Outline of a System of Public Schools for the City of Halifax: An Address Delivered Before the Board of School Commissioners, by the Superintendent of Education, January 22, 1866

by Theodore Harding Rand

Excerpt from Outline of a System of Public Schools for the City of Halifax: An Address Delivered Before the Board of School Commissioners, by the Superintendent of Education, January 22, 1866

Halifax? Has been asked of me a thousand times as I have, in private or in public, urged the importance of a free and liberal provision for the edu cation of all. You may judge whether the answer which I have been forced to give has impelled or retarded the progress of the cause I have sought to advocate. The education of the Province cannot progress as it ought while the Capital is content to sit in darkness; though I rejoice to be able to say that many portions of the country present an educational equipment commensurate with the claims of this subject, and surpassing in every respect that existing in your midst. But I feel happy in saying, that, within a few months past, abundant proofs have been given that the great majority of the citizens deplore the educational history of this city, and are now looking anxiously to this Board to bring into operation a thorough and per manent system of schools at any necessary cost whatever. Scarcely a day passes but I receive from influential citizens expressions of anxious solici tude in this matter; the common fear being that the Board will rest short of a complete and modern system of school-accommodation and equipment. I have not the slightest hesitation in stating, that, from all I have been able to gather, the citizens will most cheerfully bear whatever expenditure is necessary, provided that the arrangements be thorough, ample, and com plete. It is very apparent that if the provisions made by the Board are less than this, dissatisfaction must ensue; for it is not right (nor do the provisions of the law contemplate such a state of things) that all should be taxed for schools, and the accommodations be such that all cannot avail themselves of them. What is wanted (and anything less is but a caricature of a system of public education) is such buildings, such furniture, such teachers, and such management as will make our schools the delight of the children and the pride of our citizens, the rich as well as the poor.

The law empowers the Board to borrow money, and if need be to issue debentures, payable in equal yearly instalments, in order to meet the very exigencies consequent upon the introduction of a system of schools in the city. It is, therefore, just as easy to make the required provision at once, the expense being spread over ten or twelve years, and the benefits that will be secured by this course cannot but render such a step satisfactory to all. Delay will not extricate the Board from present difficulties: on the con trary, these difficulties will increase day by day; A prompt and thorough reform will alone place your schools upon a satisfactory basis.

22 pages, Hardcover

Published November 8, 2018

About the author

Theodore Harding Rand was an educator and poet. He successfully advocated for the American-style common school system in Nova Scotia and became its first superintendent. He served as chancellor of McMaster University from 1892 to 1895.