Student Teachers Want Say In Running Colleges

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32382, 22 August 1970, Page 14

Student Teachers Want Say In Running Colleges

It was “completely unrealistic” that staff and students were not directly represented on the governing bodies of New Zealand teachers’ colleges and technical institutes, it was stated in Christchurch last evening.

Mr R. Johnstone, president of the Christchurch Teachers’ College (Primary) Students' Association, was commenting prior to the beginning in Wellington on Monday of the national conference of the Student Teachers’ Association of New Zealand. “A revaluation of the position of students and staff in relation to teachers’ college councils and technical institute boards will be an impor-

tant concern of discussions which will be held with the New Zealand University Students’ Association in our initial moves to form a national student body,” Mr Johnstone said. More efficient tertiary education would naturally accrue from direct representation of staff .and students, he said. ‘"The example of university councils is a good case in point” At its recent winter council meeting in Wellington the New Zealand University Students’ Association voiced similar concern over the lack of student and staff representation on tertiary educational governing bodies. Mr Johnstone said he agreed “wholeheartedly” with the opinion expressed yesterday by the Minister of Education (Mr Taiboys) that an alternative to the present bonding system for students was needed. “An alternative is to have no bonding agreement placed on first-year students. In this manner each college would be able by the end of the first year to counsel their students as to their suitability for teaching after they had experienced classroom practice —this would be a far more efficient method of using the teaching potential available. “Take away the bond and you remove one of the great hurdles to recruitment <rf male teachers—the prospect of ‘signing on’ is one of the ■ most disturbing features to a 1 secondary school pupil who might contemplate becoming ! a teacher. “I am sure that this is one of the reasons why in Canter-

bury, as one example, we have such a disproportionate number of male entrants for the primary service next year,” Mr Johnstone said. The number of male applications for the primary division of the Christchurch Teachers’ College for 1971 is 90, compared to 420 women. Though he supported “in principle” the idea of a test case to sound out the legality of the bond, Mr Johnstone said he felt any such action taken by individual teachers’ colleges would only splinter the national student opposition to the system.