Education On Sound Lines (N.Z. Press Association)

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29724, 18 January 1962, Page 14

Education On Sound Lines (N.Z. Press Association)

DUNEDIN, Jan. 17. Mr B. I. Fulton, principal • of King Edward Technical ‘ College. Dunedin, ha* returned from a year's leave of absence, spent teaching in i England, “confident that education Ln New Zealand ' is on very sound lines.'' “It is important that we i beware of insular self-aatu- i faction, but 1 believe we ean I be quietly confident in what I has been achieved,’’ he said i today. i In some respects New Zea- i land had much to learn from i countries such as Britain, but ! it had been in the forefront of development in education i in the last thirty years and 1 had been following an en- i lightened policy. i “In advanced technical education, England is, of 1

course, well ahead of New Zealand, mainly due to the much greater industrialisation. “But the developments that have taken place in technical education in Britain since World War II have also been taking place here, although on a smaller scale." Mr Fulton believed that in the establishment of the courses and examination* of the New Zealand Trades Certification Board and the more recent establishment of courses for certificates in engineering, New Zeeland had made good progress on sound lines. There were more possibilities in Britain for teachers to be seconded to industry and commerce for six months or a year and for the colleges to borrow qualified personnel from tirade and industry.

These exchanges did a great deal to keep colleges in touch with modem developments in business and industry and to keep the industrial world informed of what tihe college* could offer One distinct point of superiority in the English education system (in comparison with New Zealand) was the better conditions of service for teachers, particularly for those holding positions of responsibility They Were allowed more non-teaching time and had much better salaries. “In New Zealand through the post-war years, as teaching salaries have increased, there has been a constant diminution of the salary difference between the rank and file, and those with top responsibility,” said Mr Fulton.