferred elsewhere. For that reason, I commend Senator Brosnahan for saying that the ideal as far as teachers are concerned is one association of all teachers.
However, so long as there are various teachers' organisations, that basic fact will not be recognised. Primary teachers may be inclined to think that they should keep their own knowledge among themselves, secondary teachers may have the same idea in their respect and, possibly, vocational teachers might hold the same idea about themselves. The truth is, however, that we are all working towards one aim and that is the development of the human personality to its highest degree and the development of a sound mind in a sound body.
While I am on the matter of a sound mind and a sound body, I should like to refer to the development of technical skills. The day is gone when a person can be said to be educated if he can merely read, discuss, propose theories, do higher mathematics, become involved in scientific arguments or acquire a great volume of knowledge about different subjects if, having acquired all this, he is unable, for instance, to fix an electric plug.
In my primary school I have always encouraged not only the boys, but the girls also, to learn as much as they can at home or at school or anywhere else about such things as attaching electrical fittings and the various other miscellaneous jobs that have to be done in a home. I advise them to take an interest in carpentry, home decoration and so on, because if we wish to survive in this particular age, there must be all-round development of mind and body. The Swedes, while they may have given us bad example in some respects, have given us good example in many ways. In Sweden girls require many skills that were traditionally associated with boys, while boys, in addition to their traditional skills, are also taught such arts as sewing, knitting and crochet which were always associated with girls.
Excellent sentiments are expressed in the Minister's address. He said, for example:
My Department with a view to having comprehensive educational facilities provided in the most economical way without waste or overlapping has been encouraging co-operation between secondary and vocational schools so that comprehensive educational facilities can be provided in each area of the country. In a number of centres in which co-operation between secondary schools and vocational schools is being developed proposals have been made for the sharing of specialist facilities and ancillary accommodation, e.g. science laboratories, assembly halls, gymnasia, playing fields, etc....
Probably the Minister had in mind in that "etc." such things as musical training, library facilities, art and swimming, because all of these are of vital importance in the age in which we live. Some years ago the then musical director of the Radio Éireann String Quartet—an Englishman living in Cork —and I were discussing a certain secondary boys college. This was indeed a very famous college and it so happened that at that particular time this college had two or three excellent musicians who happened to be students of this particular gentleman. He was lamenting the fact that there was no orchestra whatever in the college. In passing, I mentioned the name of a secondary school for girls across the road from this particular college where there was a small orchestra. He suggested on hearing this that perhaps these two institutions might combine with a view to having a fine orchestra. I must admit that my reaction to this was something near to horror. Of course, this was some years ago. My idea then was that, no matter what might happen, such co-operation between a boys and a girls school was not possible.
However, as we all know, there have been many changes in the past few years. Barriers have been broken down. I have no knowledge as to whether these two particular institutions to which I referred ever combined in the musical sense but I am sure that, if the same situation prevailed today, there would be co-operation.
That brings us to the question of co-education. This matter has been mentioned already by a number of Senators. Apart altogether from the economic factors that would be involved by way of saving of money and in relation to specialist teachers and specialist facilities, co-education could have a salutary effect on the youth of today. I teach in a mixed primary school and down through the years I have seen the advantages of boys and girls studying together. They develop a normal relationship and they learn to treat each other with proper respect. I have often had visits by children from elsewhere—boys who were attending schools exclusively for boys and girls who were attending schools exclusively for girls—and I found that those children became very embarrassed when in the company of the opposite sex. I remember a boy who came to us from Cork where he had been at an all-boys' school. I found it necessary to take that boy aside and advise him because he became very upset in class by reason of his not being used to a co-ed school.
The wind of change is blowing; so also is the wind of charity. As a result of this Bill I can foresee large scale co-operation between secondary and vocational schools throughout the country. Of course, as the Minister is probably aware already, there will be some difficulty. Excellent as the Bill is, its implementation is another matter. There are bound to be petty jealousies in certain areas and people may read into the legislation things that are not there at all.
A sentence in the Minister's speech is probably the finest statement in the whole speech:
It will be the task of my Department to secure the maximum degree of co-operation so as to ensure that the resources at our disposal are used to the greatest possible benefit of the children of the nation.
That is a splendid statement. I know that the Minister has the very best intentions and that his heart is in this particular matter. We wish him the greatest success. I only hope his sentiments and our sentiments will be understood to be sincere and genuine. I hope this anxiety to do the best we can for our children with what resources we have will bear fruit. I hope the message will be understood by the various teachers' organisations so that they will come together for the good of the children and for the dignity of their own profession. It is unfortunate that there is disagreement among them.
When speaking on the Finance Bill I made a major point about the dreadful dangers of the wrong use of leisure time. A five-day week is generally accepted and sometimes even a four-and-a-half-day week. The big question is: what are workers going to do during their free time? I pointed out yesterday that unnecessary spending on consumer goods and on pleasure contribute in a large way to inflation. On the other hand, the right use of leisure time could have a most ennobling effect on all concerned.
The vocational school—the vocational cum secondary school when this Bill is implemented—could help a great deal if it could attract people to study such things as music, art, drawing, woodwork and so on. There is no reason why a tradesman who uses his hands during the week could not learn a second or third language. Likewise, there is no reason why a man in a sedentary occupation should not be given an opportunity of acquiring such skills as painting, woodwork and drawing. It will no doubt be said that this is already being done in major centres of population, but I would like to see people in rural areas being given the same opportunity to do this. Many people in rural areas can travel in their cars to the local towns, but if national schools could be used as centres where people could study I believe this would have a tonic effect on the whole community. It would give life in rural Ireland a new dimension.
I compliment the Minister on his speech. I should like to pay a well deserved compliment to all the vocational committees throughout the country. They are doing a great job and are taking a practical interest in education. It is a fact that we who are very close to education often miss the point that can be seen by the man who observes from a distance. I am a member of a vocational committee and I always listen to and read the speeches of the members of these committees very carefully. They usually have something very sound to offer and they have no hesitation in offering it. I commend the Bill and hope it will be given a speedy passage through the Seanad. I wish the Minister and his Department every success in implementing it.