CO129-260 - Governor Sir Robinson Acting Governor O-Brien - 1893 [9-12] — Page 153

152

5.

The main educational duty of the Government is to provide for elementary education, and, in the present instance, the Victoria College was under the name of the Central School designed to give such education; but on the other hand, it is clearly desirable that a Colonial Government should encourage higher education by either supporting or largely subsidizing one undenominational higher school, which shall be a model for other institutions of the kind in the Colony. If, therefore, the question is asked whether the Victoria College is in future to be an elementary or a higher school, the only answer is that under present conditions, it must continue to combine both grades of instruction unless some reasonable scheme can be suggested by the Colonial Government for carrying on either its elementary or its higher work in a satisfactory manner elsewhere.

6. Assuming that the combination is maintained, the following modifications of the existing arrangements might be made.

The College should be very distinctly divided into an upper and lower school. Both should be, as now, for administrative purposes under Dr. Wright. In other words, he should be the channel of communication between the staff or masters and the Colonial Government or the Inspector of Schools, and all the ordinary administration should be in his hands. The upper school should be left entirely to him and be conducted on his lines, being wholly exempted from inspection.