TRAINING SCHOOL TEACHERS

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 284, 28 August 1935, Page 10

TRAINING SCHOOL TEACHERS

Wellington’s Need

COLLEGE REOPENING URGED Deputation to Minister A prospective .shortage, of .school teachers is envisaged' by educational authorities in Wellington, and for that anil other reasons :i deputation from tire Wellington Education Board, .supported li.' representatives of Victoria University Coliege aud the New Zealand Education Boards' Association, waited on the Minister oi‘ Education, Hon. S. G. Smith, yesterday afternoon, to make a plea for the early reopening of lhe Wellington Training College. Much detailed evidence was given in support of the request, but the Minister replied that it was all a matter of money, .and the question would have to be considered by Cabinet. Introducing the deputation, the Hon. W. 11. Mclntyre, M.L.C.. said the reopening of the Training College was a burning question, and in view of the fact that the economic position appeared to be much better, it was now considered opportune to place lhe question before the Minister.

Mr. W. V. Dyer, chairman of the Wellington Education Board, said the board considered it to be its duty to urge the reopening of the Training College. They had all believed when the college was closed three years ago that it was only to be a temporary expedient. He pointed out. that there was no lack of accommodation at the training college for the training of students. Provision could be made to accommodate the correspondence school elsewhere without any inconvenience or disadvantage. He emiihasised that in order to attract the best type of teachers it was essential to have a training college for students. The extra expense in sending students to other centres at a distance for training was not warranted. The Minister: We do not find that in Taranaki, where we have never had a training college, and where we have had to send our students as far south as Dunedin.

Mr. Dyer: Last year Wellington did not reach anything like its quota. The Minister: You will find that there has always iteen a difficulty cf getting boys from Wellington. Mr. Dyer referred to the fact that distinguished expert visitors to Wellington, such as Mr. W. Gray, had pointed out that it was an anomaly not to have a training college functioning in Wellington. In view of all the circumstances it was felt that Wellington had a just claim to the reopening of the college.

Ideal Centre for Training.

Mr. I’.-Levi, chairman of the Victoria University College Council, said his council unanimously supported the application of the Wellington. Education Board. “We quite recognise the closing of the training college was brought about by special circumstances,” he said. “We feel now that those circumstances have changed for the better. Wellington is obviously a centre for the training of teachers. Opportunities for young people in this district are very limited indeed. We would point out that the Victoria University College has no .special schools like Dunedin, Christchurch and Auckland. This limits the opportunities for our young men to train for a career.”

Discussing the position generally, Mr. Levi said that Wellington was certainly entitled to have its teachers trained in its own centre. There was a large number of applications for training, and they were entitled to be dealt with here. It had been pointed out time and again that the concensus of expert opinion was against large training colleges, and it could be argued that four small training colleges were preferable to large ones. In England, Scotland, and also on the Continent of Europe, the ideal system was considered to be small training colleges with about a hundred students. They had no desire to depreciate the claims of any of the other centres, but Wellington, geographically, was an ideal centre for the training of teachers. Stimulus of College. Professor W. IT. Gould emphasised the stimulating influence of having a training college for teachers. That had been his own experience, and he felt sure that if the Minister was to take a vote of the people in the city ami Wellington district, it would be overwhelmingly in favour of the reopening of the college. Every visitor who had come to New Zealand with expert knowledge of conditions elsewhere had recommended that there should be four training colleges. Mr. L. J. McDonald said there was a good case for the resumption of the normal number of trainees at the training college. On May 30 last there was a surplus of 40 teachers in the Wellington district; by July 30 that number had dropped to 10. If the same decrease-eight per month —continued, for the remaining six months of the school year there would be a shortage of 48 teachers at the beginning of 1936. The Wellington Education Board employed one-eighth of the teachers in New Zealand, and unless something were done the prospective shortage would become more aggravated next year. Clearly, there was need of an early resumption of training. The wastage was from 400 to 450 teachers a year. There was no desire to prejudice the position of the other training colleges, but if there was to be any priority in respect of reopening the closed training colleges, they- would urge that such priority should favour Wellington. The Minister: On account of its modesty? Mr. -McDonald: "I fancy that If Wellington had not been so modest its training college would never have been closed.” He pointed out that ■Wellington' was the biggest school district in New Zealand. It had over 62,000 children compared with Auckland's 60,000, and that was thb position after excluding Taranaki from the computation. The Wellington district required 1452 teachers for 62.695 children. If additions were provided at Christchurch or Auckland Training Colleges" or the college reopened at Dunedin with the exclusion of Wellington, the position would be that the two training colleges placed in the South Island would supply 1988 teachers for the tuition of 65,558 children, while one college in the North Island would supply 4214 teachers for the tuition of 136,722 children. Mr. McDonald concluded with an emphatic appeal for the reopening of the Wellington Training College.

The Minister, in reply, said the whole question was a matter of money. It was quite obvious that they would

have to increase the mimljer of teachers sooner or later. There had been something like 1860 unemployed teachers in New Zealand when a rationing scheme was Introduced. In the first year that scheme had not been so good, but it had become better in the succeeding years. It was true that the wastage at one time was about 450 a year, but teachers were neither marrying nor dying so quickly now, and the wastage was only about 350. There were 430 trainees this year “I nave not had a chance to discuss the question with the Prime .Minister and the Minister of Finance since their return from London,” Mr. Smith continued. “But the whole question will be brought before Cabinet as soon as possible. Personally, I have no feeling in the matter. My aim is to do the best that can be done with the money at my disposal. I appreciate your views and understand your difficulties, but I do not believe that we should have training colleges spread all over New Zealand. I have read what experts have said about it, but my own view is that New Zealand should have four training colleges, and no more than four. The matter has been giving me grave concern. It will be put before Cabinet. The question, as with the other centres, will be considered on fts merits. There will be no favour to any centre."