Training Colleges Near Universities

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30541, 9 September 1964, Page 1

Training Colleges Near Universities

fA’ew Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, September 8.

If any new teachers’ colleges are built in the next five years, they should be near universities, the national advisory council on the training of teachers has told the Minister of Education (Mr Kinsella).

The council said it was studying the question of the relationship that it would like to see developed between teachers’ colleges and universities, and would regard it as unfortunate if, through the location of one or more colleges, further complications were added to what was already a complex problem.

It recognised, however, that when the three-year course was established in teachers’ colleges, universities might take into account the work done by student teachers for degree purposes and thus claims for provincial colleges would have to be reviewed.

In its second report to Mr Kinsella, delivered last month and published today, the council made 27 recommendations —nine dealing with the content of the three-year course, three dealing with the location of future colleges, and 15 dealing with post-primary teaching. It said that each teachers’

college present or planned should be able to cater for 750 to 1000 students, according to circumstances. Any authorised, built or extended in the next five years should be planned accordingly. If this were done, one, not two new colleges as recommended by the 1962 Currie Commission on education, would have to be built in the next five years. The council believed the next college should be erected in Wellington, to be ready for occupation in 1969. It said it had received submissions supporting the establishment of teachers’ colleges at Napier, Invercargill, Wanganui, New Plymouth and Tauranga. It was not, however, prepared to recommend the establishment of colleges with an annual intake of fewer than 250 students because of staffing problems.

In its recommendation dealing with the organisation and conduct of a three-year training course, the council said the normal minimum academic requirement for entry to training colleges should be raised as soon as possible to the university entrance qualification. University entrance should not be demanded in all cases, particularly in the case of adults who had good attainments in fields covered by the university entrance syllabus and were very suited to teaching.

The new course should contain a two-year course in English language and literature, a professional studies course taking in education, curriculum training and practical teaching, and a number of optional studies including physical education and music, which are now compulsory. Unsatisfactory The present situation, where training college students attended university part-time, was unsatisfactory, said the council. It is proposed that firstyear students who were successful in university study as well as college study should be selected to attend university full-time for the next two years and return to teachers’ college for a year after that. All teachers should be given the opportunity of taking . full-time university courses after completing training college. The council urged increased salaries for teachers’ college staff. It also suggested training college staff be eligible for 10 study awards as from 1965. Only two of these would be for a year’s study overseas. The others would be for local leave. More Awards It recommended that the number of awards be increased over the years. The council’s recommendations regarding the future pattern of courses of postprimary teacher training included:— That the academic qualifications of homecraft, commercial, mathematics and science trainees be raised to the university entrance level. That the length of all these courses be increased from two years to three. That the special one-year course of training should be restricted. to university graduates or diplomaholders. That training colleges should be empowered to issue their own certificates to post-primary trainees who have fulfilled their requirements.