THE SCHOOL WORLD.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 11110, 6 May 1911, Page 10

THE SCHOOL WORLD.

A WEEKLY REVIEW. NOTES FROM TOWN AND COUNTRY. Teachers nnd others interested in the administration of education arc invited to ' contribute notes for publication in "Tho School World." These should bo addressed to the Editor, "The School World." Tub Uohiniox. Wellington, and posted to roach this oflico not later than Wednesday in each week. ' Correspondents desiring enlightenment upon nny question ia conncctiou with tlie school work, or the general ad- . ministration of the education system, are invited to submit these points to the Editor lor elucidation ; and reply. i Where anonymity, la desired, it will be 6trictly observed. . ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. ."Orlando."—ln your circumstances there are two courses open to you: (1) Remain at your present employment till you are able to quality loy examination for the . teachers' "D" certificate; or (2) apply ; tor a temporary appointment pending . such time as you will have qualified for : tho certificate, when you will be eligible , for a permanent appointment. The advantage of (1) is that there are greater facilities for satisfactory study in the : city than out of it, and should you be : successful in passing- the examination, you will be granted a provisional certi- . fkate, to be ratified when you have accomplished two years' practical work in the profession. It might also he possible, by the courtesy of the Education Board, for you to visit the TeachersTraining Collego or any of the city : schools for • the purpose of observing ■' teaching methods and general questions i of school management. With regard to ! (2) there is at present some difficulty in ; finding suitable men for appointment • to small country schools in the remote ! districts, where, for various reasons, it ! is not desirable that women teachers I should ho stationed; that being so, it i is quite possible that you might be able to obtain a temporary appointment in one of these schools at a salary of .£OO per annum. Tho advantage of such a course would bo that you would have more leisure time to devote to study, and, in such a subject as the "Theory and Practice of Education," your experience, in the schoolroom would give you a clearer insight to what to an absolute layman v;ould be a iiuore or less technical study. To successfully accom-plish-I ho latter cour.-e-requires grit, perOTvenuice,- and tho exercise of much common sense. Before definitely deciding upon your lino of-"action, procure from the Government Printing Office (for a few. shillings) tlio latest copy of the Education Act,-(he-regulations, last I year's examination papers (published in .' booklet form), and also the explanatory ; pamphlet dealing with luachers' certi- ; ficato examinations. These will . give ■ vou a thorough grasp of the position. Should- you decide upon applying for a '. temporary appointment, your best course ' would be to communicate with the Edui cation Board, sending a full statement ! of your accomplishments, and stating your willingness to go wherever you are • sent. If you have grit, you will win ! out.

i THE WELLINGTON LIBRARY. AN INVITATION TO THE SCHOOLS. I Mr. Herbert Bnillie, Chief Municipal Librarian at Wellington, lione?, with tho assistance, of /'The. School World," to set into ' touch Villi' the' teachers ."in the Wellington schools, .and also .those in the country who .-may. visit .tho capital, so' that he.Jiiay,..invite them, to plaice use of th.e , l!efcrericfe'pc-parti.nr'nt' : ot' the Municinar 'to" h. , 'greater 'extent than they:do ht- present. . "It is."- he writes, "the special desire of (he City Council's Library Committee, which controls the Public "Library and its brancli, that the institution should be of the gran test service to the public, and particularly lo school teachers who are now educating--our- -future -citizens. AVe are srarduallj-sh-n'thoiiin? the educational section, and in the Periodicals Room ivill be found educational periodicals which should bo of interest and assistnnce. Other classes of literature, either, for recreation or instruction,- will bo found in plenty. AVc shall bo pleased to 1 receive suggestions r.s to books that would be hclriful, or as to methods of extending tho usefulness of the institution. AVo cannot at present offer the concession that American teachers receive from their libraries—but who knows what we may do in the- future, when you find out our value. "Teacjisrs. may be interested in inspecting our-.ncwly-established Children's Eoom at the Centr.aJ. Library,' which, aV though small, is being carried on under modern library'■■■.conditions. ' The Hiil■idren's librarian .will he pleased- to explain any matters in connection therewith ,to anyone interested, during the hours of ,2 to G p.m. every week day, or from 10 a.m. ,to 12 noon on Saturdays. Tho li:brary assistants will be pl'ensed to bo. ,of help to any of tho pupils" o£ the higher standards who may wish to consult works of reference."

DISFRANCHISED. NEW PLYMOUTH SCHOOL ELECTORS. An extraordinary state of affairs prevails in connection with tho manner of electing members of tho Taranaki Education Board. This board consists of ■nino members, tliroo from each of the three-wards into which the district is divided. The West Ward contains 24 schools, with an aggregato voting power of 156, and a total average attendance of 1740. Tho two New Plymouth town schools, with an averago attendance of 903 pupils, commands 18 votes, tho remaining 22 schools, with 837 pupils, being represented-by-138 votes! Tho smallest school, with eight children, has a voting 'power of 5, the largest (New Plymouth Central), with closo on 000 scholars, lias ■9. Consequently the board is composed entirely of country members and the town schools are disfranchised.

AN IMPOSSIBLE SITUATION. DISQUALIFIED COMMITTEEMAN. In connection with tho annual election of tho'committee of the Newtown District High School (Wellington), tho chairman of the outgoing committee (Mr. J. Martin), who had served on tho committeq for fifteen years past, was unable to seek re-election;. in consequence of.'the' following ' memorandum which was addressed to him by tho Wellington Education Board, under tho hand of its .secretary (MivG.'L. Stewart) :—

"I regret to have to draw your attention to the fact that the work you -have, done for tho committee during tho past year disqualifies you under Section 109, Sub-section 2, for a seat on the committee. This appears to have escaped your notice. As you are aware, the general principle underlying the holding of oliico in all public bodies now is that the members shall not have business relations with the body of which they iiro members."

Sub-section 2 of Clause 109 reads as follows: — "No householder who is a paid servant of tho Education Department or of any education board or school committee shall be eligible to bo elected as a member of any school committee." The interpretation of tho clause turns upon the question as to what is meant by tho term "a paid servant." If the statute is to bo enforced to tho very last letter of its expression, then a man who repairs a school window for a certain sum may not sit on the committee of that school, for inasmuch as ho rendered for a consideration a service! to the. school, ho may, hy a fearful stretch of the imagination, bo looked upon as "a paid servant." There is another way of looking at this point, however. Sueli paid services as that which has been referred to are merely of a temporary nature. Suppose, let us say, that a man had contracted for various services to tho school during the year, and before- the dato of .tho annual school committee had completed his contracts, and "signed, off,", as it wero, Is''he,"then, a paid servant,

of the committee? Surely not. This hair-splitting does not help much, however. The main point is whether there was any necessity for the Education lioard to go out of its way to create, from an extremely doubtful authority, a disqualification which' it knows very well cannot be widely enforced as a general principle. Has- every person who last year, while a member of a school committee, performed some, service for his committee for payment, been disqualified? The board knows very well that such' is not the. case. The board is also aware of the fact that in a small country district one cannot throw a stone without hitting a member of the school committee, for every available adult male in the community has usually to be pressed into service in order to obtain the statutory number required. 'Who, then, is to perform the various offices and carry out the various contracts for such supplies as firewood, and so forth, if the members of the committee are to bo debarred ? There is nobody else, and the board knows this quite well. The writer has noticed, with considerable astonishment, an editorial complaint in a Dannevirke paper, in which t!io action of teachers in voting at school elections is adversely commented upon. The complaint is a perfectly just one, for teachers have positively no right whatever to vote at a school committee election. They 'are "paid servants" of tho Education Board.