EDUCATION POST IN COOK ISLANDS

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29742, 8 February 1962, Page 19

EDUCATION POST IN COOK ISLANDS

A Christchurch teacher, Mr C. G. Cotton, lias been appointed principal of the Teachers’ Training Centre in Rarotonga and assistant supervisor of primary education for . the islands of the Cook group The contract is for three years

The Teachers’ Training Centre has 110 Cook Island? s'udents Attached to the centre and also to be under Mr Cotton’s control are a primary school of 110 Euopean pupils (mostly children of Public Service employees' and a Maori school of 200 pupils These are the equivalent of New Zealand normal schools

As assistant supervisor of primary education for the whole island group. Mr Cot•on will also be responsible for school broadcasts, publications. school journals, refresher courses, and examinations

Born in Lower Hu’t. Mr Cotton moved to Christchurch at an earlv age He was educated at the Christchurch Bovs' High School, ’named at the Christchurch Teachers’ College, and took a bachelor of arts degree and a diploma in education from the University of Canterbury After five years teaching in small schools on the Wes’ Coast. Mr Cotton held an appointment at South Brighton and joined the staff of the E’mwood Norma! School in 1958 Survey of Parents Some years ago he created a great deal of interest by making a survey of parents’ reactions to present primary education This became his thesis for the diploma in education Two years ago Mr Cotton spent a year in an exchange position in a Canadian school in Alberta Mr and Mrs Cotton then “set out to see the world” T ? *e*her they did. in fact, see almost every country in three mon*hs. On a small Italian motor-scooter they travelled 4000 miles through the United States and then flew to England While waiting for Hie scooter to arrive

by sea, they made a quick car trip round the British Isles. Repossessed of the scooter, they covered thousands of miles in Europe and then “posted the scooter home from Italy” while they toured the Holy Land, the East, and New Guinea. Mrs Cotton considers that she did the tours on the back of the scooter with the minimum wardrobe for a woman —three blouses, a skirt, and slacks. The Cottons have used the same scooter ever since ttieir return to New Zealand and regretfully sold it a few days ago Vocational Call

The couple have taken the Cook Islands appointment out of a long-standing sense of vocation. At one stage they contemplated training as missionaries Mr Cotton is a keen Methodist lay preacher and Sunday school teacher and his wife is a registered nurse They believe service in the Cook Islands will give them opportunities to give needed help to the native peonle there. Mr and Mrs Cotton now find their travelling a little restricted. They have one child a year old' and another aged four months.