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The Post-primary Schools
Up till the turn of the century most post-primary schools were under the control of independent boards, and they were steeped in the grammar school tradition. The advent of George Hogben as Inspector-General of Schools in 1899 brought about some important changes. He gradually forced the schools to open their doors to more free-place pupils, and he encouraged them to add practical subjects to their rather bookish curriculum. He also encouraged the establishment of district high schools in the hope that they would develop courses of direct interest to the farming community round them. Yet Hogben's valiant efforts achieved surprisingly little; some secondary schools started agricultural courses; some education boards appointed itinerant agricultural instructors; but the new district high schools tended to follow the academic pattern, which offered the definite objective of success in the public examinations, and — what many country people wanted for their children — the chance of a job in the city. Hogben had, in theory at least, the backing of the representatives of the farmers. The chief handicap to the extension of his ideas was the lack of trained teachers; the only place capable of giving higher education in agriculture — Lincoln College — was interested only in its original objective — training practical farmers. Most agricultural instructors, whether for schools or for the then limited requirements of the Department of Agriculture, had to be imported.
In the 1920s, developments that affected agricultural teaching both in the schools and on the farms took place in many directions. The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research was established; Massey Agricultural College was founded; Lincoln College was revitalised and its objectives enlarged; the college courses for university degrees were revised; the extension service of the Department of Agriculture was enlarged; and two post-primary schools — Rangiora and Feilding — with economic farm units under their own control, were developed. From that decade forward, progress in the postprimary schools has been steady, but except in a few places never spectacular, and that mainly, but not entirely, for the reason that the supply of competent teachers has never been adequate. In earlier years agriculture was included in the optional subjects for the University Entrance examination; it has for long been excluded, a condition that makes it a less attractive subject to teachers who look for a share of work in the upper school as a means of proving their worth.
Some schools merely offer one or more phases of agricultural instruction as subjects, a line of action that is simplified by the fact that the syllabus for the School Certificate examination includes four such subjects — namely, general agriculture, animal husbandry, dairying, and horticulture. Such schools usually have a suitably equipped laboratory, and some of them a small area of land for demonstration plots, though others rely on visits to neighbouring farms. A few schools, such as Feilding and Northland College have large and efficiently managed farms and make a feature of their integrated agricultural courses.
The situation in 1964 may be summarised. The table below shows the number of schools offering one or more of the agricultural subjects as at 1 July 1964. The number in brackets gives the total number of all schools in each category in the Dominion.
| Public post-primary schools, boys and co-educational | 48 | (157) |
| District high schools | 17 | (81) |
| Private post-primary schools, boys and co-educational | 12 | (48) |
| Correspondence school, Education Department | 1 | (1) |
The next table shows the number of boys who are taking one or more agricultural subjects, and, in brackets, the total enrolment of boys as at 1 July 1964.
| Public post-primary schools, boys and co-educational | 3,137 | (64,505) |
| District high schools | 465 | (3,505) |
| Private post-primary schools, boys and coeducational | 545 | (12,131) |
| Correspondence school, Education Department | 29 | (169) |
The relatively small proportion of pupils taking an agricultural subject is due mainly to the following considerations: many farmers prefer their sons who intend to be farmers to take a general course at school, and a more specialised course later, after experience on the farm; few parents not engaged in farming wish their sons to take an agricultural course because of the restricted opportunities for boys without financial resources to become farmers; boys wishing to qualify themselves for teaching or research in agriculture must later take a degree course for which the best school preparation is basic training in the pure sciences; agricultural courses in schools vary greatly in efficiency, and some still tend to attract the “weaker brethren”, thus weakening the course; school courses in agriculture yield no credits towards employment as is the case with those whose school course is followed by apprenticeship to a trade.
