Please wait. Contacting image service... loading

Article text

JUSTIFIED
The High School
System
COMING OF AGE
IHOIAltT, Monday.
High School education in Tas
.mania calin of agoe when tihe
twenty-first speech night of tie
HIobart State High School, the old
est in the state, took place in the
City Hall to-night. The Minister
for Education (Mr. II. S. Baker)
outlined possible educational de- a
v'elopmelnts ill consequenlce of
existillng coldiliolls.
The City Hall was crowded, and
'he Governor (Sir Ernest Clark) and
Lady Clark were present.
The annual report of the headmaster
(Mr. H-. V. Biggins) stated that during
lihe year 600 pupils attended the insti- I
tution, the daily average being 521.5. 1
The average iionthly lnrolment was
113.7, and a percentage of attendance I
over enrolment iG. IJn the Leaving r
:Examination, the school had produced
"8 per cent. of the successful candi
dates for the whole of the state, and
of the 14 names on the University
prize list seven were those of candi
dates from the school.
The Governor in an address con
gratulated the school on its fine
Iachievellent, and impressed uponl the
pupillis the liecessity for the exercise of
self-restraillt as a recognition of re
salonslibilit3.
Mr. :thker said that the occasion was
littiug for a review of tile high school
education system of the state. Even
critics- of. the scheme when it was
?irst mooted would now admit that the
high school institution had abundantly
justified its existence. The Govern
anent realised the Importance of build
ing an enlightened and educated demo
cracy, and development in the near
future must be in relation to education
in agriculture. .The future of Tas
mnania to a large extent was dependent
ulpon agriculture, which had many pro
bloms awaiting a solution. He saw
no reason why the high schools should
not play their part in that respect.
A commencement had already been
made in primary schools.
The Director of Education (Mr. G.
V. Brooks) presented prizes won dur
ing the year.
Week of Celebrations
To mark the 21st anniversary of. the
establishment of the ,School special
*coming of ago" celebrations extending
over the whole of this week have been
arranged.
The school was inaugurated in Jan
vary, 19'13, with an enrolment of 140
at what was formerly Trinity Hill
school. The inadequacy of accommoda
tion caused the erection of a school on
the present site In l~.titia-street,
opened in December, 1917. In 1931
the attendance was 669, but a new
policy of admission resuted in a do
crease by 19313 to 580. Only three head
mnasters have been in charge since
the establishment of the school, these
being Mr. P. H. MIitchell (now in
spector of schools) from 1913 to 1931,
lr. G. J. McLead, acting from May
to December, 1931, and Mr. H. V. Big
gins, fortnerly headmaster of the Dev
enport and Launceston High Schools,
wiho assumed ti.e position at Hobart
at the 'beginning of 1932. Since its
inception the school has enjoyed a re
?narkable record of achievement in
examination results and sporting ac
tivities. A remarkably active old
scholars' association-the Old 'Hobart
ians' Association-lhas also been de
veloped, and this body is sharing in
large measure in the celebrations.
The celebrations commenced with
the speech night. To-morrow after
noon a swimming carnival will be hold,
followed by a re-union -t the school.
On Wednesday.. tennis and cricket
matches. will be played, and at night
a concert will be held, arranged by
old scholars. On 'Thursday a sports
carnival will be commenced,. and a din
nler will be held at the City Hall in
the evening. The sports will be-con
ltnued on the following day, and a
social evening which parents will
attend will be held at night. On Satur
day a river trip will be held, and a ball
at night. The celebrations will con
clude on Sunday with a meeting at the
school in the afternoon and a service
at Wesley Church in the evening.
$