Government ‘committed’ to education changes

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33932, 27 August 1975, Page 3

Government ‘committed’ to education changes

(From our education reporter)

WELLINGTON. August 26.

The Prime Minister (Mr Rowling) and the Minister of Education j (Mr Amos) made it clear today that education will be an important plank in the Labour Party’s General Election platform.

The Prime Minister indicated at the opening session of the annual conference of the PostPrimary Teachers’ Association that a new relationship was growing between the “users” of| education and the teach-' ling profession. His address was in marked contrast to that prepared for last year’s annual meeting of the association by the late Prime Minister, Mr Norman Kirk, who criticised teachers for being out of touch with the needs of many pupils. Mr Rowling went to lengths to assure the 105! delegates who represent the’ 12,893 members of the asso-l ciation that the Labour! Party is firmly committed to educational . change and

j equal educational, opportunity for all. This would involve maxiImum consultation between iall participating groups and i the public, for new educaItional control patterns could (not evolve without considerable and often controversial i discussion, said Mr Rowling. He said the irritating constraints of a centralised education system must be discarded to allow for the needs of local communities. “All this places you, the teacher within the system, in I a key position. Without ques-| tion. it will mean that you] will be much more closely in-1 volved in the processes of decision-making than previ-l jously.” i The Prime Minister made la strong plea for the right ofj (women teachers to have a

greater say in the development of the country’s education system. “I am convinced women s voices in the education field have been muted for too long, and apart from some honorable exceptions have been disappointingly few.” ! Women teachers complained that they were denied career opportunities in a system which was male dominated at the higher administrative levels. “I believe that employing authorities should ensure, especially in co-educational schools, that many more top jobs will be filled by [women,” said Mr Rowling. Adult education i The new opportunities for! I second-chance education for

adults in secondary schools must be encouraged to ensure that many women who had missed out on earlier opportunities could gain further education. To assist this. child-care centres would be set up for young women with families. The Minister of Education (Mr Amos) told the confer-l ence that he was impressed by the way in which secondary teachers were prepared! to ’ involve themselves in I educational change. Secondary teachers now! realised they did not have to! be bound by regulations! Which they often thought restrictive. Schools were developing their own answers to local problems, and much of the success of this came from the willingness of teachers to tackle problems in new ways.

Mr Amos said that internal assessment was consistent with the views of teachers, of the Government, and of the Educational Development Council that the tight constraint of the-School Certificate examination should disappear.

“I must, however, emphasise that if the examination is to be replaced then teachers must be prepared to accept professional responsibility of evaluating the educational process of their pupils,” Mr Amos said. “This I see as one of the most difficult yet most responsible tasks facing teachers.”

Secondary education was adapting to changes in a manner that gave him the belief that soon a* pupil would leave for the work force with the intention of returning to his school if he found he needed further education, said the Minister. Schools ‘scapegoat’ The president of the association (Mr W. J. Fletcher) said recent problems led him to believe that secondary schools had allowed themselves to become scapegoats for the defects of society. “We teachers can easily find ourselves in the position of being expected to do the complete character-building job in only that part of the day that a youngster is at school,” Mr Fletcher said. “Schools ought to be trying to change our society in desirable ways, but we cannot expect miracles . . .” But schools could not opt out on the question of values, if only because it was impossible to live in a “values vacuum.” Mr Fletcher agreed with the Prime Minister and Mr Amos that the most promising thing about secondary education at present was the way teachers were being given the opportunity to evaluate secondary education —and were taking it. “The impetus for change has increasingly over the last five years been bubbling up from, below rather than imposed from above,” he said.

Fellow— The principal of Lincoln College (Dr J. D. Stewart) was elected a fellow of the Institute of Agricultural Science at the institute’s convention in Wellington today, for his outstanding contribution to the advancement of agriculture. Two honorary fellows and five fellows were elected.— (F.O.O.R.).