TEACHERS' DEMANDS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 197, 19 August 1913, Page 5

TEACHERS' DEMANDS.

AN UNDERPAID PROFESSION. AND OVERLOADED SYLLABUS. DEFUTATIOK TO SIR JOSEPH WARD. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) INVERCARGILL, this day. A deputation from the Teachers' Insti- < tute interviewed Sir' Joseph Ward to- I day, and urged 'that Parliament should recognise the serious position into which . primary education is falling through in- : adequate remuneration to teachers. It was stated that more than one-third of ■ the teachers employed ore probationers, pupil teachers, or uncertificated, and that > nearly 30 per cent, of the adult teachers receive leas than' £120 a year. Regard- . ing the new syllabus, the deputation urged that it was overloaded, and would be detrimental to the thoroughness of . primary education. Sir Joseph Ward, in a sympathetic reply, said it was obvious that in the presence of rapid economic changes the remuneration of teachers had become inadequate. The whole question required reconsideration, and he would do all in his power to bring ihe movement for reform to a successful issue. Regarding the syllabus, he agreed that the practical expert, as well as the theorist,. should share in shaping it. Teachers and inspectors were in a position to Bee theory tested, and knew by experience how much children oould attempt with advantage. Their judgment should not be ignored.