CONSOLIDATION OF COUNTRY SCHOOLS

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21904, 3 October 1936, Page 20

CONSOLIDATION OF COUNTRY SCHOOLS

TOTHSBDITOB OT THEPRJ'dS. . Sir,—l have to thank you for your footnote to my letter in “The Press” on Saturday. You Say, “Remote allowances are still payable with the consent of the. Minister.” Gan you tell,me of any position' (apart from those in the Chatham Islands) where it is paid? In the “Education Gazette” for this month a 1 position is advertised thus: “The, district, owing to! its isolation, etc., Ist suitable only for a/married man.” Thefe is no mention of remote allowance being payable. Even when these allowances were paid, how far would the extra £lO/ £2O, or £3O go in obtaining the services of a doctor, for example? Four and .five guineas a visit is hot an unusual fee to country patients. The preference clause in making appointments seems, like remote allowances, to be a dead letter. If you can tell me of'a single instance where’it has been used*. I. shall be pleased \to hear of if I know; of none. School committees’ allowances are at a slightly higher rate, but the couhtry school ; has frequently the same area of grounds to attend to and the freight on firing is often enough to use up the baiahceiOf the- favourable rate. The model country schools at the training colleges can not be admitted as “specially favourable, treatment for country schools and teachers*' unless you admit that the ordinary training at the colleges is; for town teachers only. The organising teachers (whose services were dispensed with in 1931) were for the purpose of ; assisting teachers in What is admittedly the mostidiffioultr job in the profession.* The fact that these appointments were necessary shows the inadequacy of the training received at the colleges. Now let us turn to the last page of the - “Education Gazette” for the current month, and read the list of vacancies, “Two-roomed. residence, kitchenette, bathroom, electric light.” “Two-roomed residence, washhouse and scullery (no bathroom).” The successful applicants for these, position's will (if married men) receive £SO a year less : than if they were assistants in town schools. ' Are you still of the opinion that country teachers receive specially favourable treatment?— Yours, etc., COUNTRY TEACHER. September 15, 1936. ' [Commenting on this letter, the Director of Education (Mr N. T. Lamboume) says:—“"With regard to, remote allowances, these were, in general, discontinued early in 1931, when the regulation giving authority for them was repealed, the exceptions being those applicable to the Chatham Island schools. The correspondent’s statement that *the preference clause ity making appointments seems to be a dead letter’ is by no means accurate. Section 2 (11) *of the Education Amendment Act, 1932-33, empowers a board to give preference in making an appointment .by. transfer, or otherwise to the teacher, who appears best fitted for the position among those applicants voo have served ifor mot, less than two years in remote districts. This section is Still from time to time invoked. With reference to school committee allowances, I should mention that the vote for this item this year amounts to £'156,000, .which is more. than.. 50; per cent, in advance*of stale rates. .The correspondent appears • to bp endeavouring to show that country schools ate not receiving a fair share of penditurej- The tact cost of (education for'dach child is now, excluding’' buildings tfcr ■ all ■ public printert!' schools) approximately .£ li, thei-feicpenditure fdr feafch child hi Gfade I.'-schdols may be double, or even treble this amount The .organising teacher system was finally-discontinued in 1931, but there were only four organising teachers employed at the beginning Of that year, for years past no fresh appointments having been made £n- place of those W ho secured other ; positions. - The organising teacher system was introduced years ago because of the numberof teachers in schools who had not passed through the training college, -and very generally it was arranged that they did not visit schools in which trained teachers were in charge. By 1931 only a very small number of the teachers in sole-charge schools had not been through the college. The correspondent is misinformed about the allowances payable to a married, teacher who occupies a two-roomed residence. In any such case it is provided that the Minister for Education may authorise payment of half the house allowance to the teacher, and in no such case has a recommendation for such a payment been refused. Comparison cannot be made between, the salaries payable to teachers occupying schools provided with tworoomed residences, and those who are assistants in town schools, without considering the kind of position- occupied by the assistant The correspondent would seem to imply that all assistants are paid the same salary. 1